Goa Ferocious Animal Act 2025: Dog Bite Compensation

Is your Rottweiler illegal in Goa today? No. As of 30 August 2026 the State has not notified a single breed as a ferocious animal, so the ban in section 4 bites nobody yet. The part of the same law that does work right now is section 7, and it covers any animal, not just the breeds in the headlines.

The Act was passed by the Goa Legislative Assembly on 23 July 2025, assented to by the Governor on 11 September 2025, and published in the Official Gazette, Series I No. 24, Extraordinary No. 04, dated 16 September 2025 under notification 7/18/2025-LA/135.

This is the provision most coverage misses. Read section 7(1) closely. It opens with a non obstante clause and then says any person who is injured, and in case of death the legal representative of the deceased, may file a claim for compensation against the owner of any animal which has caused such injury or death.

Nothing in section 7 limits it to notified ferocious breeds. A cow, a buffalo, an ordinary pet dog, a horse. If it has an owner and it injured you in Goa, section 7 is open.

1. Fix your date. The claim must be filed within six months from the date of the incident, under section 7(2). This is short. Treat the bite date as day one.
2. Find the right officer. You file before the Competent Authority having jurisdiction over the region where the incident happened. Section 2© defines that officer as an officer not below the rank of Deputy Collector, authorised by the Government by notification in the Official Gazette.
3. File the claim against the owner. Section 2(j) defines owner widely. It is the person in possession and control of the animal, and it includes any other person, organisation or association in possession or custody of it. A society, a resort or a kennel can be the respondent.
4. Expect a summary hearing. Section 7(3) directs the Competent Authority to conduct a summary inquiry as provided under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and to decide the claim within three months of it being made.
5. Appeal if the order is wrong. Section 7(4) allows an appeal to the Administrative Tribunal of Goa within sixty days of the decision. The Tribunal may condone delay for sufficient cause, but only up to a maximum of one year.

• A written claim naming the animal's owner and the exact date, time and place of the incident
• The first medical record. Casualty paper, OPD slip or discharge summary, whichever came first
• Anti-rabies vaccination records and every bill, prescription and receipt
• Proof of loss of earnings if you missed work, such as a salary slip or an employer letter
• Photographs of the injury and of the location
• Any police complaint or panchayat complaint you filed, with its receipt number
• In a death case, the death certificate and proof that you are the legal representative

The Act does not fix a compensation figure or a schedule of amounts. Section 7 leaves the sum to the Competent Authority. Do not believe any page that quotes a fixed Goa dog-bite payout, because the statute does not contain one.

Section 3 sets a fixed sequence, and the Government cannot skip a step.

The Director here means the Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Government of Goa, under section 2(d). Section 8 requires that Director to maintain a register of all ferocious animals and their owners.

Section 5(1) is blunt about liability once a breed is notified. The owner of a notified ferocious animal is solely responsible for its actions and is liable if it injures any other human or animal.

Two details are worth knowing. Section 6(1) carries a minimum of fifteen days, so it is not a pure fine offence. And the proviso to section 6(2) lets the court order community service in place of imprisonment, having regard to the nature of the offence, the background of the accused and the circumstances of the case. Section 2(b) defines community service as work the court orders a convict to perform for the community's benefit, for which he gets no remuneration.

The single most useful fact, whether any breed has been notified, is an RTI question. Send it to the Public Information Officer, Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Government of Goa.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services,
Government of Goa.

Subject: Information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 regarding the
Goa Animal Breeding and Domestication (Regulation and Compensation) Act, 2025.

Sir/Madam,

Under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, please provide:

1. A copy of every notification issued under Section 3(1) of the Goa Animal
   Breeding and Domestication (Regulation and Compensation) Act, 2025 declaring
   any breed or class of animals to be a ferocious animal, with its Official
   Gazette number and date. If no such notification has been issued, please
   state so in writing.

2. A copy of every public notice issued under Section 3(2) of the said Act,
   with its date of publication, and the number of objections and suggestions
   received under Section 3(3).

3. The current status of the file processing the said public notice.

4. The number of owners who have informed the Director under Section 5(2), and
   the number of sterilisation certificates issued under Section 5(3).

5. A copy of the notification authorising officers as Competent Authority under
   Section 2(c) of the said Act, region-wise.

6. Whether any rules have been framed under Section 9 of the said Act, and if
   so, a copy.

I enclose the prescribed application fee of ₹10. If any part of this
information is held by another public authority, please transfer that part
under Section 6(3) within five days. Please supply the information within the
period fixed by Section 7(1).

Yours faithfully,
[Name]
[Full postal address]
[Date]

Point 1 is the one that matters. A written no is proof you can rely on. A written yes gives you the Gazette number, and from that date your 30-day and 60-day duties under section 5 begin.

Our AI RTI Drafter will build this for you, and the Timeline Tracker counts the thirty days so you know the exact date the reply falls due.

• Assuming the breeds are already banned. Section 4 only operates after a section 3(1) notification. None was traced on 30 August 2026.
• Missing the six-month wall. Section 7(2) is a hard filing window from the date of the incident, not from the date your treatment ended.
• Going to the wrong officer. Section 7(2) fixes jurisdiction by where the incident happened, and section 2© puts the officer at Deputy Collector rank or above.
• Suing only the handler. Section 2(j) lets you name the organisation or association that had custody of the animal.
• Sleeping on the appeal. Section 7(4) gives sixty days. Beyond that you are asking the Tribunal to condone delay, and its power stops at one year.
• Quoting a compensation amount. The Act fixes none. Anyone who quotes you a figure from this Act is inventing it.

Not under this Act, on the evidence available. The prohibition in section 4 applies only to a breed or class specified in a notification issued under section 3(1). On 30 August 2026 no such notification could be traced in the Official Gazette or on the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services website, whose notices page carried only tenders. Verify it yourself with the RTI above before acting.

Yes. Section 7(1) speaks of the owner of any animal which caused the injury or death. It is not limited to notified breeds, and it opens with a clause that overrides anything else in the Act or in any other law in force.

Six months from the date of the incident to file, under section 7(2). The Competent Authority must then decide within three months of the claim being made, under section 7(3), after a summary inquiry on the lines of Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Section 2© defines it as an officer not below the rank of Deputy Collector, authorised by the Government by notification in the Official Gazette to perform the functions of Competent Authority. You file before the one holding jurisdiction over the region where the incident took place. Ask for the region-wise list by RTI, as in point 5 above.

Section 7(4) gives you sixty days from the decision to appeal to the Administrative Tribunal of Goa, with delay condonable for sufficient cause up to one year. Section 7(5) makes the Tribunal's order final and bars an injunction. But section 7(6) preserves your separate civil and criminal remedies.

No. Section 7(6) keeps the two tracks separate. If a breed is notified and an owner breaches section 4, the section 6(1) punishment stands on its own, and it carries a minimum of fifteen days of simple imprisonment along with a ₹50,000 fine and community service.

The Act does not carve out local bodies, and section 2(j) defines owner to include an organisation or association in possession or custody of an animal. Where the animal is a stray with no owner, section 7 has nobody to name, and the route is the Animal Birth Control machinery instead. See our guide on the stray dog RTI to the Municipal Veterinary Officer.

• The Goa Animal Breeding and Domestication (Regulation and Compensation) Act, 2025, Goa Act No. 21 of 2025, full text on India Code: indiacode.gov.in
• Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 24, Extraordinary No. 04, dated 16 September 2025, notification 7/18/2025-LA/135, Department of Law, Legal Affairs Division
• Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Government of Goa: ahvs.goa.gov.in
• Right to Information Act, 2005: full text with the 14 November 2025 amendment

• The RTI Playbook, the full escalation method from application to second appeal
• AI RTI Drafter to build the application above
• First Appeal Builder if the Directorate misses the thirty-day deadline
• PIO Reply Checker to test whether a vague reply is legally complete
• Stray dog menace, RTI to the Municipal Veterinary Officer
• RTI Act, 2005, full text

Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak. Last verified against the Goa Act No. 21 of 2025 gazette text on 30 August 2026.