Control of Dogs
Dail Éireann — 2024-05-09
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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (SF), Cork South-Central

I should have added that in several instances where there are issues with irresponsible owners, the dogs themselves are the victims. The maltreatment of dogs is a significant issue.
Over the past two years, there were 240 dog attacks on livestock, 180 on other animals and 430 attacks on people across the State. Those are quite substantial numbers. Some local authorities failed to issue any fines in the last four years. I welcome that training is part of it. I do not believe we have enough dog wardens, with only one for every 3,000 dogs. I know the Minister is not responsible for the recruitment of dog wardens, but it is an issue all the same. It comes back to the point about the review. The application of the Control of Dogs Acts varies greatly from local authority to local authority. The Minister mentioned the review group chaired by John Twomey, who, I presume, is the former deputy Garda commissioner. When will that review group report back to the Minister? Will that result in changes to legislation or is it more likely to be operational?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2024-05-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-05-09