We want to bring about change in 3 key areas – puppy factories, responsible dog ownership and incentivised neutering.

 

  • Puppy Factories

Currently there is no cap on the amount of breeding bitches a registered breeder can have.

One breeder can have 10 or 500 bitches. Over the last number of years, the situation has deteriorated rapidly with the majority of newly bought pups in Ireland coming from cruel puppy farms.

Mothers are confined to tiny cages for their whole lives until they are cast aside when they’re no longer able to churn out puppies for profit. The puppies badly bred, unvaccinated and un-microchipped.

The result for unsuspecting buyer is usually a sickly or unsocialised puppy, leading to problems adapting to their new home environment.

We want to see a cap of 10 breeding bitches introduced & heavily enforced, with substantial fines for those caught with more than 10.

A number of other measures, such as including a ratio of staff to dogs (currently set at 1/25 dogs), setting age restrictions on dogs that can be bred, increasing inspections and increasing fines would bring about meaningful change.

The current DBE Guidelines are not mandatory and there are no consequences for non-compliance. There is currently no requirement for local authorities to publish inspection reports, resulting in a lack of transparency. Legislation should be amended to make publication mandatory.

Ireland’s title as “puppy factory” capital of Europe does not have to continue. Through centralised policy generation, increased oversight of local authorities and stronger legislation, we can protect and enhance the welfare of dogs in Ireland.

However, before these changes are introduced, the safest and most ethical decision you can make is to adopt rather than purchasing a dog or puppy.

 

  • Responsible Dog Ownership

Under the existing legislation, all dog owners are obliged to microchip & obtain a dog licence each year for their dog. But the lack of enforcement means a huge amount of dog owners don’t comply, meaning nobody is legally responsible for the dog. This absolves owners of any responsibilities towards their dogs so if they stray, cause an accident or attack someone, nobody is held accountable.

We are pushing for the introduction of a ‘Dog Ownership Theory Test’, – a test people have to pass if they want to own a dog. We would hope that if they fail, they can’t legally buy or adopt a dog.

Statistics released by the Department of Rural and Community Development show that 7,352 dogs entered Irish pounds on 2022, up 77pc from 2021. Moreover, 340 dogs were euthanised in Irish pounds, twice as many as 2021.

The most common excuses people give for surrendering pets are:

‘I didn’t know how much work was involved

‘We’re not home enough to give them what they need’

‘We’re leaving the country’

‘He/she’s destroying the house’

While people’s situations change, the majority of surrenders could be avoided if more careful consideration was given before getting a dog. We hope that the introduction of a ‘dog ownership theory test’ will prevent more dogs being abandoned or ending up in rescue

 

  • Incentivised/reduced cost Neutering

Another big problem is dogs not being neutered. Neutering costs anything from €120 – 180+ depending on where you live. It’s a considerable amount of money and not affordable to everyone.

If there were incentives for neutering it would prevent a huge number of unwanted puppies every year.

A case study from Australia, which could easily be replicated in Ireland:

In 2012, Animal Welfare Fund Grants Program was launched in Victoria, Australia. Since then, millions of Australian dollars have been given to support councils and not-for-profit organisations that provide free or low-cost desexing of cats and dogs for disadvantaged citizens of Victoria.

The aim of the programme is to support Victoria’s vulnerable or disadvantaged residents with sterilisation and microchipping of dogs and cats and to reduce the number of unwanted/stray animals in Victoria. People who wish to obtain the relief package may (for example) obtain vouchers for sterilising from local Councils in Victoria on presentation of their ‘concession card’ (i.e. Public Services Card) or ‘pension card. They can also apply to community desexing programmes or animal welfare organisations who have been provided with Animal Welfare Fund Grants (its apparent online which groups have received the grants).

According to Animal Medicines Australia they have estimated that neutering rates (for the whole of Australia) from 2019 – 2022 remain high (i.e. between 73% – 81%). A high neutering rate is extremely important when it comes to stray dogs entering pounds. The additional funding to Councils and Welfare organisations for neutering programmes in Victoria has been a major contributing factor in the 55% decrease in strays which the RSPCA saw enter their care between 2017 – 2022.