Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be quick as I know we are under time pressure. I am following on from Dr. Kirby, as a vet practising for 20 years, explaining his concerns around surgical insemination and all the risks that it comes with. It is interesting that when I put a question to the Minister and the Department, they said they were not aware of any animal welfare concerns around surgical insemination. This is something the committee needs to come back to when we have the Minister and the Department in.

My question is on ear cutting and how we strengthen enforcement against that. One issue is public awareness and making it almost that people would be shunned if they were walking around with a dog that has this procedure done to it. When the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, DSPCA, representatives were before the committee, they were talking about the potential of a phased-in ban. If somebody has a dog, the dog could live out its life but we would ban the importation and ownership of a dog with cropped ears and that would be a way to address this. Under the current law, the person would practically have to be caught in the act of cropping the ears. I would like to hear Dr. Kirby’s view on that and how we could have better enforcement.