Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When the dog is brought to the vet, they get their vaccines etc. Over the last five years, in my opinion - and I often ask how much that costs - it has nearly been the same price over the last four or five years, bar you are going for something big like an operation. That is going into a different category. It is like horses. There is now a hospital for horses. It is going to cost more, simple as that, if you are going to be doing it. I know that people try to keep them alive and do their best for them. I see so many people, especially elderly people. It is their only companion in a lot of cases. They have a little dog and it is a companion to them. It is good for them, like when they go out walking with the dog. The one thing we have to watch in certain areas is where there are problems with dogs. There is no point in saying there is not. If you are in an apartment and you hear a dog barking all night, it is not the greatest thing when you are next door to it. You have to be watching things like that. There is more responsibility needed.

I would encourage the witnesses to do something before Christmas. Everyone will see a lovely dog somewhere, and when it is a young kid, people hate refusing them. This is the problem. The mammy and the daddy need to know that with the dog comes a fair bit of responsibility and other costs down the line. It would be good that when the witnesses are doing their awareness programmes, they would give a rough idea as to what a dog costs every year on a normal run of the mill. I see dogs for which €700 or €800 and €1,500 or €1,600 is given. There is no point giving out about a vet then if he charges €50 to throw a drop of Panacur or whatever into them.