Ms Lisa O'Connor:

I had a list of the contacts in the ports, specifically at Rosslare and Dublin and in the North. In 2020 and 2021, when this activity was rife around the country, I started to tell owners to contact the person and give them a photograph of their dog and their contact information. They would do that. As the years went on and not as many dogs were being stolen, I found that people were not taking dogs out via ports anymore. It seems that there is more in-country theft now.

The dogs are moved around the country. There are specific cases where we are 100% sure that the dog was stolen because it has been caught on CCTV or the vehicle is caught on CCTV. When An Garda Síochána is notified, they might say to the owner that they need to contact the ports as well.