Mr. Conor Dowling:

It is interesting. Since I wrote my statement, I spoke to members of An Garda Síochána yesterday with regard to some of these places. Many of the people involved are also the same people who are involved in the breeding and showing of these dogs with cropped ears. It is reasonable to have suspicions about what services might be offered at some of these places. As the Deputy heard from other witnesses, there is even some doubt about whether some of the procedures are classed as veterinary procedures. We really need to nail down what is going on in there. Who is involved? What services are they providing? Are they qualified to do so? Who are they providing them for? All that information should be recorded and available to somebody who could access these places. Again, when I spoke to these gardaí, they told me they are looking at obtaining search warrants to go in to look at these places whereas if a person is providing some sort of service like that, surely, it should be transparent and subject to routine checks.