Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the Bill has been introduced and the work that has gone into it. It is long overdue and the existing legislation comes from another time. It is inadequate for dealing with the emerging needs and demands of today. It is progressive and good that animal health and welfare are being taken together. I acknowledge that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is the first Minister to take real steps in decades to address fundamental animal welfare issues. Other Bills have been passed but they were on specific matters.

I will deal with the positive aspects before addressing the aspects lacking in the Bill. It is good that the Bill firmly states the responsibility of owners of animals. Animal welfare does not mean an absence of cruelty but promoting the welfare of the animal. It is positive that failure to look into notices and conditions for animals will be an offence. Considering the extent of international trade and the importance of knowing the source of animal products and the need for surveillance in respect of animal disease in imports, it is positive that these points are covered in the Bill. It works both ways for our imports and exports. Another positive point is that officers can inspect premises with animals and animal products and take samples.

Another positive point is the appointment of authorised officers to enforce animal rights legislation. It shows the Minister is taking animal rights seriously and that no one will be exempt from punishment for the cruel treatment of animals. The notices will only be effective if the fines for breaches are significant enough and if there are further consequences for those who do not comply. On-the-spot fines and penalties are great because they are more significant than going through the court process, which can drag on. The code of practice is also positive.

The Minister does not expect additional costs from the implementation of the Bill because of the significant numbers of staff working in the area. The hope is that the Bill will enable their work to be done in a more comprehensive way.

I am not sure I agree that the deliberate laying of poison which will endanger protected animals should be considered minor, with a lower fine. One positive measure concerns the people who should not be allowed to have animals in their care. Anyone found guilty of a serious animal welfare offence will be precluded from owning or working with animals in the future. Persistent offenders will be caught. We know this does not happen at the moment.

I am ambivalent about the sale of animals to a young person under 16 years of age. I know young people who have been very careful of their animals. This can continue but it will be under the guidance of a parent or guardian. There are too many cases of the Christmas or birthday present being a designer dog, which is then abandoned. I acknowledge the work of animal sanctuaries and animal shelters doing phenomenal work. Some young people and teenagers are committed to animals and I acknowledge the way in which dogs are used for those who are visually impaired and children with autism.

This Bill is positive in respect of dogfighting because animal baiting is despicable. I am not certain we can preclude coursing because, to me, coursing is animal baiting. I am glad that dogfighting is included in the Bill because it should be completely done away with. It is reprehensible that people deliberately breed and train dogs to fight and be vicious. It is good that it will be illegal to attend a dogfight so that there will be repercussions for those involved in attending and organising one. Section 16 gives emergency powers to authorised officers and vets who encounter animals in distress or suffering injuries requiring immediate destruction on humane grounds. I was on Cape Clear while a whale was standard in Baltimore. I saw the distress of people looking at it, never mind the distress of the whale. The legislation will be beneficial in such cases.

I acknowledge the work of the late Tony Gregory because animal welfare was high on his agenda. He regretted that more had not been done in his lifetime. In a Private Members' Bill in 1993, he made the point that all legislation concerning animals should have "the welfare of the vulnerable and defenceless in nature's creation". I acknowledge the work of Noel Browne, the former president Mary Robinson and the current President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who all had concerns about animal welfare.

The explanatory memorandum refers to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine "providing a legislative basis for the protection of all animals be they farm animals, sport animals, pets or otherwise". The Minister referred to protected animals being accorded greater protection than animals living in the wild and said all animals are protected in so far as cruel acts are forbidden. Section 12 refers to cruelty being expressly forbidden, including any unnecessary suffering whether caused by direct physical abuse, recklessness or negligence.

I welcome that.

I now refer to where the legislation falls down. My first point deals with badgers. I accept that we are not fully free of bovine TB and that control measures are necessary but such measures could be carried out in a humane way, not through the most barbaric, gruesome and inhumane practice of catching badgers in a snare. I have seen the snares; they belong to a medieval torture chamber and are not part of a modern, civilised society. The trapping is cruel and when the badger is caught, it is a sitting target for the hunter to shoot it. A consequence is that the young badgers are left to starve. There are no badgers in the Isle of Man, yet there is bovine TB there. Farmers who are against badger snaring say other measures could be used to combat TB, including strict movement controls, thorough cleansing of livestock buildings, good ventilation and double fencing on all boundaries. There were some measures of note taken in England. Movement controls, improved cattle testing and biosecurity saw a 15% reduction in bovine TB. There are similar improvements in other countries where there is no badger killing.

The Minister has previously taken questions on this matter and I noted the replies he gave. If one culls intensively for four years, there is a net TB reduction of 12% to 16%. Therefore, 85% of the problem remains. I hope that the legislation could lead to a vaccination strategy instead of using the very cruel and barbaric practice of badger snaring. The Irish Wildlife Trust stated in a letter to The Irish Times this week that since culling began in Ireland many years ago, 90,000 badgers have been killed. However, 80,000 of the badgers were healthy. In Northern Ireland, badgers are tested in the field so that only those infected with TB are killed.

Let me refer to coursing. I could read out a catalogue of instances of coursing cruelty but I will refer to just a few pertaining to various coursing meetings. Over two days of coursing at one event, 16 hares were hit by dogs. Nine were pinned and seven died of their injuries. At another meeting, six hares were hit by muzzled dogs, six were injured and two were killed. Over another two days, ten hares were hit, two were killed, two were injured and two died overnight. At another meeting, 12 hares were hit by muzzled dogs, one was killed, four were injured and one was put down because of injuries.

There was an interesting case in Westmeath. The ranger, in his report, states nine hares were hit on the first day of the meet. Of these, one was tossed and rolled on the ground, another was tossed and mauled, and another was mauled on the ground by the two dogs and placed in a wooden box. Another was hit about five times and mauled on the ground by the dogs. In Limerick, 15 hares were hit by dogs. The findings of the post-mortem stated, "I presume it was internal injuries rather than muzzles coming off". The ranger noted that the muzzles did not come off. Muzzles, therefore, do not prevent cruelty to the animal. At another meet five hares were hit. No veterinarian was present but one was on call, yet the veterinarian completed a veterinary report despite not having been present.

At yet another meet, in County Kerry, where 12 hares were hit, three were killed, three died of natural causes and one was put down because of injury. The ranger's report noted this was because of the weather conditions on the day. There was very heavy rain on the Saturday night of the coursing which made the ground very heavy and soggy and this, in turn, made it difficult for the hares to run, resulting in 12 hares being caught. The ranger should have called off that meeting because of the condition of the field. The condition resulted in the hares being hit and killed and made it difficult for them to run, yet there is nothing in the licensing regulations about weather conditions. The so-called humane practice of muzzling has not stopped the injuries and deaths.

We know what occurs before coursing meetings. The club members go out collecting hares. Sometimes they do so outside the bounds of their licence. Netting involves supporters yelling and shouting to herd hares into a net and then into an enclosure. This, again, is cruel to hares because they are solitary creatures. The wild hare is released into the field where we know what happens. Blooding with hares, rabbits and kittens is practised by people who own greyhounds. While debating legislation before the recess, I discovered that hares can also be shot. I do not know what the poor hare ever did to Irish society to be subjected to such cruel treatment.

Greyhounds are very gentle creatures. They are being trained to hunt and to be something that is against their nature. Greyhounds have suffered injuries because of their being muzzled. I am not advocating the removal of the muzzles but I am saying that muzzles, which are supposed to be humane, are not humane for the hare or greyhound. There are thriving greyhound industries in countries that have banned hare coursing.

Let me consider the use of animals in experiments. These experiments cause severe and prolonged pain. There is concern over the lack of bioethical input into the transposition process. There have been improvements in breeding but more legislation is required in respect of the code of practice.

I acknowledge the work of BirdWatch Ireland, which states wild birds are vital indicators of environmental change. Therefore, monitoring their population is very important, especially when some species are experiencing serious decline. The breeding curlew is an example. There is a need to ensure the protocol for reporting on species and numbers hunted, or bag returns, is adhered to. Changes in hunting pressure need to be monitored. There is a need to review the listed bird species which can be hunted in open season and the monitoring of the number and impact of the licences.

Let me refer to fur farming. I have seen evidence of the manner in which animals are kept, breaching all animal welfare laws, even those we had before now. The practice is similar to the medieval torture chamber represented by the badger traps. A review group submitted a report some months ago but this is not being addressed in the Bill. I hope separate legislation is being planned as a consequence. I know there is employment in this area but believe it can be diversified to the satisfaction of people who want fur coats.

There is no doubt that feral cats are a problem, not just in the countryside but also in many urban areas and housing estates. They comprise a growing problem but there is a humane method of dealing with them, namely, an emergency neutering campaign. Many veterinarians are offering this service for free. There are groups involved in raising awareness in this regard.

It is horrific to see animals, including dogs and cats, being dumped. Last week, a cat and three kittens were dumped on Dollymount beach and people tried to rescue them. The microchipping of all dogs would go a long way towards tracing owners who have completely disregarded their responsibilities.

There are alarming reports of plans to ship Irish horses to China. This debate arose already in respect of greyhounds. Why should we export live animals to a country that has a record of treating animals inhumanely? I do not understand this. Ignoring human rights abuses, we should note that China, as a country, is steeped in animal abuse. Animal rights organisations can chronicle the abuse of horses, which is part of life in China. China has horse fighting. There is a need for legislation to ensure that live Irish animals will not be exported to countries with a record of ill treatment of animals.

There is a lack of formal regulations for monitoring institutions in receipt of State funding that deal with animals. Accountability and transparency are vital in ensuring that animal welfare is adhered to. This goes for animals in private and State-funded organisations. The level of compliance with animal welfare legislation by institutions should be monitored by independent authorised animal welfare officers. I refer to the Irish Coursing Club, the greyhound club and Horse Racing Ireland. My predecessor, the late Tony Gregory, said the coursing club is a law unto itself and not fit to regulate anything involving animal welfare.

The new legislation does not address the lack of oversight of a number of State-funded organisations. Perhaps there is a need for an independent body to which people can go if they have complaints about animal welfare standards in institutions. At present, it is not possible to know the extent of animal cruelty or whether all practices involving animals are in accordance with the law in the organisations in question. This is because there is no transparency. Will the new authorised animal welfare officers have the authority to enter the premises to monitor animal activity, sport and recreation activities and animal experimentation?

The Arts Council gives funding to circuses. What is the level of compliance with animal welfare standards among circuses? Does this feature in the applications for Arts Council grants? Are inspections carried out before grants are allocated? Will the authorised officers have the authority to inspect circuses? I acknowledge Fossett’s Circus, which has eliminated animals from its circus. The focus is entirely on human activities, such as acrobatics.

There is some debate over zoos.

Dublin Zoo has come a long way since the time when, as a child, I saw lions and tigers pacing up and down the length of a cage that was not as large as the area I am standing in now. Dublin Zoo has done a great deal to try to include elements of their natural habitats. While nothing beats leaving them in their natural habitats, zoos have done good work in preserving species that would have become extinct through poaching and so on. The zoos have also done good work in promoting animal welfare. When schools and youth groups visit Dublin Zoo, it does good work in building their awareness of animal welfare.

While the Bill has many positive aspects, it also has negative ones and the instances of animal cruelty that I mentioned must be addressed. Other Deputies and I will seek amendments in that respect.

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