Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Each year my Department publishes statistics covering a range of the dog control responsibilities of local authorities. These include statistics in respect of their work on dog breeding establishments. Local authorities are responsible for registrations, inspections and issuing fixed payment notices or improvement notices in relation to these establishments.

Statistics for 2018 are currently being collected from each of the local authorities and, when checked and verified, they will be published on my Department's website. I plan to publish the 2018 statistics by the end of June of this year. Similarly, statistics for 2019 will be published when available in 2020. The statistics for 2017 and earlier years are available on my Department’s website.

At the end of 2017 there were 258 dog breeding establishments registered. Approximately one third of these were commercial establishments, with the remainder including boarding kennels, animal welfare shelters and hunt clubs. A total of 275 inspections were carried out in total in 2017, with four improvement notices and two fixed payment notices issued. Further information is also available on the Department's website.

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