Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan brought in a number of people here who are involved in this area. I met with them and it was one of the more positive meetings I have had in a long time. They had fundamental issues which they wanted to see addressed and they came to help to do that. I gave them a commitment and I visited Tipperary after that meeting. It is a problem and a lot of things are not right, including the sale of pups online. We have to look at all of this in the context of legislation and we are working on that at the moment.

Deputy Broughan referred to the surrendering of dogs in January, February and March and I urge anybody who considers buying a dog for Christmas or a birthday to ensure there is a place for the dog and that all the necessary socialisation is provided for, meaning he or she is not locked up all day because that is cruelty in its own way. We have a lot of dogs and their licensing and chipping is a huge area at which we are looking in the legislation.

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