I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We have all been shocked by recent dog attacks, particularly the one that left one young boy with life-changing injuries. The Deputy spoke about a horrific story where a young woman had to flee four pitbulls. We need to strengthen our laws. A working group has been convened and formed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Rural and Community Development. That group has been meeting and it will look at the issue with regard to both the enforcement of current legislation and recommendations for new actions. I believe we need to strengthen the law on this. There is a strong onus on the owners of such dogs in respect of the damage caused by attacks on livestock and sheep in particular. It is not acceptable. It is a terrible loss to the farmer concerned and we have to tighten up considerably on this.

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