Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct; sometimes the training means training the dog owners. They would want to be under control sometimes too. If they are treated properly and well, dogs are a wonderful companion for anybody. We all have our own dogs of whom we are very fond. However, not to take care of dogs and let them out of control and allow them to worry sheep or chase after livestock is irresponsible. We are going to have a media campaign around responsible dog ownership. We will look also at the recommendations of the joint Oireachtas committee report on dog control. It is, therefore, a sort of multifaceted approach. There are a number of different things we can do.

I do not want to be too prescriptive in terms of effectual control. We need to give the dog warden a bit of latitude because there are all different types, sizes and breeds of dogs. We need to make sure of certain things, however. I am totally against dogs that are bred to fight and so on. That is completely cruel and wrong. There is much legislation in place, but we want to tidy up and focus on a few other things to make it better.

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