Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kerrane and the committee for this really important work. Sometimes in politics, I find it quite interesting that it can be the simplest things that do not get done. This is one of the issues where I could never understand why it had not been regulated and why we were not stronger in maintaining good robust regulations, legislation and enforcement. If you talk to 99% of people out there, this is an issue they care very deeply about and an area in which they know there are real needs. They also question why politics has not caught up with their passions and interests in seeing animal and dog welfare take priority and for it to be regulated. People see that it is a relatively easy thing to do, that it is within Government's remit and that it could do quite quickly. It is great to see this report and the recommendations, and I hope the Government progresses them. The Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill 2022, in particular, needs to be progressed through the Houses with some urgency.

When I was thinking about what I was going to talk about tonight, I said I would talk about the impact. If we do not get a good system of regulation in place, we have to consider what this will look like on the ground for people. Unfortunately, what we, and what our rescue staff, are seeing is a huge increase in dogs being surrendered, dumped, abused, and ending up many times being tied to the rescue gates overnight and the rescue staff having to deal with them with they come in. I have spoken to a lot of rescue staff over recent days to get a sense of how they are finding it and how they are coping. They are really at breaking point. They are completely overflowing with dogs. Some of them are at the point where they cannot take in any more and are having to send dogs away knowing what will end up happening to some of those dogs. They are in an extremely difficult position. The people who get involved in dog rescues have such passion and compassion in this area and this really impacts them. It impacts on their mental health and on their family lives. It is something in which they believe so strongly and you can get that sense from talking to them.

We are where we are at the moment because a lot of breeders - I am not saying everybody as we have some very good breeders in this country - either do not know what they are doing or essentially just see dogs as a product from which they can make a profit. They do not see them as the feeling, loving animals we all know and love. This has meant, unfortunately, that we essentially have too many dogs in Ireland and we have not regulated the number of dogs we have. When I spoke to the rescue staff today, they said they were getting dogs because of Covid-19 and because of mental health issues with people who bought dogs over recent years and can no longer cope with them. The cost-of-living crisis is really hitting dog owners badly. Whether it is food or veterinary costs, people cannot afford them anymore. One rescue centre said it gets a lot of animals that still have the bandages on. The staff know the dogs have been with a vet, but the owners cannot bring that dog back to the vet because, if they do, they will be charged, they cannot afford to pay the price, and so they bring the dog to a rescue instead. Indeed, the housing crisis has had multiple impacts, one of them being that people have to give up their dogs, whether it is due to the eviction ban being lifted or having to move around in rentals that are not accepting dogs. These are many of the issues and reasons dogs are ending up in these rescues. Primarily, it is because we are breeding too many dogs. That is the main reason.

In Wicklow, there are a number of really excellent rescue centres as there are throughout country. However, just as an example, one such rescue centre, Wicklow Animal Welfare, had 28 dogs surrendered to it in a 16-hour period -a huge number of dogs. Another rescue centre had 28 phone calls yesterday from people who wanted to surrender their dogs. That rescue centre is no longer taking in dogs. It cannot. We can see how difficult and how bad it is for the rescue centres. It is really important we get this regulation right and it is done properly, that there are strict controls on the number of dogs that are bred, the way they are bred, and indeed, things like the human interaction those dogs get. When they are finally dumped, and dogs are being dumped, they end up without homes and it can often be difficult to find new homes for them.

I am now going to talk about my dog. Two weeks ago, I rescued a dog from Wicklow Animal Welfare. Daisy is my third rescue dog. She was a breeding bitch. She is three years old, a setter, and the gentlest dog you could ever come across, but she had never been inside a house. She does not know how to behave inside a house. It is clear she is absolutely terrified. Gaining her trust has been difficult and we are still trying to do it. It is difficult and we see the impact of this. It is really important, therefore, that we get this issue right. I wanted to raise that to explain how difficult it is for the rescue centres.

I ask the Minister of State to pass one thing on to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. Some of the rescue centres I have been dealing with do not take grants. My understanding is that if they take a grant, they have to have a policy whereby they will euthanise dogs within a certain period of time. Many of these rescues do not want to sign off on that. They have no-kill policies. They believe, and I agree, that there is a home for every dog and what needs to be done is to find the right home. Sometimes it can take some time to find the right home and family for each dog.

I ask that the Minister of State mention to the Minister that it is putting additional pressures on these rescuers that they have to fundraise entirely themselves and cannot access any grant funding. I thank the committee for this report. I hope we see progress in this area shortly.

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