Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion and thank Senator Pauline O'Reilly for tabling it. Animal welfare is a really important issue. It does not receive the attention it deserves. Part of the reason for that is that the issue, particularly canine welfare, falls across a number of Departments. I was very pleased that the agriculture committee, in fairness to it, agreed to my proposal for post-enactment scrutiny of the animal welfare legislation. We had very lengthy hearings on issues of dog and horse welfare. I hope that work will continue, with the support of other members of the committee, to look at the issues of exotic species and so on. I acknowledge the increase in funding for animal welfare organisations, but the critical thing is that we have to stop the flow of issues. We have too many animal welfare organisations, and that is because there is a need for them. Dogs Trust stated that there was an increase of 73% in surrenders this year. When I visited the new county dog pound in Dublin, I was told that 30% of surrenders were as a result of landlords not accepting pets. The housing crisis is therefore having an impact even on animal welfare because people have no option but to give up their pets in order to get rental accommodation. That means that children miss out on the really important experience of having pets as they grow up.

I will focus on issues relating to dogs. While there is a lot in the motion, there is also a great deal more that could have gone into it. Maybe we could work together to progress some of the issues I want to see progressed. The legislation on microchipping was very welcome but has not been fully enforced. We need a central database. All the data required to be provided in the legislation have to be provided. We know that Fido runs a very good database and requires that all information on the animal, including breed and age, is put into the database. There are, however, other databases that do not collect that information, and they should do so. As for the online sale and supply of pets, it is no good telling people to shop around when they do not have all the information. We need a pre-verification system, which would be very cheap. Fido and Dogs.ie use such a system. That needs to be mandatory. We also need local authorities to publish the dog-breeding establishment lists in a standard format, with the number of breeding bitches and the number of inspections carried out provided in order that people can look up a dog-breeding licence number and decide whether or not to buy a dog from somewhere that keeps hundreds of breeding bitches. We need the dog-breeding establishment, DBE, guidelines to be not only reformed and strengthened but also put on a legislative footing. We also need a national inspectorate because the standard of local authority inspections of puppy farms is just all over the place. We had officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development before the agriculture committee recently. My jaw was on the floor listening to them. The Department does not have a grasp on the issue of dog breeding at all. Surgical artificial insemination is happening. It is a barbaric practice. It was originally just in the greyhound industry; it has now made its way into the area of companion pets as well. Canine fertility clinics are popping up all over the country. There is no legislation to address them. People are setting up canine fertility clinics and carrying out surgical artificial inseminations and caesarean sections with no veterinary training whatsoever. As for cropped ears, again, we need changes to the legislation, including a phased ban on the ownership of dogs with cropped ears because that results in lifelong issues for the animal.

The cost of veterinary care will become an increasing issue. The Irish Blue Cross does fantastic work on that, and I know that the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also has a low-cost veterinary care van that goes around, but people are having to hand over their dogs because they cannot afford the veterinary care. We have to look at how we can support people to be able to keep their pets. Some of that is linked to the fact that there are designer breeds that come with multiple health issues. I thank Senator Pauline O'Reilly for referring to the Bill the Seanad passed to close the loophole in that regard and to align the Control of Dogs Act with the Animal Health and Welfare Act in order that when puppies are seized at ports or in illegal dog breeding establishments, or under the really horrific conditions we see regularly in the newspapers, those animals can be rehomed within five days rather than having to be kept where they are for the duration of a court process.

Another issue is that we need the Garda to have an animal welfare unit, which is not standard practice. Animal welfare organisations go to Templemore voluntarily and train gardaí as to what their obligations are in enforcing the law in this area, but that needs to be standardised and we need animal welfare units. What we hear is that in certain Garda stations there is a particular garda who is interested in the issue, but that is not across the board, which would make a huge difference.

The breeding of horses is a problem. Proper grazing facilities for urban horses are needed, as is a strengthening of the equine passport system.

I welcome the call to deal with exotic pets. In May of this year, however, at a European Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, 19 EU member states voiced enthusiastic support for an EU-wide positive list system but those representing Ireland did not open their mouths. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, was before this House. Prior to his attendance at the meeting in question, I asked him and his Department about their position on the matter. They did not have one. It turns out, that they did not voice any support for that positive list system. That is deeply disappointing. I hope the Minister of State takes my message in this regard back to her Government colleagues, because we need legislation on exotic pets.

I will use my last few minutes - I promise - to speak about greyhounds.