Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank and compliment Senator Boylan for initiating this Bill. I compliment the members of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for their work on the publication of the report, which contains numerous recommendations and observations that should be progressed over the coming period. I know the Minister is reviewing the guidelines at the moment. In a previous life I served as Minister of State at the Department of Community and Rural Development. We enacted the revised guidelines on dog breeding establishments, which came into effect on 1 January 2019. They were a vast improvement on what was in place previously. Obviously, not everybody was satisfied that they went far enough, but they were certainly a huge improvement in relation to the socialisation of pups, and focused on improving the welfare of dogs and pups. They provided greater clarity on socialisation, placed greater emphasis on the need for accurate record-keeping and contained directions on staff-animal ratios and a provision for unannounced inspections of dog breeding establishments by the local authority veterinary service. Of course, when I talk about establishments I am referring to those that are registered. Are they all registered and regulated? We can see that they are not. Those are the difficult ones that are run by individuals who do not comply with the law and keep breeding animals to sell. As someone who had a rescue dog for a number of years until she passed away, I know the importance of the socialisation of dogs and the difficult backgrounds that many breeding dogs come from. It takes them a period of time to recover from their ordeal and get used to being loved, held, cuddled and everything else we do with dogs. There are legal issues in respect of the ownership of pets. I know that the value of some dogs is quite astronomical. That probably accounts for the difficulties in rehoming them, but that is no excuse. The animals, and particularly puppies, need socialisation and to be with people often to ensure that they have a decent life and also that they can be what they are supposed to be, and not turn feral or whatever. I certainly think the provisions of the Bill are very welcome.

I was contacted by a lady on foot of the tragic case in Wexford. Her mother was killed in 2017 by three presa canario dogs. I will not go into the detail of what happened, but the inquest was held in 2019 and the coroner made recommendations. It was recommended that big muscular dogs should kept in an enclosure at all times, and when in public, should be muzzled and on a chain. The coroner also recommended that anyone who wants to keep such dogs should undergo special training and hold a special licence, and that this specific breed be put on the restricted list. I understand that as of this month, the presa canario breed is now under consideration to be put on the restricted list. However, the dogs are still available to buy. If you google them, you will find them. According to a description on one of the websites I looked up:

Known for their strong guarding instinct, Presa Canarios are considered to be an owner-focused breed that's highly intelligent and trainable. With ample socialization and proper training, the Presa Canario can become a loyal family pet—and model canine citizens.

It is possible that they can become loyal family pets and model canine citizens if they are trained at a young age, but if they are not looked after, they can kill. Dogs of that breed have killed at least one person that we know of, and I am sure there are other cases in this country. The question is how we address that, when the pups are so valuable. They can be purchased online at astronomical prices, and there are individuals who are not always law-abiding or do not care about the law. If these dogs are not loved and socialised, they end up killing people. That is the crux of the matter. If human beings get into the wrong company, they can end up causing harm. Dogs, no matter how good they are, can do damage if they are in the wrong company and do not know what they are doing - herd instinct takes over or whatever. We saw the atrocious images from Moneygall of the 50 hoggets or lambs that were killed. Unfortunately, that is an annual occurrence. There will be such an incident next year again somewhere else in the country or multiple cases at a smaller level; perhaps not as many as that. There is a lot of work to be done in this area and I compliment everyone involved. I hope this Bill can be progressed, and further work done on legislation in this area.