Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss the matter of XL bullies.

Despite recent changes, XL bully legislation continues to fall short in several key areas, particularly in fairness, due process and clarity. The introduction of a review process for private owners of dogs to seek a certificate of exemption is welcome and important, but the legislation still lacks several important amendments causing concern for rescue organisations, dog owners and advocates. Currently, a private owner of an XL bully can appeal for an exemption, if necessary. That is welcome. The difficulty is that the same does not apply to rescue organisations and pounds and if it does not, many dogs will be killed. The language in the legislation and regulations is vague. There is currently no legal provision that allows dogs held in rescue centres or local authority pounds to receive an interim certificate of exemption. This omission creates an inconsistency whereby dogs cannot be re-homed without a permanent certificate of exemption, but a permanent certificate of exemption can only be applied for after a dog is placed in a home. Therefore, those dogs are left in limbo, unable to move to homes where they would legally be allowed to receive the exemption. There should be a temporary or interim certificate process for rescues and pounds to facilitate lawful re-homing and prevent the unnecessary killing of dogs, which, if they were reviewed, would be spared.

There is also a clear inconsistency in breed identification. There is no published training standard or certification process for vets to ensure accurate and consistent breed identification. This is a glaring issue, given the widespread misclassification of XL bully dogs. Dog wardens have been arbitrarily misidentifying XL bully dogs. At the very least, a mandatory, uniform training with a written examination is needed for all dog wardens. The absence of such training will continue to lead to misclassification, the suffering of dogs and an unnecessary waste of taxpayers' money. As recently as this week, a presa canario was euthanised as an XL bully in a Limerick pound. Such mistakes will be made because of the lack of clarity. The confirmation standards used to define XL bully-type remain vague, unamended and open to interpretation. How it is decided that a dog is an XL bully is vague and unclear. There is still no maximum height despite height being a critical trait in breed classification. The continued use of the term "type" fosters subjectivity and inconsistency, enabling the misclassification of dogs that do not possess core XL bully characteristics. This vagueness perpetuates the risk of over-reach, penalising responsible owners and wrongly targeting dogs which are not XL bullies. It throws the net so wide that it covers all bully breeds and that is a dangerous precedent to set.

The lack of legal protection for dogs in rescue centres and dog pounds has contributed to high stress, burnout and morale injury among staff and volunteers. The psychological trauma caused by these preventable outcomes is immediate and long-lasting, not to mention the cruel and unnecessary suffering inflicted on the dogs themselves. Until these issues are resolved, the legislation will continue to result in unnecessary animal deaths, undermine public confidence and cause serious distress to those working to protect these animals. The Government must urgently consider these issues and commit to meaningful revisions of the regulations.

Furthermore, I understand ongoing legislative work is being done in this area. It is important that the issues affecting XL bullies are not ignored and that the relevant advocacy and rescue groups are included in the consultation process.