STRICTER ENFORCEMENT of by-laws could see the amount of dog attacks “dramatically reduced”.
Action is to be taken by Clare County Council to try prevent attacks by dogs. Data from An Garda Síochána detailed that there were 130 dog attacks which involved a person as an injured party in 2022.
Calls for an awareness campaign on the control of dogs in public places and the introduction of bye-laws making it compulsory “for people in charge of dogs in public places to have all dogs on a lead and listed dangerous breeds muzzled and also the banning of extendable leads” were sought by Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND), Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG), Cllr John Crowe (FG) and Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) in a motion debated before the Council.
Citing “harrowing scenes” where children have been seriously injured or have had tragic outcomes, they appealed to Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys (FG) and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue (FF) to urgently review the Control of Dogs Act. “The Government need to protect the public from dog attacks and have the laws reviewed and properly enforced in order to eliminate the serious risk posed by dogs out of control”.
Senior executive engineer in the Environment Department of the Council, Cyril Feeney explained, “Under Statutory Instrument No 442/1998, Control of Dogs, the owners of certain breeds of dogs are required to have such dogs muzzled and be led by a sufficiently strong chain or leash, not exceeding two metres in length, by a person over the age of sixteen years who is capable of controlling the said dog while in a public place. The dog must also wear a collar with the name and address of their owner at all times”.
Dogs covered under this include, American pit bull terrier, English bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, bull mastiff, Dorbermann pinscher, German shepherd, Rhodesian ridgeback, Rottweiler, Japanse akita, Japanese tosa, Bandog.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Cllr Flynn argued, “the number of dog attacks could be dramatically reduced if the laws were properly enforced”. He referenced a recent report by Newstalk that over fifty percent of dog owners in Ireland have no licence. The Shannon representative said 1,700 attacks on humans were dogs were recorded from 2016 to 2021 and a further 1,351 on livestock in the same period. He told officials “stop kicking the can down the road” in response to comments that the Council would wait for steps to be taken from the working group established by both Ministers on the issue.
Action needs to be taken following countless “harrowing stories,” maintained Cllr Garrihy. “We need to do what’s in our power, saying something isn’t required or necessary doesn’t mean it is not a good idea to do it. Let’s not make great the enemy of good, take a leap on this”.
Clare needs to set the way in dealing with the problem, Cllr Crowe insisted. “The majority of Irish people look after their dogs very well but you have that small minority out there who do not do that”.
In the past fortnight Cllr Johnny Flynn’s sister in law was attacked by two Alsatians, “she was badly bitten, only for she used the bike she was on to protect herself she could have been very badly injured,” he flagged.
Animal welfare legislation “falls down on implementation,” remarked Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF). “The number of dog wardens is completely inadequate,” she added. Progress has been non-existen on the matter, Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) said, “Every year since I’ve been on the Council this motion has come up in some form or another. We’ve seen a horrible attack on a child, this time next year if we analyse it, what will have happened, will the law have changed”.
Actions of a minority are allowing such attacks to continue, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) believed, “There are serious consequences to the health of people if this is not dealt with in some form”.
Council Chief Executive, Pat Dowling stated, “As a civic authority, we’ve a duty of care to people in this county, we don’t always have to wait to do what we’re told to do even though it is one positive approach to take, bylaws are difficult to implement”. He added, “The dog is the responsibility of the owner, if we had 10k wardens it still may not prevent a dog attacking someone”.
Dowling said action will be taken by the Council. “If we can prevent one single child or adult being attacked or god forbid worse then I think we should take that action”.
