The mother of a seven-year-old boy attacked by two Rottweilers in Co Offaly on Saturday night has called for more dog wardens.
It is understood gardaí sent a squad car to a cul-de-sac in Sycamore Estate, Edenderry, shortly after 8.30pm on Saturday when they were alerted that the dogs were loose. The dogs' owner was not at home, and gardaí left the estate to find the Tullamore dog warden.
The boy's mother, Martina Denn, said today the gardaí could not find the dog warden. "If anything comes out of this, it should be that dog wardens are made more available. I'd class that [the roaming Rottweilers] as an emergency," she said.
Former ISPCA chief executive Ciaran O'Donovan said local councils did not provide enough funding for dog wardens.
"Not all gardaí are trained dog handlers, and certainly your average garda wouldn't be able to deal with that. It's a specialised job that requires a dog warden to deal with it. But there are too few on the ground and that's a question of funding," Mr O'Donovan said on RTÉ radio.
Labour agriculture spokeswoman Mary Upton said that dog warden services "must be resourced properly".
Jordan Denn (7) was attacked shortly before 9.30pm as he played on a green with his friends in a cul-de-sac around the corner from where the dogs had been housed.
The boy's father, Lee, came to his rescue as one dog had the child by the head and the other had a grip on his hip.
Ms Denn said that her son was "doing much better today" and she hoped he would be discharged from the Midlands Regional Hospital this afternoon.