Madam, – The shadowboxing of backbench TDs purporting to represent “rural Ireland” will gather pace over the next few days as the Government seeks to pass the so-called puppy farming Bill.
This Bill will enforce an annual fee of €400 on breeders owning six or more bitches of breeding age. Local authority vets will be regulated to inspect licensed dog- breeding premises annually or as warranted.
Bitches will be restricted to three litters every two years. All pups will be microchipped by law. As I write there are indications that greyhound premises may achieve an exemption. This would be bad news as vets and others in the animal industry know that the greyhound sector has a significant over-production problem. The effect of traceability, regulation and a registration cost would be a reduction of puppy numbers at the cheaper end of the market which is where overcrowding and animal welfare issues are most likely to arise.
It is convenient for Fianna Fáil rural TDs to characterise animal welfare bills as part of a Green agenda or Green conspiracy. In fact this dog breeding Bill was put together in 2006 by Dick Roche in the previous Fianna Fáil government, working with the ISPCA, Veterinary Ireland and the Department of Agriculture.
My own profession want puppy farms reduced in number and size and subject to inspection. The desired end product will be a healthy, well-socialised pet with fewer genetic defects. A reduction of puppy numbers will be an important side-effect of regulation in a country where over 10,000 unwanted dogs are euthanased in council pounds each year.
The loudest opponents of the dog breeding Bill are hunt kennels and the greyhound fraternity. Hunt kennels are loss-making and rely on membership subscriptions. Traditionally kennels provided farmers with an essential service of fallen stock disposal. This source of revenue has now declined, prompting hunts to seek exemption from the costs which are central to this Bill. But microchipping can be done as cheaply as tattooing. If this Bill allows exemptions then we may as well admit loopholes.
Greyhound racing is seen as the poor relation of horse racing. As such it is heavily subsidised by Government and no doubt this group will plead the poor mouth in the houses of the Oireachtas this week. However, the breeding and sale of greyhounds remains a thriving cash-based trade. Declared revenues within this industry are only the tip of the iceberg where pups travel between UK and Ireland on pound note transactions. Bord na gCon has its PR people, but it is notable that there is an absence of greyhound trainers or breeders sticking their heads up to plead penury. This sector may achieve its exemption, but is in fact best able to pay the modest levies proposed.
The greyhound racing industry would benefit most from local authority regulation for a number of reasons. A DSPCA survey showed that of over 10,000 dogs destroyed in council pounds in 2009, 10 per cent were greyhounds. There are too few outlets for unwanted greyhounds which have retired or are simply too slow. The best remedy to oversupply is to discourage breeding from poorer quality bitches by imposing a cost and an inconvenience.
I and many of my colleagues hope this Bill is passed in its entirety. Our current laissez-faire animal legislation is anachronistic. In common with the now outlawed spectacle of riders on horseback following dogs in pursuit of farmed deer across suburbia, I believe we will marvel in a few years’ time that anyone who saw fit was allowed to breed and sell dogs without regulation or licence.
DES GROOME,
Kildare Vet Surgery,
Kildare.
Madam, – I was very surprised that Deputy Máire Hoctor is under the impression that hounds do not require a microchip (Home News, July 3rd). She said, “The microchip would appear to be an unnecessary item for identification particularly when the tattoo embossed in the ear with DNA recorded is a tried and tested means of traceability”.
I am amazed she is not aware that many greyhounds in Ireland are found abandoned and left to bleed to death with the tattooed ear severed by the cruel owner to avoid being traced to themselves. This is terrible cruelty in the extreme which I assume no right- minded person could possibly condone. To avoid this, microchipping is the only way forward.
I speak as an international championship show judge of dogs. – Yours, etc,