7/18/2017 irishtimes.

com - A well-enforced welfare system for animals long overdue - Mon Jul 17 05:29:02 IST 2017

A well-enforced welfare system for animals long overdue

Karlin Lillington

Last Updated: Monday, July 17, 2017, 05:29

In 2004, I was working on a story about one of Irelands saddest secrets: its large-scale puppy farm industry which supplied
poorly-bred, poorly-socialised puppies to unwitting buyers.

Puppy farms were a distressing sight, with up to hundreds of cowering breeding dogs conned in small wire cages.
Exhausted females carried litter after successive litter. Timid, often sickly puppies received little human socialisation.

Searching for a vivid phrase to convey the scope and shame of this cruel practice, I decided puppy farm capital of Europe
was memorable and accurate. The subsequent story headlined that term.

A decade on, that phrase should have been consigned to history. Yet in 2017, it still resonates and is in regular use by media
and welfare experts after major conscations of mistreated breeding dogs, or following seizures of unlawfully transported
Irish puppies.

Why does puppy farming and animal welfare generally remain such a disturbing and widespread national problem?

Many mistakenly believe the key issue is inadequate animal welfare law. But Ireland has two solid pieces of legislation,
produced in the last decade after hard campaigning by veterinary and welfare organisations.

These are the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 and the more wide-ranging Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. The
latter in particular is a good piece of legislation, as acknowledged by experts such as Dr Andrew Kelly, chief executive of
the ISPCA.

The real problem is enforcement and indifference.

At the very top, Government departments endorse the legislation, but underfund its implementation and are unambitious in
considering meaningful tweaks that could have major impact.

There are large parts of the country that we cannot reach, simply because we do not have a sufcient number of inspectors.
This means there are animals suffering now that we cant help, says Kelly.

For example, tens of thousands of equines in Irelands massive horse, pony and donkey overpopulation have been
impounded, rehomed or humanely destroyed in recent years.

But thousands remain. Garda can seize animals, but are often unfamiliar with legislation. Some ofcials regularly turn a
blind eye to unregistered equines which should all be chipped and passported on housing estates and derelict land. A
simple step, requiring stallions to be registered, could help authorities to constrain out-of-control breeding.

Violations

Likewise, 2010s dog-breeding legislation is basically sound, but poorly enforced due to lack of wardens and lax councils.
Advanced warnings of inspections mean ongoing violations escape detection, surplus-to-licence dogs are temporarily
removed and offenders go unprosecuted.

In certain cases, presented with individuals that signicantly exceeded their allowed number of dogs, the local council
responded by increasing their licence quotients, rather than taking prosecutions.

Many experts support a legislative change to require a licence for breeding even one dog, not just for those with six or more
breeding bitches, as under current legislation. This could immediately reduce Irelands vast surplus of casually bred dogs,
where thousands are euthanised in pounds annually. This step would better ensure breeders paid the required taxes on
puppies they sell, often at hundreds of euro each.

Existing legislation also relies too much on bare-minimum kennelling requirements that allow too many dogs to be kept with
too little human interaction, often in mediocre environments.

Accompanied by difcult-to-enforce guidelines, the legislation fails to adequately address the housing and socialisation
needs of breeding dogs and puppies, resulting in ill and unsound dogs ooding the pet dog market and being bought by the
unsuspecting public, says Tara Choules, a university-qualied canine behaviourist at Dublin company AniEd.ie. The
guidelines should be regulations, she says.

Meanwhile, cats have virtually no protections under Irish law and the State has no formal pound system for cats.

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7/18/2017 irishtimes.com - A well-enforced welfare system for animals long overdue - Mon Jul 17 05:29:02 IST 2017
Farm animals

Though pet animals come under the most welfare scrutiny, the plight of farm animals and exotic pets is largely ignored. For
example, the ISPCA notes that 99 per cent of Irish pigs have their tails docked when a few days old, which is illegal under
the EU pigs directive.

And exotic pets despite having specialist needs and some being potentially dangerous are almost entirely unregulated.
Irish collectors are known to keep poisonous snakes, wolves, zebras, tigers and jaguars, with no housing or care
requirements.

Finally, Irelands judges fail to take animal welfare cases seriously. Though legislation allows for signicant nes of up to
5,000 and/or up six months imprisonment on summary conviction, and up to 250,000 and/or ve years on indictment,
most cases result, at best, in very modest nes, as evidenced in the ISPCAs current inspectorate report.

While Ireland has made a good legislative start, we are long overdue a consistent, well-funded and well-enforced animal
welfare system. Id be happy never to see or hear the term puppy farm capital again.
2017 irishtimes.com

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