February 2nd, 2010
One Comment
This year will finally bring regulation on puppy farming in Ireland with the introduction of the long awaited Dog breeding Establishment Bill. Ireland has been named the ‘Dog breeding capital of Europe’ and in recent years it has come to light the truth behind some establishments, were animal welfare has suffered at the hands of breeders, whose only concern is profit. Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, has made it clear it should ‘hold no fear for those who run their establishments well’.
A working group was set up and following consultation with dog interest groups such as the ISPCA, they has made several recommendations. This new bill will be welcomed by dog lovers across the country who have been disgusted by, a minority of unscrupulous and neglectful puppy farmers who have given dog breeders a bad name.
A state – regulated registration system for dog breeding establishments is to be put in place. This is to be enforced by the local authority dog control department. It will include a comprehensive set of statutorily enforceable standards for the operation of dog breeding establishments by local authority offices. Each dog in these establishments must be micro chipped.
A dog breeding establishment is a premises at which six or more bitches over the age of four months and who are capable of being used for breeding purposes, are kept.
The fee will vary in accordance with the amount of breeding bitches kept. For example: 6 -12 bitches having a licensing fee of € 400 and 13 – 25 a fee of € 800. The minister, when addressing the Seanad on the 6th January, took the example of a breeder with 12 bitches, each having one litter of 5 pups a year, thereby having 60 pups available for sale at a estimated figure of € 500 each which totals € 30,000. With such possible financial gain the new licensing fee should therefore not be a significant overhead. Rescue centers, hunt kennels, commercial boarding kennels will be exempt from the fee but will have to be open to inspection.
The local authority will after their inspection either issue a certificate which must be displayed, or make recommendations for improvements, to be carried out within a specified time period. They will also have the power to close any establishment that is unsuitable. Breach of this legislation could see a breeder with fines of up to € 5000 or imprisonment of 6 months.
Finally we have the means to put a stop to back street breeders whose dogs are merely breeding machines and who don’t even have there basic needs catered for. This bill has been talked about since 2004 and only time will tell if these regulations will be enough to put an end to the suffering of thousands of dogs on puppy farms across the country.
By Una. Filed under Animal Welfare, Dogs.
I think there is still a lot more that needs to be done to improve the welfare of commercially bred dogs. The UK has also made recent progress with regards to its dog breeding regulation.
An independent inquiry into dog breeding ( see here for more http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterwedderburn/100022266/dog-breeding-report-the-facts/
) recommends that all puppies should be; micro-chipped so they can be identified and vet certified guaranteeing their health.