Puppy farm demonstration held at Dáil

By Darren J. Prior

On the day the Dáil came back for its new term (Wednesday 16th), a demonstration was held outside Leinster House calling for an end to puppy farms in Ireland.

Despite not having a Facebook event page for the demonstration, approximately 70 people, including eight Oireachtas members, attended, which attendees felt was a reasonably good turnout on the day. This publication attended the demo.

The event was organised by Spiddal native Máirín Ní Chonghaile, who is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist and a registered veterinary nurse.

Máirín is passionate about canine behaviour, runs a Puppy School and, as part of her job every day, she “sees the repercussions of the legislation that has legalised the mass production of dogs”.

In Ireland, it is “legal to have as many dogs as you want” in puppy farms, and that is unacceptable and “legalised cruelty”, according to Máirín.

“The Government have refused to put in any kind of significant reform to stop this. All of the dog breeding establishments in Ireland, all of the big ones, have all got a legal licence. So we can’t put the blame completely at their feet. They are doing something that has been legalised by the State.”

Máirín has contacted the Department of Agriculture about a lot of the “problems with the system, but a lot of the Government TDs are held by what their party’s stance is”.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has started the process of enacting legislation on this issue.

But, according to Máirín, while some of the current plans in his legislation are very good and welcome, he and the Government “haven’t done the most simplistic part of stopping puppy farming, which is that we need to cap the amount of female dogs on a premises”.

And the Government legislation currently doesn’t “do anything about the conditions”.

Minimising the number of dogs in a puppy farm “has to be the first step”, according to Máirín.

Oireachtas members attending the demo on the day included Senator Chris Andrews (Sinn Féin) and TDs Jennifer Whitmore (Social Democrats), Pádraig O’Sullivan and Willie O’Dea (Fianna Fáil).

According to Senator Andrews, “it is really important that we say enough is enough” and “that we keep the pressure on Government”.

The Government “talk the talk but we need them to walk the walk and ensure that dogs are looked after”.

Dublin People has previously covered the legislation Jennifer Whitmore TD has brought before the Dáil on puppy farms.

Speaking at the demo, Deputy Whitmore said:

“Last year I brought forward a bill on behalf of the Social Democrats that would have a cap on the number of breeding females in any facility.

“We put a number of 30 on it. I still recognise that 30 is quite high.

“But I had hoped at that stage that Government would work with me on that bill and that we would be able to achieve something that would be a first starting point at really addressing industrial puppy farming.

“Unfortunately the Government aren’t going to work with me on that. They brought forward their own legislation which has no cap in it.”

According to John O’Callaghan from Dog Advocacy Ireland, the issue of puppy farming in Ireland is “not going away.

This is a national scandal. With €200 million per annum being earned from the criminal abuse of thousands of dogs. So it has to stop.”

As well as Deputy Whitmore’s legislation, Pádraig O’Sullivan has also introduced his own similar legislation on the issue of puppy farms in Ireland. According to Deputy O’Sullivan:

“The Minister has already done a wide consultation in terms of improving the conditions and in terms of resourcing the various charities. But look, the proof will be in the pudding.

“The Minister has to publish an action plan. It will have to be well resourced. We are all in it for the same reasons, the right reasons. We all want to see animal rights respected.

We don’t want to see animals abused.

Anything we can contribute to that we are more than happy to do so. It is something that we will continue to work on here with the animal welfare groups and the Dáil’s action group with John O’Callaghan.”