Irish farmers are calling on the Government to introduce stronger measures to stop dogs from attacking their flocks.
Sean Dennehy, sheep chairman of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) criticised the lack of action from local authorities in response to a recent spate of sheep killings across the country. Dog owners are liable for injury or damage caused by their dog to people or livestock.
“It is not acceptable to farmers, who provide full traceability for seven million cattle and three million breeding sheep – where very animal is individually tagged and traceable to the person responsible for them – that a similar system is not in place for dog owners,” Mr Dennehy said.
Owners are required to have a dog licence and to have the dog microchipped. According to the IFA there are an estimated 800,000 dogs in the country but only 207,866 licences issued in 2020, leaving 600,000 without identification.
“There is an urgent need to strengthen the legislation, include appropriate sanctions and develop a single national database identifying dogs and their owners, similar to that in other jurisdictions,” Mr Dennehy added.
Mr Dennehy believes the number of dog attacks on sheep is grossly under-reported and called on the Government to address the problem.
“There are very few sheep farmers in the country who have not had the horrendous experience of finding their flock savaged by dogs, yet the official figures recorded only 241 such incidents in 2020,” the IFA sheep chair added.
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