It is the phrase "public place" that troubles me. A graveyard is a public place and I know a farm adjacent to such a public place. What I am troubled about is whether "public place" is necessary. We are concerned to protect a dog owner out walking on the road and to enable him to call back his dog. Is it necessary to include a public place? We have defined "public road" as including "any public highway, street or footpath". Then we go on to define "public place" as meaning "any place to which the public have access whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge".
I suggest to the Minister that he ought to have another look at the phrase "public place" in the context of this section, bearing in mind that, particularly west of the Shannon where a great many sheep are kept and where great damage can be done by vagrant dogs, he may create a situation in which nobody can within the law protect sheep. I am continually obsessed with the idea that we should not make laws here which it is impossible for people to carry out. I think it is possible for anybody to ensure that no poison will be staked on his land within 100 yards of the public road or footpath but if we extend that to include any residence or any public place as defined by section 2, we shall find that in a great many farms west of the Shannon the kind of protection which the section is designed to make available will not be available lawfully to a small farmer. We do not want to create a situation in which such small farmers, for their own protection, are obliged to break the law.
This presents no problem for large farms in the midlands or where the acreage is extensive but the worst worrying of sheep is done in Galway and Roscommon. While it is humanitarian and good to protect dogs, it is only those of us who have seen sheep after a vagrant dog has been amongst them staggering around the field with their entrails dragging after them or lambs which have been chewed up kicking, waiting to be slaughtered, who can get this problem into true perspective. Nobody wants to poison a dog just for fun. Few people want to poison their land except to avoid this horrible situation when sheep are savaged by vagrant dogs.
We recognise that in section 14 but I invite the Minister to look again at the phrase "public place". He would be wiser if he substituted for the phrase "public place" the phrase "public road" as defined by section 2. The Minister should consult some of his colleagues who represent western constituencies or ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach sitting behind him if there is any farm in West Donegal where he could stake poison which would not be within 100 yards of a public place, except on the mountains.