asked the Minister for Justice if he proposes to increase the rate of fines on owners retrieving their stray animals from local authority pounds.
Written Answers. - Stray Animal Fines.
299.
Owners retrieving their stray animals from local authority pounds do not pay fines in the sense of penalties as such. The amounts they pay are fees which are intended to cover fair remuneration for the impounding, care and sustenance of, and attendance on, such animals.
Pound fees are prescribed by regulations made under the Pounds (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935. The fees, which are revised from time to time to take account of increasing costs and prices, were last increased with effect from 1st January, 1976. They are being reviewed at present with a view to the prescribing of higher fees which will reflect the increases in costs and prices over the last two years.