Patrick Costello
Question:
284. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Irish Coursing Club has received any reports in the past five years of non-coursing greyhounds presented for microchipping or earmarking being older than the specified age of 12 weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30417/23]
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Patrick Costello
Question:
285. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he shares the concerns of many people that non-coursing greyhounds are being microchipped or earmarked at a much later age than that of the specified age of 12 weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30418/23]
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 284 and 285 together.
This is a matter for the Irish Coursing Club. Information is not readily available and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51:
The Irish Coursing Club (ICC) is the competent authority with regard to the maintenance of the Irish Greyhound Stud Book. The ICC has been responsible for the Irish Greyhound Stud Book since 1923 and this was further underpinned by the enactment of the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958.
The tattooing and microchipping of greyhound pups is conducted by ICC authorised control stewards/DAFM approved implanters. On completion of the physical procedure of tattooing[1] and microchipping[2], which is undertaken simultaneously for reasons of practicality, convenience and efficiency, the details as set out at s 4.2 of the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015 are recorded on the database operated by MicrodogID[3] .
Prior to any pup being microchipped and tattooed, the steward must co-ordinate with the owner/breeder to arrange a convenient time to perform these functions. This means that in any given day a steward will organise litters to be visited in an area. It can arise that for several reasons that an owner/breeder is unavailable at a particular time or the pups may not have received their final vaccination or, there is an issue with the health status of the pups that renders it prudent to reschedule the visit as soon thereafter.
It should be noted that no pup can be moved from its place of birth until the tattooing and microchipping procedure is completed. Furthermore, no pup can be sold or can compete until it is tattooed and microchipped. Once the steward/implanter has completed the process of tattooing and microchipping the pup, the relevant registration documentation is returned to Microdog ID to complete the registration process on the approved database. A certificate of microchipping is issued to the owner of the pup. There will be a time lag between the physical tattooing and microchipping vis a vis registration on the database.
The Irish Coursing Club has not received complaints about its activities from the general public or registered owners over the last five years as per No.4 of the Schedule to the Microchipping Regulations 2015.
[1] Control steward tattoos pup as per Irish Greyhound Stud Book.
[2] DAFM approved implanter microchips pup as per Microchipping of Dogs regulations 2015.
[3] Microdog ID Ltd is a DAFM approved database as per Section 5 of the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015.
[1] Control steward tattoos pup as per Irish Greyhound Stud Book.
[2] DAFM approved implanter microchips pup as per Microchipping of Dogs regulations 2015.
[3] Microdog ID Ltd is a DAFM approved database as per Section 5 of the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015.
