On behalf of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA, I thank the members of the joint committee for this opportunity to bring to their attention the society's view on animal welfare issues in the State. For the past 50 years, the ISPCA has worked locally and nationally rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming cruelly treated animals.
The society is the umbrella organisation for 22 affiliated local animal welfare organisations and as such provides training and support to a dedicated and committed core of volunteers. The society is also represented internationally through our active membership of both Eurogroup for Animal Welfare and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
Up to Friday of last week, the dedicated ISPCA animal helpline had received a total of 1,350 calls relating to incidents of cruelty or neglect of animals in 2006. These calls required follow-up visits and in many cases they resulted in our inspectors uncovering acts of severe cruelty and neglect.
Of serious concern to the ISPCA is the perception of the general public that the society is a State or semi-State organisation. In fact, the ISPCA is a charity and relies overwhelmingly on fundraising and donations to fund its core activities. This misconception can often lead to frustration as the public's expectations of our resources and capabilities are often far higher than the reality. The ISPCA received a grant of €50,000 for 2006 from the Department of Agriculture and Food for which we are extremely grateful.
The ISPCA has four full-time animal welfare inspectors. These inspectors respond to allegations of cruelty and reports of sick and injured animals in a total of 13 counties. The remaining counties are covered by volunteers from organisations affiliated to the ISPCA. Clearly, the number of officers we have available is not sufficient to adequately cover such large areas but we are unable to expand our inspectorate due to a lack of resources. To provide a minimum level of service across 26 counties we anticipate we would need to employ a further three inspectors.
The ISPCA inspectorate also provides advice, support and training for our network of affiliated member societies which operate in areas where we are unable to provide personnel. To ensure reports and queries from members of the public are disseminated appropriately, the ISPCA established a national animal helpline at our head office in Keenagh, County Longford.
The presentation document distributed to members contains a breakdown of complaints received and logged by our call centre from January 2006 to date. It shows the number of calls received per county and the type of animals to which they related. These figures refer to calls to the helpline deemed to require action and therefore were logged. They do not include the many general inquiries received by the helpline and at the National Animal Centre reception each day.
These figures illustrate the variety of complaints passed to ISPCA personnel. Although more calls are received regarding dogs than any other group of animals, complaints about dogs represent less than 50% of reports actioned. Of the 1,350 calls logged, 1,110 were passed to the four members of the ISPCA inspectorate while the remaining 240 were referred to other agencies and organisations. The helpline operates during office hours and deals with myriad inquiries. The details of calls regarding injured, neglected or cruelly treated animals are recorded, logged and passed to relevant people, agencies and organisations throughout the country. Our inspectors respond to calls concerning all sorts of animals, from dogs and cats to circus animals such as elephants and monkeys; and from horses, cattle and sheep to wildlife, stray snakes and exotic animals in pet shops.
The inspectorate is involved in several initiatives with other agencies in order to ensure that animal welfare problems are tackled promptly and effectively. All of our officers have been involved in some way with the Department of Agriculture and Food, the IFA and ISPCA collaborative early warning farm animal welfare cases. The main aim of this scheme is to ensure that when a welfare case arises on a farm, the animals involved get whatever care is needed to alleviate their suffering as quickly as possible. ISPCA representatives are involved in the system in five counties and have liaised closely with the other agencies involved. The scheme has been viewed as a positive development by our inspectors.
A formal system of co-operation between the Garda Síochána, the ISPCA, the parks and wildlife service, the dog warden service and other interested parties has been operating in County Donegal for some time. This initiative was instigated by the ISPCA inspector in that area and has been very successful. One element of this approach is the appointment of a designated Garda animal welfare liaison officer within each Garda district. This Garda is the point of contact, when possible, for any animal-related incidents within the district.
The ISPCA animal welfare inspectorate provides an extremely valuable service around the country. Our operations assist animals, members of the public and statutory bodies. ISPCA inspectors often filter and dilute the work of the Garda and other enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture and Food, by initially investigating allegations of breaches of legislation and determining whether the involvement of other agencies is required. On most occasions our officers find solutions to problems by working with the owners of the animals involved.
The ISPCA National Animal Centre was established to rehabilitate and re-home animals that were cruelly treated, neglected or abused. The centre, which opened in 2002, is situated on 88 acres in an area of rural Longford. Nine full-time and four part-time members of staff, directly involved in animal welfare work, are employed at the centre making it an important employer in such an area. The centre is designed to provide veterinary care and rehabilitation for animals that have been subjected to cruelty or neglect, and to return them to a state that enables them to be responsibly re-homed in a suitable environment. We also run a weekly veterinary clinic, which provides a neutering and spaying service for members of the public and other animal welfare organisations.
The National Animal Centre is truly a centre for all animals and is capable of holding up to 50 canines, 50 felines and 15 equines. As with all animal welfare groups there is a constant demand for spaces but as the ISPCA, in conjunction with the Garda, deals with a larger amount of cruelty prosecution cases than other organisations, many animals have to be kept for long periods as a result of court proceedings. This places an increased financial burden on the society, which can be exacerbated by the fact that on conviction many offenders are not required by the courts to pay the costs sustained by the ISPCA.
The staff at the National Animal Centre are called upon to deal with animals that have been subjected to horrendous cruelty and neglect but through their dedication and commitment to animal welfare many of these unfortunate creatures are fully rehabilitated and re-homed in safe environments.
My colleague from Compassion in World Farming will address specific issues surrounding agricultural animals and therefore I will concentrate on other species. Animals such as equines and canines that are not strictly deemed agricultural are nevertheless to be found on farms the length and breadth of the country.
The ISPCA first became actively involved in inspecting large scale dog-breeding establishments approximately five years ago. Since that time the numbers of these establishments, and the numbers of dogs housed within them, have increased significantly. The ISPCA regularly receives calls from concerned members of the public regarding premises where dogs are being bred on a large scale, often referred to as "puppy farms". Upon receiving such a complaint the ISPCA is obliged to investigate any such allegations by inspecting the premises involved.
Although the conditions in some of these locations are found to be reasonable, we have also encountered establishments in which the conditions of the dogs, or their housing, have been found to be wholly inadequate. Many of the premises reported to us fall into a third category whereby, although the ISPCA may not consider the facilities to be suitable, it is powerless to act under the existing legislation.
It has become clear in recent years that many people have become involved in the breeding of large numbers of dogs without considering what is likely to be involved and assessing the facilities they have to offer. This problem is sometimes compounded by these people acquiring more dogs without first putting in place appropriate facilities. As a result we often encounter dogs being kept in completely unsuitable receptacles, such as cars.
Some of the problems commonly seen in intensive dog breeding establishments include poor housing, parasites and disease, dogs in poor physical condition and problems caused by over-breeding. It is unrealistic to expect the ISPCA, as a charity, to be responsible for the monitoring of what is a growing industry. We do not have the resources to continue that work. The cost to our society in dealing with one breeding establishment alone amounted to €25,000.
In May this year the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced his intention to implement the recommendations in the report of the working group which was set up to review the management of dog-breeding establishments. Since then the ISPCA has received no further notice of developments. As one of the organisations represented on the working group we regularly receive inquiries as to when statutorily enforceable standards for the dog-breeding industry in Ireland will be introduced.
Animal welfare charities such as the ISPCA continue to monitor conditions in dog-breeding establishments armed only with archaic and inadequate cruelty legislation dating back to 1911. While Ireland is widely regarded as the "puppy farming" capital of Europe we continue to destroy many stray and unwanted dogs in our pounds every year. In 2005 approximately 16,500 dogs were put down in Irish pounds, which is a shameful figure when compared with that of our near neighbours in Scotland who destroyed fewer than 800 dogs during the same period.
The ISPCA inspectorate responds to many complaints regarding equines. As a snapshot, between January and July this year 233 cruelty calls on equines came through our call centre. Our affiliated member societies and other animal welfare groups would have taken many more complaints during this time.
Most of the equines about which we receive complaints are pet ponies, Travellers' horses or a few horses kept on farms. Of particular concern to the ISPCA is the increasing trend for many old, barren and "broken-down" racehorses to end their days in the hands of unsuitable persons or unscrupulous horse dealers. This is because their owners fail to act responsibly by taking such animals for slaughter or disposing of them humanely at home. The ISPCA and many of its affiliates end up taking on the responsibility for the care or destruction of these equines, often at great financial and emotional cost. Tracing the owners of such horses is made even more difficult by the fact that change of ownership details are seldom furnished, thus undermining the microchip ID system. This is no way for the equine industry to neglect its responsibilities. Many of these problems are replicated within the greyhound industry.
Of the 233 equine cruelty calls received, 197 concerned a few equines or individual animals. A further 23 pertained to multiple animals, held by dealers or breeders and 13 related to equestrian centres, stud farms and other such industries. Most of the complaints to which our inspectors respond are dealt with by means of advice but we occasionally come across situations where equines have been caused severe pain and suffering.
The ISPCA has been involved in several recent successful prosecutions concerning equines. The animals involved were caused unnecessary suffering through malnutrition or lack of farrier or veterinary treatment. The document I have circulated provides a breakdown of the complaints received by our call centre in the January to July period showing the numbers received per county and the number of animals or type of business to which they relate.