The regulation of dog breeding establishments is a matter for local authorities in accordance with the Dog Breeding Establishment Act 2010. The local authority must maintain for public inspection a register of dog breeding establishments in its functional area, which must include the name and address of the applicant seeking entry onto the register, the address of the dog breeding establishment and the maximum number of breeding bitches that may be kept at the dog breeding establishment or premises. Statistical information of new and repeat inspections and closures carried out on Dog Breeding Establishments is available on my Department’s website at http://www.housing.gov.ie/search/archived/current/sub-type/dog-control/type/statistics?query.
The process of collating and validating annual statistics in respect of 2016 by my Department will be undertaken next year.
The Dog Breeding Establishment Act 2010 provides a robust regulatory framework for, inter alia, the licensing, monitoring and inspection of dog breeding establishments by local authorities and, where a serious and immediate threat exists to public health or animal health and welfare, for the closure of such establishments.
A joint inspection regime of dog breeding establishments, involving the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Local Authority Veterinary Service, was inaugurated last year for the purpose of inspection and follow up action. The discovery of individual problematic dog breeding establishments, and the taking of action by the Gardaí, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and local authorities in an integrated manner in the most serious cases, is a matter for the enforcement authorities concerned.
More generally, the enforcement of welfare standards regarding all animals is a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
