Increasing fines for dog owners who breach laws governing the control of pets will have little effect without the people to enforce them a Galway TD has argued.
Galway East TD Seán Canney said that a massive increase in the number of Dog Wardens is needed to enforce these laws.
The government announced earlier this month that fines would be increasing substantially for a number of offences from December 1.
These will include a €300 fine for a dog not being under effective control, €200 for not having a proper collar or ID, €150 for not having a dog licence, or €300 for having a restricted breed of dog not properly controlled.
There were more than 400 injured after being attacked by a dog in 2022, while the number of prosecutions in relation to those injuries was far lower.
“I understand that we have 20 dog wardens in place in the country where there is a dog population in excess of 500,000,” Seán Canney said.
“This is an insult to the law-abiding citizens and leaves the public in danger of further incidents and risk of permanent injury or death.”
Deputy Canney said that the number of Dog Wardens needs to be increased “tenfold” across all local authorities with immediate effect in order to tackle this problem.
“Enforcement and prevention are key to protect people from being attacked by dogs.
Laws and fines will remain useless if sufficient resources are not put in place”.
