LAST UPDATE | 21 Dec 2023
THIS MONTH, THE European Commission announced that it plans to introduce new rules and standards for the breeding, housing and handling of dogs and cats in breeding establishments.
This is a very welcome move that will require breeding establishments in every EU Member State to be approved by the relevant authority, be subject to inspections and that staff would be properly trained.
However, it won’t do much to improve the situation for the thousands of puppies that are bred at an industrial scale in Ireland. The Dog Breeding Establishment Act introduced in 2010 already makes it a legal requirement for any facility with six or more breeding bitches to be licensed through the Local Authority.
It also allows for inspections of those facilities and requires the Local Authority to maintain a database of facilities in its jurisdiction. The Irish Government has also produced guidelines for breeders that set out recommendations around the welfare and care of the dogs kept on site. The most recent of which came into effect on 1 January 2019.
While these guidelines are welcome, they are not on a statutory footing and they still fall well short of what most dog lovers would recognise as an acceptable environment for puppies and their mothers.
There is currently no cap on the number of breeding bitches that a breeding facility can keep. The existing licence system only requires that the number of breeding bitches is included in the application. As a result, there are Dog Breeding Establishments (DBE’s) in Ireland that have hundreds of female dogs on site and that does not include the puppies or the male stud dogs. Last year, the ISPCA told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture that they are “yet to see a good dog come out of a DBE that has hundreds of breeding bitches in it.”
For puppies to be happy and content in a family home, it is essential that they are properly socialised. The first few weeks of a pup’s life are critical for beginning this process. They should become accustomed to positive human interactions and handling and be introduced to the types of noises and surfaces that they are likely to encounter in a family home.
When a facility is breeding dogs at an industrial scale, it becomes almost impossible to carry out this essential socialisation. To make matters worse, the current guidelines only recommend that there is a staffing ratio of one full-time employee to 25 breeding bitches. Last year, Dogs Trust told the Oireachtas Committee that, this “could result in as many as 150 dogs under the care of one staff member during full-time working hours.”
Animal Welfare organisations believe that this ratio is wholly inappropriate, according to the EU Platform on Animal Welfare document on Responsible Dog Breeding, the minimum ratio should be one full-time employee to 10 breeding dogs and ideally, it should be 1:5.
Most people would be horrified to think that their beloved dog could come from an industrial-scale puppy farm. The first step in ending the practice is educating the public and making it as easy as possible for them to access information about where the dog is coming from.
So, while the law in Ireland requires the Local Authority to maintain a database, getting access to the database and the information contained in it, varies from Local Authority to Local Authority.
In this digital age, it is simply unacceptable that there is not a single database publicly available online that sets out the number of breeding bitches in each DBE and the number of inspections carried out on that DBE annually.
Currently, the inspection regime across the country also lacks consistency. Some Local Authorities have a regime of carrying out at least one inspection per year, other Local Authorities apply a system of only inspecting a licensed DBE when a complaint is made.
There is also the potential for conflicts of interest as the licensing Local Authority receives licensing revenue from the DBE.
This could easily be addressed through an independent inspection regime, removing any potential conflicts of interest and ensuring that all DBE’s are subject to the same standards regardless of Local Authority. DBE’s also tend to follow trends in the popularity of certain breeds and cross breeds of dogs.
We are overwhelmed with so many sad little faces waiting to be adopted 🥹
— DSPCA (@DublinSPCA) December 13, 2023
Our kennels are full of puppies waiting and hoping to find forever homes #puppies #adopt #dspca #beagoodhumam #WhosAGoodHuman pic.twitter.com/pvLzR1O5Q8
Some of these so-called designer breeds require artificial insemination, as it is simply not possible or safe for the dogs to breed naturally. For example, the Pomski is a cross between the tiny pomeranian and the much larger husky. Artificial insemination is also used by some DBE’s to maximise the output of puppies and in turn, their profit.
Currently, in Ireland there is no regulation of canine fertility services, this needs to change and DBE’s should be restricted in the practice. The Responsible Dog Breeding Guidelines by the EU Platform on Animal Welfare states that under no circumstances should Surgical Artificial Insemination be used by breeders and that all other forms of AI should only be used in exceptional circumstances with strict rules on justification and the dogs being bred must be capable of breeding naturally.
So, while it is really important that the EU is introducing minimum standards for breeders to improve the welfare of dogs, Ireland already has legislation and yet it is still the puppy farm capital of Europe.
Ireland should not be the minimum standard but rather it should aim to set the gold standard for dog breeding. To do this, the Government must reform the Dog Breeding Legislation, they must ensure that the rules are legally binding, animal welfare centred and properly enforced.
With #Christmas fast approaching, we want to remind everyone that ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’. It’s also important to remember that for many families Christmas may not be the best time to welcome a puppy into your family: https://t.co/YA1h1LHhIV#ADogIsForLife pic.twitter.com/PnFfgY274b
— Dogs Trust Ireland (@DogsTrust_IE) December 16, 2023
We can’t claim to be a nation of dog lovers while we allow the industrial breeding of dogs to continue. In the meantime, if you are looking to welcome a dog into your home, animal welfare organisations across the country have thousands of beautiful dogs looking for their forever home so please, adopt don’t shop.
Senator Lynn Boylan is Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Justice and a member of the Oireachtas Agriculture and Climate Action & Environment Committees.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say