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NEW LEGISLATION TO make it a more serious offence to steal a pet dog could be on the way from Government.
Minister of State James Browne has said an action plan which will tackle dog theft and animal welfare will be published in the coming weeks.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Browne met yesterday to discuss the action plan.
“I was delighted to meet with my Government colleagues to bring ideas together on this matter. It is evident the theft of a dog – a family pet – is greater than the theft of a mobile phone or other property, yet they are legislated for in the same manner.
“The law does not account for the emotional distress that the theft of a pet can cause the owner of that animal. It is my view new laws or regulations should be drafted to make the theft of a pet a more serious crime, with the penalties to match,” he said.
Browne said he wants to see laws enhanced to support victims of pet theft.
Government will examine whether new legislation is needed or whether amendments can be made to existing laws to make punishments more stringent.
Consideration is being given as to whether to make it a standalone offence for stealing a support dog. Whether to make the theft of a dog an aggravating factor when sentencing is also being considered.
The issue of pet theft was highlighted in the Dail last month by Independent TD Denis Naughten, who raised concerns about there being a 33% increase in the reports of thefts of pets to the gardaí this year.
Under the current law, pets are considered property and they are treated in the same way as someone stealing a mobile phone, he said.
“We all know that pets are much more than property. They are part of the family in homes across this country. They are sometimes the only friend for someone who is isolated and a guide for someone who is blind or has sensory issues,” he said.
He said a “real deterrent” is needed to stamp out the crime.
Replying, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said it was “appalling to see an increase in this crime of people stealing pets off other people, often older and vulnerable people”.
“I do not have a pet but I know many people who do and I do not think anybody regards their cat or their dog to be property in the way they would a mobile phone or something like that. It is almost like a member of the family being stolen. It is a serious offence and needs to be treated that way,” he said.
Varadkar promised to speak to the Minister for Justice to see if the laws could be strengthened.
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Sky News at it again. Claiming Britain have “won the Space Race in Europe”! No mention of Ireland until it failed and then it “failed off the coast of Ireland” which it actually didn’t. The lowest of the low that lot. Their journalists hadn’t a clue what was going on either and they were basically hopping up and down about an aircraft taking off. Stop lads, you’re an embarrassment. Virgin is notorious in failure. Remember when Branson tried to cross the Atlantic in a giant condom? – and it burst.
@Terry Fagan: Sure don’t you know, a virgin never goes all the way.
@Terry Fagan: Poor old sky news. The French have an entire launch pad facility in Guiana. But then again, why should the facts stand in the way of a good story.
@Terry Fagan: they are just as biased towards their own perceived greatness as BBC
The North Koreans would have a better chance of a successful launch.
Word is it was taken out by harry kane’s penalty kick
DUCK!!!
@Paul Jude Redmond: orange!
@Paul Jude Redmond: “Crashed and Burned, Mav, huh?”
Not looking good, apparently suffered an anomaly
@Ronan Lawler: Yeah, looking like a failed mission. Probably the WiFi they used ;~}
I hope no rocket debris falls and kills any wildlife, if it does I hope the wildlife doesn’t die or get maimed, if it does get maimed I hope virgin cleans up the mess
@veronikahladova: You’re very hopeful….
@veronikahladova: I think the fish will be fine..
@David Terry: I’m hearing reports that an unconfirmed number of fish have applied for a self funded space exploration program themselves. And hope to deploy an anti rocket anomaly surveillance system. In case it happens again.
That must be the worst coverage of a major event I’ve seen (or didn’t see) pathetic.
@Kevin O’Brien: Tracked the plane on Flight Radar.
@Dave Barrett: Same. And tried to follow it on YouTube too, but that was just awful. Talk about doing things wrong.
@Kevin O’Brien: It was live in Sky News and the BBC 24 hour News channel.
A lot of begrudgery vibes there fella.
@Tom Quinn: Why would I be begrudging? Virgin had a dedicated YouTube channel, you know the people who were actually launching it & it was an absolute shambles. Thrilled you saw it on both BBC4 & SKY News “fella”
@Kevin O’Brien: Well, if Virgin can mess up something technical they will.
They can’t even manage a decent WIFI signal on Earth.
@Tom Quinn: That’s very very true, can’t argue with that tbf, haha. It’s a failed mission now (unsurprisingly) Gives them a chance to fix things & I’m not on about the rocket.
@Kevin O’Brien: it was dire.
@Dave Barrett: so did I but the mup0et reporting for Sky News said he didn’t know where it was! Woeful coverage.
I reckon Brexit doomed it to failure.
@Pat O’Leary: Somehow I can see the UK papers blaming the EU!!!!
I’ll never ever buy a cd in virgin records again oh wait!
@Paul Gorry: ah those were the days Paul, CD’s, alco pops, United on top. A much simpler time.
UK is choc a block with anomalies presently
Imagine ireland trying though!
@billy bound: there would be a man on the moon today.
@Tomás Barrett: and one on the sun tonight.
Boldly going where no virgin has gone before. Down!
should have name it:
The Good Ship Brexit.
The SS Taking Back Control.
The You Can Sign Out But You Can Never Leave (Earth)……..with apologies to the Eagles.
I was disappointed that the rocket attempt failed, the technology is old enough and has been well tested. But it demonstrates that projects do fail and unexpectedly! I was also expecting to see the headline, Britain Fires Rocket Into The Sea Off The South of Ireland. Well, Dyson famously experienced many hundreds of failures as he developed a product that really sucks, onward and, err, upward, I guess?
@Tom Hogarty: Like Dyson, it ran out if power far too early.
So the launch only went half way?
Don’t know which is worse: Virgin Orbit or Virgin TV.
Maybe they can reboot it.
They can’t do a thing right
was it only 1960s NASA that could really get things done?
have your say