Farmers call for changes to protect livestock from dog attacks

RTÉ News​

2 days ago

Farming organisations have called for measures including DNA testing, disqualification from dog ownership, and a ban on non-working dogs on hills and farmland to help protect livestock from dog attacks.
Addressing the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, Vice President of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) John Joe Fitzgerald said the level of dog attacks on livestock has reached "crisis point".
Mr Fitzgerald said INHFA members have reported "increasing levels of concern and complaints from farmers with regard to recreational walkers bringing their dogs onto farmlands [including our hills] and when asked to remove them, they become highly abusive and threatening, which in some instances has led to physical violence".
He said a Government-funded national database should be established to collate "all information on dogs, including dog licence, microchipping and DNA samples from each dog".
'Roaming patrols'
The INHFA also wants to see "roaming patrols" to monitor any loose dogs on hills or near farmland.
Also addressing the committee, Sheep Chair of the Irish Farmers' Association Adrian Gallagher said dog owners who fail to keep their pets under control should be disqualified from dog ownership.
He said the option exists for the courts to disbar ownership of protected animals if there is a failure to comply with welfare obligations in the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
"Given the devastation caused by an increasing number of dog attacks on sheep in particular, zero tolerance has to be the policy. The Animal Health and Welfare Act sanctions should be extended to irresponsible dog owners who allow their pets cause this devastation on farms."
Mr Gallagher said the decision to have the Department of Agriculture as the single enforcement authority "is a move in the right direction, but we should have seen this happen long before now".
According to the IFA, in 2023 reporting of livestock-worrying incidents rose to 276, a 3% increase on 2022, adding that "many more go unreported".
Enforcement 'severely limited'
The organisation said enforcement remains "severely limited", with only 80 wardens on the ground throughout the country.
Meanwhile, Sheep Chair of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) Willie Shaw told the Agriculture Committee "we've plenty of sheep farmers leaving the industry. We don't need to give them another reason to leave".
Mr Shaw also pointed out that just "ten percent of dog attacks on livestock are kills" with sheep worrying a huge issue. He said "DNA testing wouldn't help with this".
An example of such a case was mentioned by the INHFA, which said a couple of years ago "a hundred ewes and lambs in Kerry were driven off the edge of a cliff by a dog".
Attacks 'detrimental' to livestock welfare
Chairperson of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association's (ICMSA) Livestock Committee Michael O'Connell said the effect dog attacks and sheep worrying have on flocks and herds "is very detrimental to the health and welfare of these livestock".
"We have seen firsthand from members of the immediate damages in terms of dead and injured sheep, but the long-term effects are equally devastating.
"These include physical injuries such as severe bites and lacerations, which may result in death or future physical trauma as well as disabilities to mobility."
The ICSMA recommended a 'Dog Control Awareness' programme be launched similar to that originally launched in 2024.
Mr O'Connell said dogs "have the potential to cause death, serious injury, serious stress and anxiety to livestock, which the dog may deem to be playing.
"Dogs are not responsible for their actions; it is their owners' responsibility to keep them under control.
"If the awareness is aimed towards the owners, with emphasis on the damage dogs can do to sheep flocks or cattle herds, it may not be long before there is an improvement to what is a growing problem."