Dog dealers are breaching lockdown rules
DOG dealers are breaching the Government’s stringent lockdown rules by traversing the country with a door-to-door dog delivery service, the Irish Mail on Sunday can exclusively reveal.
In disregard of the lockdown aimed at saving lives, designer puppies are being dropped off to order.
As frontline medical workers risk their lives trying to contain the spread of Covid-19, commercial breeders are taking orders online and arranging to drop the new puppy at its new home, regardless of the distance.
Minister Seán Canney accused breeders of ‘profiteering’ from the worst health crisis this country has ever seen. He told the MoS: ‘It’s a very serious concern. It’s an emergency. It’s a very serious matter of public health. I would urge the public, even though you may want a dog for your family, don’t be taken in by these ads. Think of other people.’
The Junior Minister for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development warned that anyone found in breach of the restrictions ‘will face the full rigour of the law’.
He was commenting on ads that appeared on the DoneDeal website in recent days, after the lockdown measures announced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week. On Wednesday, there were 521 ads on DoneDeal, mostly for litters of pups. Based on average litter size, this equates to 2,500 individual sales.
In an ad posted on DoneDeal on Tuesday, one licensed breeder offered to deliver Pomsky pups – a cross between a pomeranian and a husky – to buyers’ ‘isolated homes’. The pups are priced between €1,000 and €2,500.
Others invite buyers to see the pups’ parents, which entails driving to the kennels.
Other ads say ‘pups ready to go’ but as breeders tend to be based in rural areas, this would likely require considerable travel.
The Department of Health confirmed to the MoS that commercial sales and movement of dogs are non-essential and are not covered by farming exemptions or the 2km limit allowed for exercise under the coronavirus restrictions.