Farm reps call on owners to control their dogs and for government action on issue
SLIGO farm leaders have this week spoken of the need for dog owners to control their animals and have called for government action on dog control.
The comments from Sligo IFA chairperson Kathleen Henry and Colm O’Donnell, the Sligo-based national president of the Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA), come following a number of recent sheep kills, including one in Streedagh in north Sligo last week.
They have prompted the IFA at a national level to advise farmers to ban dogs from their land.
As part of the nationwide campaign the IFA is distributing ‘No Dogs Allowed’ signs to members to put up on farm gates and these have begun to appear on local farms. Speaking of the reason for the ban, an IFA spokesperson said “the only way to protect ewes that will be lambing in the coming weeks is to stop the threat at source”.
“The message simply isn’t getting through. We also have reports of farmers encountering verbal abuse and intimidation when they remind dog owners of their responsibilities and the dangers of letting their pets off the leash,” he said.
All farm organisations have also highlighted the “other side” of the “good news story” of a missing dog being rescued in the Wicklow hills.
Sligo IFA chairperson Kathleen Henry said that while the rescue of the dog was portrayed as a good news story, people did not look at other side of it which was that a dog had been let off its lead and allowed to roam loose.
“The owner talked about the dog chasing deer but it could just as easily have attacked sheep.
“There was also an incident in Kerry where dogs drove sheep over a cliff.
“When is this going to stop? It seems the farmer is just expected to accept this?” she said.
She said that it was “not nice for farmers to go out into a field and see their animals killed or injured just because people cannot control their dogs”. “Dog owners need to realise that by letting their dogs go free they could end up tearing sheep to bits or causing them to abort their lambs,” she said. Ms Henry said that apart from the fact that farmers are attached to their animals and concerned about their welfare there is also a huge loss from an economic point of view.
She said that there were now a lot more people out walking and enjoying the countryside but they needed to realise “the negative impact of letting their dogs run free”.
Meanwhile, Colm O’Donnell, the Sligo-based national president of the Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA), has said that “inaction by the government in delivering meaningful dog control measures is resulting in heavy losses on our sheep farms”. Mr O’Donnell said: “At national and county level we are seeing a complete abdication of responsibilities by the powers that be, resulting in no control of dogs and no responsibility for their irresponsible owners.”
Referring to previous concerns outlined by the organisation in 2019 relating to a “scattered Governmental approach to the control of dogs”, the INHFA president said “no concrete action has yet been taken to address this”.
He said that in 2019 his organisation was informed how the control of dogs was covered by three government departments, with licensing covered by the Department of Community and Rural Development (now the Department of Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands), with microchipping the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, the county councils, who employ the dog wardens, were under the control of the Department of Environment and Local Government (now the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage).
“This scattered approach which continues today is undermining any serious attempt in controlling dogs and leaving our sheep farmers in limbo,” he said.
Mr O’Donnell said that through 2019 the INHFA consulted widely with their member base prior to making a submission to the government on the control of dogs.
“In that submission we stressed the need for responsible dog ownership and detailed what this involves. We also called for a state-backed media campaign to remind dog owners of their responsibilities and the implications for them and the public (including sheep farmers) of not controlling their dogs.”
Mr O’Donnell said that the organisation detailed the need for the media campaign, which should include TV, radio, print and social media, to commence in January to coincide with an annual licensing drive.
“There is an urgent need to bring all responsibility for dogs under one government department and by applying the proposals the INHFA have made, we can address the scourge of dog attacks of sheep flocks,” he said.
The president of the ICMSA Pat McCormack said that it would be unfortunate if the Irish public were to treat the recent accounts of hikers rescuing a lost dog in the mountains as a simple ‘feel-good’ story and not understand the threat that unsupervised dogs represented to both wildlife and farmers’ stocks in these circumstances. Mr McCormack said that while he “didn’t want to appear mean-spirited” and he too shared the joy at a beloved family pet being found and rescued, it was vitally important that what he called “the underlying grim reality” of dogs escaping walkers and owners to worry sheep flocks and other livestock was at least acknowledged and recognised.