Almost 30,000 Cork dog licences issued in 2022

There were almost 30,000 individual dog licences issued in County Cork in 2022, 2,300 more than 2021. There were another 71 ‘general’ dog licences issued: these are for kennels with more than one dog and are for an unspecified number of dogs, while there were another 855 ‘lifetime licences’ issued.

With a population of 358,898 in the county as per the CSO’s 2022 preliminary results, that means at least one dog per every 13 people in Cork; this figure does not including the dogs in breeding establishments.

With this number of dogs, it is not surprising that the issue of owners not cleaning up after their dogs was raised, yet again, at a council meeting this week. At the Northern Committee meeting on Monday, Cllr Noel McCarthy said litter wardens were doing the best they can, “but you’d almost want to catch them (the dogs) in the act”. He proposed enacting rules which would compel any dog owner to carry bags with them, and empower dog wardens to demand evidence that the person was carrying bags.

EUTHANISATION

In 2022, the council had 172 dogs rescued or surrendered to their care; 54 of these were ultimately put down. These are only the figures for local authority-run establishments, and don’t include independent or private charities.

As of September 2022, there were 10 dog breeders registered in the county: three of these are in the Fermoy MD and another three in the Kanturk/Mallow MD. There are 20 hunt/harrier clubs, and six boarding kennels - one less than in 2021. There are no registered charities in the county.

And with regard to dog fines in the county, 277 were iissued, 1,878 Section 16 notices issued and 63 prosecutions in 2022.