Major change planned for dog breeding Bill

GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley's changes to the controversial dog breeding legislation “represent a significant concession to industry stakeholders”, he has said in a letter to Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Rural Fianna Fáil deputies, including former Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue, Máire Hoctor and Mattie McGrath, have clashed with the Greens over aspects of the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill.

The Bill is due to enter report and final stages in the Seanad tomorrow, where it is proposed the “suite of amendments” will be signalled.

A “review clause” will be attached to the legislation to examine its impact on the greyhound industry 12 months after it has been introduced. Mr Gormley said he hoped this would allay the concerns of the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) and the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) “regarding the potential harm the Bill might cause to their industry”.

Mr Gormley said concerns had been raised about the identification of dogs for export and he therefore proposed to extend the deadline for micro-chipping pups from eight weeks to 12 weeks.

Mr Gormley said the IGB and the ICC had raised concerns about the inspection process. To allay this concern he proposed allowing representatives of both groups to accompany local authority veterinary inspectors on visits.

He also proposed restricting the personnel who are authorised to issue an improvement order to local authority veterinary inspectors. Mr Gormley said he hoped this “might help ameliorate the concerns raised regarding the potential for animal welfare bodies to issue improvement orders”.

Mr Gormley said the registration fees placed on greyhound breeders and trainers was modest “in the context of an industry which IGB estimates is worth €500 million annually”.

However, he has made provision for IGB trainers to be exempt from the fee associated with registration and for IGB breeders to be exempt from the fee associated with the dog licensing process, “to offset any financial burden which they might experience as a consequence of the introduction of the Bill”.

Mr Gormley also changed a provision relating to dog breeding cycles so that the frequency is three litters in any three-year period rather than the proposed one litter every 12 months.

He said this would address concerns relating to cases where a bitch might not fall pregnant within a 12-month period.

“I consider this suite of amendments to represent a significant concession to industry stakeholders. I am most anxious to see the Bill progress rapidly through the Seanad and on to the Dáil,” he said. Mr Gormley said he was keen to ensure the Bill focused exclusively on the welfare of dogs and he was convinced the provisions in the Bill would help ensure a thriving greyhound industry.