Some restricted breeds of dog could be banned in Ireland if a group reviewing dog control recommends the Government to do so, a Minister has said following the death of a woman in Limerick on Wednesday.
Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys has asked the stakeholder group to “prioritise” the issue of restricted breeds in Ireland, following the death of Nicole Morey (23) at her house in Ballyneety in the early hours of Wednesday after being mauled by at least one dog.
Ms Humphreys said on Wednesday it was “hard to believe” that somebody had died as a result of an attack by a dog and that gardaí were investigating.
[ Woman (23) who died after dog attack at her home in Co Limerick named locallyOpens in new window ]
Former Deputy Garda Commissioner John Twomey was appointed as the independent chairperson of the Dog Control Stakeholder Group in March. The group is made up of representatives from Government departments and interest groups and is due to make recommendations on strengthening the policy and legislation around dog control.
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Ms Humphreys said she had asked the chairperson on Wednesday to prioritise the issue of restricted breeds in Ireland.
“There are 11 different restricted breeds, I have asked them would they look at that as part of their work programme as a matter of priority,” she told reporters in Trim, Co Meath.
“I’m hoping they will be able to report back to me in the autumn regarding what further action they recommend that I should take. If they do recommend that we ban some of these restricted breeds, I’m happy to take on board their recommendations and I’m happy to ban them.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that personally she feels there should be a ban on some breeds of dogs especially where there is a pattern of a specific breed being dangerous.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, Ms McEntee acknowledged that there was a view among some that there were varying reasons for how a dog could become vicious.
“But I think where there is a pattern and particularly where you see in other countries, where there is a pattern with particular dogs, then we do need to look at whether we need to go further here, but also we have to take into account that some of the rules that apply,” she said.
Ms McEntee added that the Government needed to “do whatever we can to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again”.
“This is just a really horrific and very upsetting incident to have happened,” she added. “My thoughts are with the poor young woman’s family, with her wider community. This is not something that we see happen very often.”
In 2017, a woman in her 60s died from injuries sustained when she was attacked by dogs in Co Galway. Teresa McDonagh had called to a relative’s house in the Moycullen area and is understood to have been set upon by two dogs, described as Bull Mastiffs. She sustained serious injuries and was found dead at the scene.
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