GARDAÍ WERE not entitled to enter a premises in Tallaght on the basis of an anonymous call to the DSPCA, the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, expressing concern about the situation of a horse there, the High Court has ruled.
The court heard that gardaí and two inspectors with the DSPCA entered premises known as The Piggery, Megan’s Lane, Mount Seskin, Tallaght, on November 17th, 2008, after being informed by one of the inspectors of an anonymous call to the DSPCA about a horse being stabled there.
The DSPCA receives up to 60 such calls a year, most of them anonymous, and relies on the public to convey information about the care of animals, the court was told.
A summons was later served on Philip O’Driscoll, alleging he had failed to take appropriate care of 19 dogs at The Piggery.
Mr O’Driscoll’s lawyers had argued gardaí were not entitled to enter the premises because they had no grounds, as required by the Control of Horses Act 1996, for reasonable suspicion of an offence or ill-treatment of animals there.
Judge David McHugh of the District Court referred issues in the case to the High Court.
Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan yesterday found it was not open to the district judge to find gardaí had reasonable cause to suspect an offence under the 1996 Act such as entitled them to enter the premises without warrant.
The lack of particularity or facts in the complaint from the anonymous caller as communicated to the Garda fell short of what might constitute reasonable grounds to suspect an offence was being committed at The Piggery, she ruled.
Under the 1996 Act, a garda, not a DSPCA inspector, is required to have reasonable cause to suspect an offence is being committed under the Act or a horse was being mistreated, she said.
The Act expressly precluded entry, except with the consent of the occupier, unless a search warrant was obtained from the District Court, she noted.
A garda effecting entry must have a personal reasonable suspicion and cannot simply rely on the suspicion of another person, including a DSPCA inspector.
In this case, the Garda could not act just because the DSPCA considered the information credible. The information was that an anonymous caller had told the DSPCA about a horse at The Piggery and the lack of particulars fell short of the reasonable grounds required.
