Campaigners demand dog passports

AN EQUINE passport system has just come into effect but animal rights campaigners have called for the scheme to be extended to cover dogs.

It is mandatory for all horses to have passports, to allow the authorities to keep track of them and to trace any horses affected by cruelty back to their owners.

Implementation of the legislation has been welcomed by the ISPCA, but they say that it is also badly needed for dogs.

Last year alone more than 14,500 dogs had to be put down after being abandoned by their owners or found in a neglected state.

While Britain has 400 RSPCA inspectors on the road full-time to track cases of animal cruelty, Ireland has just five within the ISPCA — one up on last year but way below what’s needed, according to campaigners. They believe that each county should have two inspectors, rather than the five who currently patrol the entire 26 counties.

“It’s progress, but just a small step,” says ISPCA inspector Niamh Byrne.

Meanwhile, the association’s first equine rescue centre was also opened during the year in Mallow, Co Cork, and in the last five months has helped up to 20 animals. The land for the facility, located close to a donkey sanctuary, was left to the ISPCA in a will.

Neglected horses come from a variety of backgrounds and could be farm horses, work horses or racehorses who have outlived their usefulness as far as their owners are concerned.

“There’s a huge gap and a lack of facilities full-stop for this type of issue involving animals around this country,” says Niamh Byrne. “The problem is always going to be funding, because none of these facilities are state-funded so we’re relying on charitable donations to keep us going. The equine rescue centre is doing well and any kind of assistance or intervention is always going to be welcome so that we can cater for what lands on our doorstep.”

The new passport system for horses places the onus on owners to have their animals micro-chipped and traceable when ownership changes.

A similar system is needed for dogs, say the ISPCA, to replace the current licences which are only useful if an abandoned or neglected dog is found with a collar detailing the ownership — a rare eventuality.

What’s needed, they say, is a mandatory micro-chipping system, with details surrounding ownership of all dogs kept on a central database.

“The whole identification issue comes up at times, with rottweilers and pit bulls, and it’s essential as part of the traceability process,” says Ms Byrne. “Hopefully at some point we’ll get passports for dogs. It’s being pursued and looked at. The need to introduce something like this has been identified outside of our own body.”

A number of organisations have been approved to issue horse passports under the new rules, including Wetherby’s Ireland Ltd, the Irish Horse Board, the Irish Pony Society, the Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society, the Kerry Bog Pony Co-Op Society and the Horse Passport Agency.