Call for dog 'census' in Kerry amid mounting fouling

There is a dog for almost every human in Kerry and that numbers have hugely increased in recent years because 'it is the fashion', council meeting told

Kerry County Council heard a campaign on tackling dog fouling is getting under way. Picture: Denis Minihane

There has been a call for a full census of all dogs in Kerry amid an outcry about the level of dog fouling and out of control animals.

There are already plans to ban dogs from Blue Flag beaches and now independent councillor Maura Healy-Rae wants a full count of the dog population. 

She claims there is a dog for almost every human in Kerry and that numbers have hugely increased in recent years because "it is the fashion”.

Ms Healy-Rae said the trend now is to have two, three and even four dogs, something councillors have come across when canvassing for elections in recent years.

Kerry, with a human population of 147,707, historically has among the highest number of dogs per head of population licensed under the Control of Dogs Act, according to statistics from the Department of Rural and Community Development.

The county has 9.57 individual dog licences per 100 persons — exceeded only by Monaghan, which has 10 licences per 100 in population.

However, the numbers of dogs licensed in Kerry — 16,437 in 2019 , 14,344 in 2020 and 15,145 in 2021 is not the full story, according to the Killarney councillor, who believes some of the licences are for several dogs and some have lifetime, not annual licences.

She also believes there are numbers of unlicensed dogs.

Ms Healy-Rae was speaking after a council meeting heard a campaign on tackling dog fouling is getting under way. Several councillors said they were frustrated with the lack of progress on what has been an escalating problem in Killarney, which they have raised continually.

Mayor of Killarney Labour councillor Marie Moloney said her own grandchild’s buggy wheels were destroyed recently and it was grossly unfair on people with wheelchairs and buggies.

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“This is not good enough,” Ms Moloney said. 

The highest ever number of fines for dog fouling, 22 fines, was issued last year, director of services for the environment Ger O’Brien said.

However there has yet to be a court case for dog fouling.

Joint litter and dog warden patrols are being undertaken, and the problem is now so bad an anti-dog fouling campaign is being rolled out across 147 schools, the meeting was told.