'Always assume the worst will happen': Calls for urgent response to tackle rise in dog attacks
Baby Mia O'Connell was killed by a family pet in Waterford in 2021.
After a number of high-profile dog attacks in recent months, there are increasingly urgent calls for a cultural shift in how Ireland’s dog owners operate.
In November, an attack in Enniscorthy on Alejandro Miszan by a pitbull left his face “totally destroyed” according to his brother.
Alejandro returned home this month after seven weeks of treatment for his facial injuries.
Separately this month, a coroner’s inquest in Cork city heard how a jealous small terrier mauled four-month-old baby Mia O’Connell to death in Waterford in 2021.
Mia was found by her aunt, on the floor with severe head injuries, while the dog stood nearby with blood on its face.
Cork city coroner Philip Comyn said dogs can be unpredictable especially when their position in a home is displaced by a new baby.
“Extreme vigilance is required in such circumstances and particularly, as we’ve heard, where the dog indicated that it was very unhappy and indeed had snapped at Mia when Mia first arrived home from the hospital,” he said.
It's an issue farmers have been highlighting for a long time.
In 2021, 217 incidences of livestock worrying were reported to local authorities.
One attack in Tipperary in December 2022, which a family described as “horrific” resulted in the deaths of 82 sheep out of 133 sheep on that piece of land.
Farmer Nuala O’Donoghue said her family has been left “at a standstill” with no one coming forward or taking responsibility for the attack.
She said their insurance does not cover the loss which the family estimates to be upwards of €12,000.
“It wasn’t our first concern at all, for the first week we were just so upset for the poor sheep and the way it all happened and the horror of it,” she said.
Ms O’Donoghue said 50 sheep were “slaughtered immediately” and “20 were so badly injured with their faces ripped off but still living and they had to be put down pretty immediately". Another seven died after succumbing to their injuries within the first week while five remain missing and are presumed dead.
It was the second attack on their livestock following a separate incident a decade earlier during which 20 sheep were killed by two dogs.
Ms O’Donoghue believes a “special license” is needed for those who wish to own restricted breeds before adding that “absolute” safety guards must be in place for those who do own such breeds.
“Something that doesn’t let them get out to hurt people or sheep,” she said before adding, “an inspection should be made, where are these dogs going to be, where are they safely going to be kept, something that makes it harder to have these breeds".
Experts say dogs can act out in aggression for a multitude of reasons, many of which can be successfully addressed where there is a will to do so among owners.
In addition, they say political will must be present to address shortcomings in how many dogs are bred in Ireland, a contributing cause to behavioural issues such as aggression.
Huge numbers of dogs are available to purchase across the country, some of which come from circumstances which hinder their socialising during their first weeks and months of life, which are formative and critical in correcting behavioural issues which can show up down the line.
A total of 201,146 dog licenses were issued by local authorities in 2021, according to the latest data available from the Department of Rural and Community Development.
As of December 13, 2022, there had been 130 dog attacks last year which involved a person as an injured party, according to data from An Garda Síochána.
Although 76 incidents involved an unspecified dog breed, 34 attacks involved restricted breeds while 20 involved unrestricted breeds.
The year before, 2021, saw 179 incidents of dog attacks where unrestricted breeds accounted for 47 of the attacks, compared to 34 attacks involving restricted breeds while the remaining 98 involved unspecified breeds.
The attack on Alejandro Miszan in Enniscorthy renewed a discussion on dog control in Ireland with then Taoiseach Micheál Martin questioning why people own dangerous breeds of dogs.
This month, a new working group was announced to combat such incidents where fines, enforcement, and how dog wardens are deployed will all be scrutinised.
Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan said a major issue in terms of dog control is a lack of inspectors or dog wardens and a lack of resources for them to do their job properly.
In 2021, there were just 50 full-time dog wardens employed at local authorities along with 21 part-time employees.
“People will say that you can be intimidated going up to somebody who has a large dog that might be on the dangerous dog breed list that’s not muzzled.
“What you will hear anecdotally is that they’ll pick on the person with the little Jack Russell but they won’t ask the person with the pitbull about their license,” she said.
Ms Boylan said a campaign of awareness on the obligations of owners of restricted dog breeds is needed.
There are currently ten breeds as well as any cross breeds which must be muzzled and led by a sufficiently strong chain or leash by a person over the age of 16 who is capable of controlling the dog.
Ms Boylan said it is important to learn from best practice in other countries and that she was concerned at the knee-jerk reaction looking at banning certain breeds.
“I can’t see how you would enforce that; we only have to look across to Britain where they’re not able to enforce the law and they haven’t reduced dog attacks,” she said.
Ms Boylan said Ireland should look to countries such as Sweden where they don’t have restricted lists but they also don’t have as many dog attacks and have a different approach to dog ownership.
“There’s an awful lot more responsibility on the owner and it’s much harder to get a dog in the first place.
“At the end of the day, everyone wants to reduce the number of dog attacks both on sheep and the horrific attacks on children, but it has to be evidence-based,” she said.
Ms Boylan said another aggravating factor is how simple it is to get a dog in Ireland with just shelters primarily doing their due diligence in selecting appropriate adoptees.
She said despite calls to shut down the breeding establishments in Ireland, we have to be realistic about the difficulty of doing so, as well as the fact that there are “very reputable” breeders.
However, Ms Boylan said certain considerations brought up in a joint committee on issues affecting dog welfare would bring about change for the better.
Under current guidelines for breeding establishments there must be a ratio of just one full-time staff member to 25 breeding bitches. The committee said this was impractical when the amount of puppies birthed is taken into account, which could rise the total number of dogs under the care of one person to 150.
Ms Boylan said an increase in the ratio of staff would “immediately put an extra cost on the business”.
“They then have to do things more responsibly, it’s not possible to have hundreds of dogs if you actually have to hire the amount of staff that goes with that responsibility,” she said.
In addition, Ms Boylan said a cap on the number of dogs that anyone can have must be imposed.
“These are social animals, they’re not supposed to be bred industrially and kept indoors all day,” she said.
In 2021, there were 245 dog breeding establishments (DBEs) registered with local authorities.
The amount of breeding bitches permitted for each establishment ranged from 6 to 301.
Some 197 of these establishments were inspected in 2021 which resulted in two improvement notices. No licenses were refused and no closure notices were reported.
Ms Boylan said there is “no consistency” around inspections as they fall under local authorities where she believes there may be “a conflict of interest”.
“If a local authority is receiving a license fee and carrying out inspections, I do think there needs to be a separation there,” she said.
The ISPCA has called for inspections to be carried out similarly to farm inspections by the Department of Agriculture where a high bar can be set while ensuring the inspections are carried out independently.
Ms Boylan said she hopes people “begin to join the dots” between puppy farms and behavioural issues.
“Quite often the issues will have arisen originally due to a lack of socialisation or correct handling or care as puppies before joining their families,” said Certified dog behaviour consultant Nanci Creedon before adding that “more often than not” these puppies come from puppy farms.
Ms Creedon said puppy farms have “very little interest” in carrying out appropriate socialisation or habituation, which she described as exposing pups to things that they can then ignore later in life.
“My number one question when it comes to dogs that have been purchased is always if the puppy was reared indoors because when you buy a dog the answer is often no,” she said.
Ms Creedon said even the lack of simple exposures to common household objects such as a television can be traumatic and can lead to behavioural issues later in life.
She said there are issues surrounding the restricted breed list which may be a sign of a “conditioned” societal view.
Ms Creedon carried out a study published in the that showed little difference between attacks from restricted breeds and non-restricted breeds.
She compared bites from dogs that are not on the restricted breed list and those that are and found that there was no significant difference in the characteristics of the bites including causes, medical treatment required, location of the bite, and if the dog went on to bite again.
“The only significant difference found in the study was whether or not the bite was reported,” she said.
Ms Creedon found that the bites caused by restricted breeds were reported significantly more than bites caused by an unrestricted breed.
“In reality, we look at these bites differently as a society hence why we decide to report these bites because we think when the rottweiler bites a child, it’s a dangerous dog however when a golden retriever bites a child, it’s ‘Oh, the child pulled the dogs tail,” she said.
Ms Creedon said the breed is not on her list when she looks at why a dog bites.
“We’re looking at around 30 different reasons why dogs are likely to bite and 30 different reasons that increase the chance of that bite happening and nothing on that list is breed,” she said.
She said the most irresponsible dog owners are those who encourage aggressive behaviour.
“There’s a lot of people who do that, they want their dogs to look and act mean,” she said before adding “a dog should be a pet and family member and not a weapon”.
Ms Creedon said attacks such as that on Alejandro Miszan are “absolutely horrendous” and that she was angry on behalf of his family saying, “this will affect him every day for the rest of his life".
In her experience, the most effective way to deal with a dog that has latched onto someone or another dog during an attack is to choke them with a lead as they will need to let go for air almost immediately.
On livestock attacks, Ms Creedon said it was “ridiculous” and “disgusting” that they are still happening.
“Anyone who takes their dog for a walk in the countryside off-leash is asking for trouble,” she said before advising to “always assume the worst will happen”.
Ms Creedon said there is a “massive need” for education, and understanding dogs and their behaviour, and wants to see professional dog behaviourists involved in serious cases where they can investigate.
Dogs that are involved in serious attacks are quickly put to sleep and no data is gathered.
“We should be keeping that dog alive long enough for the experts to assess the dog to determine what were the contributing factors.
“We have so many cases of serious dog bites happening every year in Ireland and there’s no data on it, there are no figures or numbers, there are no correlations,” she said.
Senior Associate with McCarthy & Co Solicitors, Liam Crowley, who has a special interest in cases regarding dogs said, there can be significant costs involved for owners of dogs that have not been kept under control.
“In terms of valuing the injuries, that depends on what has occurred. If you get a couple of scratch marks and general upset after being attacked by a dog, there might not be an enormous amount of value,” he said.
However, obvious scars such as facial scarring can receive redress of up to €200,000 for general damages alone not including out-of-pocket expenses, according to Mr Crowley.
“That €200,000 bracket would be a case where a child has been attacked by a dog and received facial scars and was permanently disfigured. They may also need surgery in their lifetime,” he said before describing it as an incident “at the more serious end of the scale”.
Mr Crowley said he received six queries in the first four to five days of January 2023, which he described as “remarkable” and throughout his career, just one case involved a restricted breed, and that became a criminal matter.
“I wouldn’t say that there is a particular breed that is the most serious offender,” he said.
Mr Crowley said personal injury claims can be made difficult for all parties when the dog owner is uninsured, but remains liable for costs.
“You have a person who is injured with serious injuries, looking to get redress, and the owner of the dog who has no insurance and they’re suddenly on the hook personally for it,” he said.
In his experience, Mr Crowley said those who tend to leave dogs off leads and subsequently attack others are often not insured.
“They seem to be irresponsible in handling their dog and irresponsible with their duties as a dog owner,” he said.
Regardless of temperaments, cases can arise even from well-intentioned dogs.
“I once had a case where a dog was actually overly friendly and knocked a lady and fractured her wrist,” he said.
Máire O’Sullivan of Cork Dog Action Welfare Group (D.A.W.G) said the shelter has had an influx of dogs with “severe separation anxiety”.
“They needed a huge amount of work before they could be rehomed. People were home all day since the dog was a puppy and now all of sudden they were going to work and expecting the dog to entertain themselves,” she said.
Ms O’Sullivan said a huge amount of time and resources had to be given to each dog to deal with their anxieties or issues and to make them ready for a new home.
“We get a lot of dogs that have never been indoors, never had attention paid to them and never had any training,” she said.
Ms O’Sullivan said the majority of dogs are more than trainable with just two being euthanised due to behavioural issues since she has worked with the shelter for over 13 years.
Ms O’Sullivan believes a cultural shift is required in how Ireland views dogs.
“A lot of it comes from our agricultural background of seeing dogs as a tool or a piece of farm equipment more so than a pal or companion,” she said.
In light of the recent spate of attacks, Ms O’Sullivan said the current legislation is not being enforced.
“We’re still seeing puppies with docked tails, it’s still happening even though it’s illegal which is a more visible demonstration of the fact that there’s a lot of dogs out there that are unchipped, untrained, and uncontrolled.”
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