Muzzle dogs and protect our children

Yesterday, on a residential road in Mitchelstown, I passed a man and a woman with a Rottweiler.

Unmuzzled. Off the lead.

Think about it. How much damage could a Rottweiler do to a child? Or even to have a Rottweiler — or a Pitbull, or a Doberman, or any of the other dangerous breeds specified in the Control of Dogs Regulations 1998 — in your neighbourhood, where one day, due to carelessness, it could get loose and savage a child?

On St Stephen’s Day in Abbeylara, a 9-year-old girl, out singing Wren Day carols with her little sister, was attacked by a Rottweiler that jumped a fence to get at her. Fortunately, due to her mother’s intervention, she only needed skin graft surgery for her injuries.

I don’t have kids. But if I did, I wouldn’t wait for the County Council to get their act together.

I’d join with other parents and pressure the authorities to enforce the regulations now and protect my children.

Gerry O’Donnell

Mitchelstown

Co Cork