Dún Laoghaire Council seeks national dog DNA database to tackle dog fouling
Eva Osborne
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council has unanimously agreed to progress plans to develop a dog DNA scheme aimed at tackling dog fouling across the county.
The scheme would work by taking a DNA swab from dogs at the point of microchipping. As Irish law already requires all dogs to be microchipped, this would involve no additional step for owners, Councillor Pierce Dargan said.
If DNA evidence were later found following a dog attack on livestock or an incident of dog fouling, a sample could be taken and compared against a national database.
This would allow the offending dog to be identified and the owner fined and/or prosecuted.
At Monday night’s Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council meeting, two complementary motions were passed, one proposed by Fine Gael Cllr Pierce Dargan and the other by Social Democrats Councillor John Hurley, both seeking to address the persistent problem of dog fouling and irresponsible dog ownership.
Cllr Dargan’s motion called on the council to examine similar dog DNA schemes that have been successfully implemented in countries such as Spain and France.
This was supported by Cllr Hurley’s motion, which seeks to write to the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to advocate for the establishment of a national dog DNA database.
Such a database could be used to match DNA taken from dog fouling to registered dogs, allowing for enforcement through fines.
With the passing of both motions, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council will now begin work on developing a local scheme while simultaneously advocating for the creation of a national dog DNA database.
Cllr Pierce Dargan said: "I would like to see the creation of a national dog DNA database that local authorities, through dog wardens, could access when investigating incidents of dog fouling or livestock attacks.
"The cost of such a scheme could be offset through fines, which in similar schemes in countries such as Spain, have reached thousands of euro. These systems have also acted as a strong deterrent, with reported reductions in dog fouling.
"Dog fouling and attacks on livestock are a growing problem in my area of Glencullen–Sandyford and across the country. We need to tackle this issue using modern technology.
The current system, which relies on dog wardens physically witnessing an offence, is not fit for purpose.
"Councils simply cannot employ enough wardens to police this effectively, and we should not be trying to enforce modern problems using outdated methods.
"Given that other European countries have successfully implemented similar systems, it makes sense for Ireland to do the same.
"If the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, supports the principle of a national dog DNA database, I would like Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council to be ready to act as the first local authority to pilot such a scheme.”
