Animal welfare charities and rescue centres are being left to pick up the pieces in the absence of proper dog breeding regulations, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on agriculture, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland holds the dubious distinction of being the puppy farm capital of Europe, with 30,000 dogs exported annually into illegal markets in the UK, Europe and Asia. This figure increases by 70,000 if you take backyard breeders into account, where hundreds of female dogs are often kept in horrendous conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2022, 7,352 dogs entered Irish pounds \u2013 a 77 per cent increase on 2021 \u2013 and 340 were euthanised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis scandalous situation has arisen because of weak regulation under the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010. It means females as young as four months can be bred, with no maximum age, and they can have up to six litters in their lifetimes. Ireland\u2019s inadequate laws have left the door open to unregistered breeding and allowed harmful practices like surgical insemination to remain legal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why I introduced the Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025, which will be debated at second stage in the D\u00e1il today (Wednesday, December 10).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt contains several key measures to strengthen the 2010 act. These include capping the number of breeding females at 30 per site; introducing a 16-month minimum age for breeding and eight-year maximum age; a maximum of one litter per year per breeding female; a maximum of four litters per breeding female during her lifetime; a minimum age of 10 weeks for pup separation; the outlawing of surgical artificial insemination; and updating fee structures to reflect new welfare standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, the legislation would also mandate a 1:10 staff-to-animal ratio to allow for proper care.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that puppy farm owners do not care about these dogs \u2013 they are only concerned with making money. It\u2019s a lucrative industry that profits from cruelty and treats animal welfare as an afterthought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must do everything we can to eliminate cruel practices when it comes to dog breeding. In the absence of proper regulation, animal welfare charities and rescue centres will continue to be left to pick up the pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
December 10, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Animal welfare charities and rescue centres are being left to pick up the pieces in the absence of proper dog breeding regulations, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on agriculture, said: \u201cIreland holds the dubious distinction of being the puppy farm capital of Europe, with 30,000 dogs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410,582,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-animal-welfare","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n