A Government Bill to regulate puppy farms will be worthless unless it includes a cap on the number of breeding females that can be kept on site at any one time, as well as a ban on surgical artificial insemination, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s agriculture spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I welcome that the Government is finally moving to address serious deficiencies in Ireland\u2019s dog breeding regulations, it is very frustrating that we have yet to see full details of their proposed measures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I challenged Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon in the D\u00e1il today, he was unable to confirm if the number of breeding females per site would be capped under the Government\u2019s legislation. Nor is it clear if the Bill will outlaw surgical artificial insemination, something that I and animal welfare groups have been calling for.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy own Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025 proposed a cap of 30 breeding females per site, along with a range of measures aimed at eliminating cruelty in puppy farms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt contains several key actions to tackle unregistered breeding and cruel puppy farm practices, including: 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; and a 1:10 staff-to-dog ratio to ensure proper care.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast December, the Social Democrats agreed not to push my Bill to a vote after the Government indicated they were willing to work with me to address this critical animal welfare issue. Regrettably, I have had no meaningful engagement with either Minister Heydon or Minister of State Noel Grealish since then.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, apart from some details, we are still largely in the dark as to what the Government is proposing. At the earliest opportunity I intend to scrutinise their legislation in detail to ensure that crucial elements of my Bill \u2013 which was drafted in consultation with animal welfare experts \u2013 are included.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf not, I will be asking for cross-party support for my own Bill when it comes back to the D\u00e1il for a vote in September.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Government Bill to regulate puppy farms will be worthless unless it includes a cap on the number of breeding females that can be kept on site at any one time, as well as a ban on surgical artificial insemination, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s agriculture spokesperson, […]<\/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":[410,582,846,268,7,847],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-animal-welfare","category-dog-breeding","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-puppy-farms"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n