why does eire seemingly have such a stray dog problem?

[bednobs]

just wondered - both our rescue dogs came from there, and have just been looking at some rescue sites, many dog descriptions seem to start "this dog came via our volunteers in eire"

[wolf63]

Not sure - but they also have a stray horse problem 1 ? !

[owdhamer]

And a stray traveller problem

[abstibus]

Yo, owd!!
I got my dog from there 3 years ago. The volunteers were overwhelmed. A friend lives near the 'Border' and the horrific stories I hear about animal neglect and cruelty make me want to cry - horses, dogs, cattle, particularly unwanted calves.

[bednobs]

but why?

[Brinjal]

Santiago in Chile is called the City of Dogs. There are stray dogs everywhere. without word of a lie you can stand on a street corner and see 4 dogs on one side of the road 3 on the other another 5 or six half way along. That is on every street. They dont seem ill treated in fact they are fed by business people in the city but there are literally hundres of them Also lots of homeless people to go with the dogs.

[lankeela]

But strangely they do have a dog licence scheme - which proves it does not work and would not work in this country as responsible owners would pay but the irresponsible would not, and would still let their dogs stray or just turn them loose.

[SpikeyBush]

Yes there is a dog license scheme here in Eire. I paid €12.70 at the post office for it and it was just like buying stamps or potatoes. No checks done, no nothing. I think it is just to raise revenue to fund the dog pound. But you are right in assuming that only the responsible dog owners have a license. With regards to liability, the dog owner is liable for damage or injury caused even if the dog broke out of the garden. It is the responsibility of the dog owner to ensure this does not happen.

My pet insurance gives me €1.27 million of third party liability for my cat and my dog.

[emu777]

Maybe all countries have a stray dog problem but Irish people don't just put them down...they rescue them! Personally I have never heard of such a problem in Ireland and a dog license is important for taking ownership and responsibility for your pet. Horses and travellers??? Not impressed by those remarks!

[bednobs]

emu, the vast majority (it seems; i haven't looked at them all) of rescue centres in england get most of their dogs from eire. Why bring them to england if people in eire are so caring they rescue them? I don't understand

[karenmac60]

Maybe it's a religious thing bednobs - the Church is against contraception, so maybe neutering is taboo too ;)

[emu777]

Hi Bednobs :)
I honestly don't know! What do the UK do with stray dogs?
I am a dog lover too and am grateful for animal rescue centres etc.
Living in Ireland I can't say that there is a 'problem' as such with stray dogs ;)

[starone]

There used to be a lot of stray dogs, which went around in packs, very frightening, when I was young, but since the law that said you have to have them on a lead and they are not allowed to run free in the street, that seems to have been cured. If a dog runs free the dog warden soon picks him up and takes him to the dog pound. The owners have to pay a large amount to get them back (don't know how much). There are still animals that need to be rescued from being ill-treated though.

[bednobs]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...ies6/stray_dogs.shtml
this seems to explain it a bit - not enough people to rehome their dogs

[sandyRoe]

Owlhammer, the English seem to have their stray traveller problem now.

[starone]

What puzzles me is why have dogs if you are going to throw them out when you are tired of them or when you find out how you have to care for them. Even worse, why be cruel to them, they did not ask to be born into this world.

[Carakeel]

I think one of the problems is that apparently in Ireland the dog pounds are underfunded and can only keep the dogs for around one week to 10 days. They then have to put them down! The British rescue centres take a lot of the younger dogs from Ireland for this very reason. At least here they stand a better chance of being rehomed. Dreadfully sad though!

[lankeela]

Starbuckone, you have hit the nail on the head when you ask "why have dogs if you are going to throw them out when you are tired of them or when you find out how you have to care for them" - many people don't realise how much looking after a dog takes and don't bother to find out before getting one. They are too easy to get hold of. I would bring in a high licence fee for breeders and in turn make the price of puppies higher.
Make it illegal to sell a puppy without having a breeders licence.