DEED NOT BREED IN IRELAND A SUPPORT and lobby group for the owners of dogs perceived to be dangerous is to be set up in the Irish Republic amid growing fears that certain breeds could be outlawed as in Britain. Lillian Colgan of Dublin and Sarah Gunther of Galway, owners of dogs on the restricted list, are behind the initiative. They are calling the support group ‘Deed Not Breed, Ireland’, to emphasise its main message – that dogs should be judged on their actions, not on their breeding. Although the group has not yet been launched officially, both women say they have already received hundreds of calls and messages from owners anxious about the fate of their dogs. The immediate cause of the worry is the decision by Dublin City Council to ban tenants from keeping ten breeds including German Shepherds, Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Rottweilers and Dobermann, on public safety grounds. That decision caused outrage among dog lovers, with warnings that up to 10,000 pets would have to be found new homes or put down. To avoid such a drastic outcome, talks on a compromise arrangement, which would involve mandatory micro-chipping, are currently under way. However, according to Ms Gunther, similar bans are planned by councils in Galway, Cork, Wexford and other cities and towns across the Republic. Equally worrying, she said, is the recent promise by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to review current dog control legislation following the Panorama expose of dog fighting in Northern Ireland and claims by its First Minister, Dr Ian Paisley, that some of the animals involved had been smuggled in from the Republic. “My fear is that we may get legislation outlawing certain breeds, and that would be disastrous, as we can see from what has happened in Britain,” said Ms Gunther, who cares for 35 dogs – several restricted breeds among them – at a rescue centre near Loughrea, Co Galway. The new group, she says, will not just be opposing a ban it will also be encouraging responsible dog ownership through education and training, using a version of the UK’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme. In Dublin, Ms Colgan, owner of two pit bulls, also emphasised that it is bad owners, not the dogs, which are the problem. Pit bulls can be very docile and loving family pets when treated properly – that’s the message we have to get out,” she said. “Banning them does not make any sense. What does make sense is educating and training young people to care for their dogs properly.”
