Should dangerous dog breeds be banned in Ireland?

On Newstalk Breakfast today, CityVet owner Donal Ryan said it wouldn’t do much good without enforcement and Gardaí are “too thin on the ground”.

It follows a decision to ban the ownership of XL Bully dogs in the UK – a jurisdiction where 30,594 dog attacks were recorded in 2023.

Over 3,000 trips to emergency departments in Ireland were caused by dog bites between 2012 and 2021 - a 50% increase on the previous decade.

Mr Ryan said it’s a “huge amount of injuries” that’s been caused by dogs.

“It’s mostly from dogs that are not trained and not controlled properly,” he said.

“It’s always been the same and it’s just the breed that changes, it used to be the Rottweiler people were afraid of.

“The truth is, there are people who can bring up any breed of dog and train it in a certain way, but others can’t.”

'Fashion accessory' dog breeds

Mr Ryan said some people see certain dog breeds as “fashion accessories” and have no interest in abiding by recommendations on how to handle them.

“These messages have been going out for years but the people you want to target are not listening,” he said.

“It’s difficult to get people to understand the consequences of ownership and the duty of care they have to other people, to clean up its poo or now allow it in public.

“That’s the problem with getting the message across to people.”

File photo of a dark brown XL Bully dog. Image: Wirestock, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Ryan said banning dog breeds could be a solution, but enforcement resources are a problem.

“There’s a lot of noise about it but who’s going to deal with the problems on the ground,” he said.

“It’s hard to ask gardai, they’re too thin on the ground as is.

“The dog warden service in Limerick, as far as I’m aware they have two or three dog wardens, and that’s not as well as resourced as it should be.”

An estimated 495,000 dogs were living in Ireland as of 2022.

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Main image: Riz the XL Bully during a protest against the UK Government's decision to ban the breed, 30-09-2023. Image: PA Images / Alamy