37 euthanised dogs in Cork county raises issues about boarding kennels

ALMOST 40 dogs have been euthanised in the county this year according to a report delivered to the Southern Committee of Cork County Council this week.

There were 145 stray dogs entered into the pound from January 1 to September 30 this year, said a report by Director of Services, Louis Duffy. Of these, 108 were rehomed or reclaimed, and 37 dogs were euthanised.

Councillor Anthony Barry posed a question concerning the collection of horses. Eighteen stray horses were collected to September 30 this year, six were reclaimed, and 12 were rehomed.

Mr Duffy said the carcasses sent to incineration are treated as biohazard waste. “At least the numbers are down on recent years,” he said.

 Cllr Audrey Buckley had raised plans for a Pet Cemetery for Cork at a previous council meeting, that had opened a ‘pandora’s box’. “Where are we disposing of our pets? The pets are being taken and being cremated and the ashes are sent back.” Private homeowners are taking in up to 15 dogs at a time. “I’ve been told there is no legislation, so anybody can open up a boarding kennel,” said Ms Buckley.

Mr Duffy said a Boarding Kennel business would require planning permission beforehand, and the environmental management of that business would be assessed through the planning process. “If it has planning and is operating in a way that is causing a nuisance, then the planning conditions can be followed up with the support of the environmental team,” said Mr Duffy.

Meanwhile, there were only four litter fines sent for prosecution in Quarter 3 in 2022 in the whole of County Cork, said Ms Buckley. “I see zero for the Carrigaline Municipal District area, which I can’t fathom. I’m picking up three or four bags from beaches every day. I definitely think that needs to be addressed.” Cllr Alan O’Connor said he noticed that the Kanturk – Mallow district, with 17 and 18 litter fines issued in Q1 and Q2 of this year, seemed to have a much higher rate than other municipal districts, which averaged three or four fines.

Cllr Marcia D’Alton pointed to the success of the Big Belly anti-dumping project in Cobh. These compactor bins for general waste hold eight times more than current street bins and when full communicate to the Council that they need to be emptied.

“If there was a report on that, that could be shared at the end of the trial, that would be very welcome.”

Cllr Sheila O’Callaghan inquired about the return of community grants for CCTV installation.

While legislation has been introduced to set up schemes to monitor anti-social behaviour, the Council will have to identify “very significant risks of litter or waste disposal” before deploying such systems, “and balancing that against the data privacy requirements under GDPR,” said Mr Duffy. “When all of that has been done, a decision can be made to install a camera at a particular location.”

In a further update, it was reported that some €15,000 has been earmarked for a general litter clean up across the county. Ms D’Alton said they have no idea how the municipal wastewater treatment plants are meeting their compliance standards. “I think it’s a very basic ask from Irish Water as to how they are performing, as we do for drinking water.”