Significant drop in people buying dog licences in Cork 

Are Corkonians falling out of love with man’s best friend or are they too financially squeezed with energy inflation to afford a licence for their dog?

That’s a question some perplexed councillors are asking after figures released by County Hall officials show a significant drop in the number of dog licences issued in the county last year.

The final figure at the end of last year for licences purchased was 24,098, while at the end of 2024 it stood at 26,764 – a decrease of 2,675, which is nearly a 10% drop.

Officials reported that in 2025 the number of stray dogs taken into pounds was 209. Of these 142 were reclaimed by their owners or rehomed.

In total, 66 of these strays were euthanised and one died of natural causes.

The Kanturk/Mallow Municipal District had the largest number of licences issued last year at 3,924, followed by the West Cork Municipal District at 3,808 and the East Cork Municipal District with 3,299.

The number of registered dog breeding establishments remained the same between both years at 28. The largest concentration of them is in North Cork where the Kanturk/Mallow and Fermoy municipalities have seven each.

Officials have not explained the drop in dog licenses, but some councillors are speculating that people under financial stress due to inflation are dodging buying them in the hope they won’t get caught.

There were just 141 fines issued last year for not having a licence, down from 233 in 2024.

Last year there were 46 prosecutions for having no licence, as against 78 in 2024.

Fianna Fáil councillor Audrey Buckley said 49% of households own dogs, so a significant number don’t have licences.

“At the same time, many dogs are being collected by wardens and brought to the pounds are not microchipped, which strongly suggests they’re also not licensed. That means responsible owners who do pay the €20 annual license are effectively subsidising those who don’t,” she said.

Ms Buckley suggested microchipping should be directly linked to the dog license system when registering a dog.

“It would make enforcement much easier, help reunite pets with their owners and, most importantly, protect the welfare of the animal. We also need stronger enforcement where licences are not in place, because the revenue is essential to support dog wardens, the operation of pounds and wider dog control services,” Ms Buckley added.

“This to me is quite surprising as there appears to be a large increase in the number of dog owners in the county and when it’s much easier to licence a dog through An Post or online,” Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn said.