Calls grow louder for action on animal welfare crisis
Darren J. Prior
Animal welfare activists who recently, on Wednesday 3rd May, attended a meeting in Leinster House and held a demo outside the Dáil are hopeful that there will be comprehensive action taken in coming months in Oireachtas Éireann on the animal welfare crisis in Ireland.
Last week Dublin People newspapers reported on last Wednesday's then upcoming meeting and demo.
The meeting, which was attended by representatives of thirteen animal welfare organisations and groups, was called by Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD inside Leinster House. Peadar is the sole Aontú TD in Dáil Éireann but some other Oireachtas members also attended the meeting.
Peadar has two legislative bills before Oireachtas Éireann on animal welfare. One bill attempts to create a mandatory sentence for pet theft and he has another live bill on puppy farms.
Asked if he thought would it be better for the Government to announce the establishment of an Oireachtas Joint-Committee on Animal Welfare to go through and analyse all of the animal welfare issues in Ireland and report to Government Peadar told Dublin People:
"There is deep frustration with regards to the fractured nature of the Government's response to issues around animal welfare. Unfortunately the issue of animal welfare is located in around four different Departments at the moment.
So what we're calling for is for the Government to locate animal welfare issues in one Department. And when that's done it would be logical then to have one Oireachtas committee deal with the issue of animal welfare. But in the meantime what we're going to do is set up a cross-party group within Leinster House to start to work together on these issues because many political parties at least talk about these issues and what I'm trying to do and what Aontú is trying to do is to get these parties to act on these issues.”
Cllr. Deirdre Heney (Fianna Fáil) was at the meeting with Oireachtas members and animal welfare activists in her capacity as Chair of Dublin City Council's Animal Welfare Oversight Committee.
According to Deirdre: "Animal welfare is a big issue for Dublin City Council.
One of our aims on the DCC committee is that we will have a zero tolerance approach to animal abuse in the city and that's what I'm working towards. I think the meeting here today getting all groups together is a real serious topic for discussion by our parliamentarians. We need to work together to try to progress laws that will make that happen".
Members of the Party for Animal Welfare were also present on the day. According to co-founder and spokesperson of the party Gerben Uunk his party is planning on having candidates stand in several local electoral areas across Dublin in next years local elections and they may contest the Dublin European Election next year also.
The party was established in Ireland in 2019 and according to Gerben: "We are also a movement. We are not just a political party. We are a political movement for change. We want to unite all
animal rights and animal welfare organisations in Ireland".
Echoing Peadar Tóibín's calls for an Oireachtas Committee for Animal Welfare to be established My Lovely Horse Rescue co-founder and spokesperson Martina Kenny said: "We would hope so. We would hope to get our messages clearer every time and see a difference.
There has to be. We have come to a point now where animals are being neglected, poorly treated and it's gone beyond a joke at this point.
Our pounds and rescues are bursting at the seams".
Demo organiser Lisa O'Connor told Dublin People after the meeting and demo that she and her fellow companion animal advocates,
"plan to organise another peaceful protest on a Saturday during the Summer to keep the momentum going. Then in the Autumn go back into Dáil Éireann to meet with TD's and Senators to follow up on what we presented today."
Lisa can be contacted by email at: lisaoconnor89@yahoo.com and campaigning plans; updates and discussion can be engaged with and followed on the public Facebook group Peaceful Protest Event Group - Animal Welfare Crisis Ireland 2023 which Lisa administers.
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