Puppy farms are “a profit model gone absolutely mad” where an industry can gain a huge amount of money at the expense of vulnerable animals, the Dáil has heard during a debate on dog welfare.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore highlighted the “nightmare situation” in some breeding establishments.
“A pregnant female dog can be bred over and over and over again in horrific conditions, dirty, cramped, cold, often with not enough water or light, matted, covered in sores, not getting any care, not getting any love, any human interaction, but really just been seen as this production line to pump out pup after pup”.
TDs highlighted Ireland’s “shameful reputation” as the puppy farm capital of Europe with up to 30,000 animals exported annually in an industry estimated to be worth €120 million to €200 million. Legislation allows for up to 300 breeding bitches per establishment.
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Ms Whitmore said “female dogs can have up to six litters in their lifetimes and dogs as young as four months old, only puppies themselves, can be forced to have their own pups.
“These terrified mother dogs are breeding absolutely terrified pups,” and both have “horrific” health and behavioural problems.
These pups are sold to families expecting a “gorgeous little bundle of joy” but getting “a little pup that’s never been socialised, may never have had much human interaction because they’re often fed by automatic machines”.
The pup becomes a real challenge for families and “it is a conveyor belt of misery” with huge welfare concerns.
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Introducing the Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill, the Wicklow TD said it caps the number of breeding females on site at 30, introduces a 16-month minimum age for breeding and an eight-year maximum age for breeding, maximum of one litter per year per breeding female, a maximum of four litters per breeding female during her lifetime, and a minimum age of ten weeks for pup separation, with a one to 10 staff to animal ratio for proper care.
“It also bans surgical artificial insemination and other harmful practices.”
Ms Whitmore said there isn’t sufficient oversight with rescue organisations left to pick up the pieces and they “are exhausted”, overwhelmed by the number of dogs being handed in or abandoned “and it’s all down to a lack of regulation”.
Social Democrats party leader Holly Cairns said “we are the puppy farm capital of Europe. Thousands of dogs are exported every year” and “it is cruel and it is incredibly lucrative”.
Current staffing guidelines are “absurd” with one staff member recommended for 25 breeding females. With each dog having a litter of six one person could be expected to care for 175 animals, she said. “That isn’t animal welfare, it is systemic neglect.”
Responding for the Government, Minister of State for Agriculture Noel Grealish initially introduced a 12-month timed amendment, but it was later confirmed that the legislation will be reconsidered in nine months.
Mr Grealish said the delay is to allow for the completion of two “ongoing processes” including a public consultation on the next animal welfare strategy to run from 2026 to 2030 which is a “topic of enormous and growing importance” about how society values and treats all animals.
A high-level dog control stakeholder group is also currently looking at policy and legislation on control, breeding and welfare and is expected to report in 2026. A sub-group “has spent significant time looking at dog breeding establishments”.
He pledged that officials would meet and brief Ms Whitmore and “make sure that you are constantly contacted” and kept updated on the issue.
Sinn Féin agriculture spokesman Martin Kenny believed there are fewer “than 20 breeders in Ireland that have more than 30 bitches”.
It was quite a low number but it needs to be “intensively monitored”. He said the number of pups going to the UK had been very large but “I think that has gone down somewhat in recent years”.
He said they needed to see the stakeholder group’s work on this area and to get accurate data.
Labour’s George Lawlor said there is also an issue with “kitten farming” of specialist breeds, where “the suffering it causes is every bit as real”. He said “we must also get ahead of this issue before it becomes another real problem”.
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