A new bill which pushes for a minimum 10 month prison sentence for dog thieves has passed its first stage in the Dail.
The bill, brought forward by Aontu leader Peadar Toibin, was conceptualised after the rise in dog thefts during Covid-19 lockdowns. He argued that pets play a crucial role within family life and that this status should be fully recognised in law.
An Garda Siochana reported a 16 per cent increase in dog related thefts in 2020 alone. Many family pets were stolen by criminal gangs, with several reports circulating of animals being shipped off to puppy farms in the UK for financial gain.
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Peadar told Newstalk Breakfast: “When you have criminal gangs involved in those scenarios, it’s very important that people are deterred from taking away pets-this bill’s primary objective is to prevent dog theft in the future. It’s to ensure families don’t have to keep their pets indoors or within view at all times.”
The Aontu leader told the Dail that there was now a “lucrative” market for pet thieves in Ireland, which urgently needed to be addressed. The politician also referenced a major animal sting in 2020, where 32 pedigree pups worth upwards of €150,000 were seized by Gardai in Baldoyle.
The legislation would slap convicted dog thieves with a minimum 10 month prison sentence. Peadar encouraged other politicians to support the bill in order to safeguard animal rights.
He added: “There’s a grieving process that occurs when a dog dies or is stolen that can last for weeks. The idea of the bill is that a dog is not a laptop or a tv, it's part of the family.”
Figures from the Department of Justice revealed that ‘dognappings’ rose by a shocking 50 % since 2019 as demand for family pets soared. The DSPCA reported that medium sized dogs, including cocker and springer spaniels, were often the victims of dog related theft in comparison to other breeds.
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