Petition against Dublin City Co Ban - Page 2

PART TWO

The controversial ban has led to the DSPCA and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals being flooded with calls from angry and distraught dog owners who are devastated with the prospect of having to get rid of their family pets or face eviction.

Both animal welfare groups, as well as the Irish Kennel Club, are opposed to the ban and have requested an emergency meeting with Dublin City Manager John Tierney to either reconsider the ban or consider their microchipping offer.

They are also urging dog owners not to put down or give away their dogs until a compromise can be reached.

They argue that while vicious dogs are a threat to the public, the ban on specific breeds will do little to prevent irresponsible owners from continuing to use fighting dogs as weapons.

The microchipping scheme, coupled with mandatory registration of dog owners, would allow dog wardens to trace all potentially dangerous dogs to their owners.

The scheme would also readily distinguish responsible pet owners from the thugs who purposely train or abuse their dogs to be aggressive in order to use them as weapons, he added.

Yet despite the public outcry that has followed the ban, the city council is sticking to its guns despite some reports to the contrary, a council spokesman confirmed last night.

All existing and new council tenants who own a dog on the list are required to put down or rehouse their dog as a condition of their tenancy, he said.

"The dogs are banned and where we receive complaints the dog warden will be summoned," he added.

The banned dogs include: American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, English Pit Bull Terrier, Bull Mastiff, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd (Alsatian), Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Japanese Akita and Japanese Tosa.

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http://www.petitiononline.com/anvil999/petition.html