Wexford warden says there’s only one way to reduce dog fouling – ‘If we don’t get more neutered nothing will change’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The number of dogs put to sleep by Wexford County Council (WCC) has dropped from 845 in 2005 to just 31 in 2024. During a presentation at the September meeting of the Enniscorthy Municipal District (EMD) dog warden Cabrini Desmond explained why these figures had dropped so significantly and why Wexford consistently has one of the highest rehoming rates in the country.

“Our job consists of picking up stray dogs, dealing with people wanting to surrender dogs, license checks, going to court, and liaising with the guards,” she said. “We have a good relationship with the guards and work very closely with them on sheep kills, attacks on different animals, and attacks on people.

"We also carry out patrols across the county in the various public parks, talk to people and promote responsible dog ownership. Earlier this year we launched a website (wexfordrehoming.ie) and it’s working really well, we had a dog Daisy there since February who was recently rehomed through that site.

"We have the highest amount of dogs rehomed in Ireland (2024), and nearly every year for the past seven years we’ve been the highest or the second highest in the country, this is because of the contacts we’ve developed with the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).”

However, one ongoing issue which Ms Desmond admits she can’t change is the amount of dog fouling in the county.

"With regards to fouling we actually can't issue on-the-spot fines, we would have to be authorised under the Litter Act and we’re not, but we do speak to people about it and explain the fines involved if they’re prosecuted.”

Despite this no fines were issued in Co Wexford for last year for dog fouling and the lack of powers authorised to dog wardens came as a surprise to those who had listened to Ms Desmond’s presentation.

“I’m surprised to learn the dog warden can’t issue a fine for fouling, can that be changed?” asked Councillor Pat Kehoe.

“It would have to be a government decision,” replied Ms Desmond.

Offering further clarity, director of services Carolyne Godkin said that, under current legislation, dog mess was considered litter and, even then, the culprit had to be caught in the act.

“It would be an issue for the community warden, the difficulty then is you have to witness it happening,” she said. “So it comes down to owner responsibility and monitoring your dog’s behaviour.”

According to Ms Desmond there is only one guaranteed way to reduce the amount of dog poo on our paths and walkways.

"We need to get the number of dogs coming into the pound reduced, and the amount of fouling down. The only way to do this is to reduce the number of dogs on the streets and educate people about neutering, if we don’t get more dogs neutered none of these things are going to change.”

In 2022 nine-year-old Alejandro Mizsan was left with severe facial injuries following an attack by an XL Bully at a housing estate in Enniscorthy, and Ms Desmond said she takes a zero tolerance approach to any dog involved in an attack of this nature.

“If I believe a dog has been involved in an incident I can request your name and address, I can enter outdoor premises; gardens, sheds, stables,” she said. “We can seize that dog, put them into the pound and, if the guards are involved, it goes to court and the judge will decide what happens with that dog.

“We do get lots of calls from people about restricted breeds, if you own one of those ten dogs (on the restricted breed list) you must be 16 years or older to have it in a public place, and it must wear a muzzle and be on a strong lead.

“People complain about dogs being put down but you’re always going to have a certain amount (of them), sometimes you’ll get dogs who’ve killed sheep, and if they’ve killed they’ll kill again. And I won’t have that on my conscience.”