Council grappling with lack of dog warden as XL Bully ban looms

A warning that the new restriction on XL Bully dogs will bring increased pressure on dog wardens was sounded by Cllr Vinny McCormack at the July meeting of Westmeath County Council, held in Mullingar. He remarked that as things stand, dog wardens are already under considerable pressure.

“We don’t have enough resources to deal with what we have at the moment and the dog warden is going to have a lot more to deal with when this comes into effect,” he said, adding that he felt the council should look for additional resources to cover this issue.

County chief executive Barry Kehoe confirmed that the council executive believes that the change may mean a lot of additional work for its dog warden – when it succeeds in recruiting one.

“We’re working at sector level with the department to identify the work, the quantity of it, and how we undertake that,” he stated.

However, he continued, at present the council is actually attempting to recruit a dog warden. At the moment, in the short term, the duties of the dog warden are being addressed by the community wardens.

Cllr Tom Farrell wondered if the council would now need to look at amending its by-laws regulating dogs on the greenways considering all that has happened in the last six months with dogs.

“There is definitely danger out there at the moment,” he said. “If anybody goes on the greenway, whether in Mullingar or Athlone, there are dogs there that should not be there so I think it’s important that we keep our by-laws up to date.”

Responding, Mr Kehoe said that in the context of the new rules and regulations coming into force, the by-laws may need to be reconsidered. “But we will cross that bridge when it comes to it,” he said.

He added that if people were having an issue with dogs on the greenways, they should certainly report that and the council would have a community warden investigate.

Pound upgrade

Separately, at the same meeting, Ken Glynn asked about plans for development of the dog pound in Mullingar, stating that he understood about four years ago that the sum of approximately €50,000 had been put aside for the purpose but no works have happened.

“Is there a plan? What is the plan? When will it happen?” he asked, also asking for more detail on the recruitment of a dog warden.

Support came from Cllr Alfie Devine. He said there was also a problem with dogs being allowed to run loose at Lough Lene. He said a couple of weeks ago a child was actually attacked by a dog and so he wanted employment of a warden prioritised.

Mr Kehoe confirmed that funds had been set aside for renovation works for the pound and the fund was at this stage over €100,000.

“The tender documents have been finalised and we expect to go to tender in the coming weeks for the works there, so hopefully it will be completed by the end of the year,” he said, adding that he hoped the new dog warden would be in place as soon as possible.