Cllr Sheridan wants more visible dog license checks

By Sorcha Reilly

LOUTH County Councillor John Sheridan, has called on Louth County Council to have more visible dog licence checks to boost compliance of licensing and microchipping.

The Fianna Fail councillor brought up the question dueing the January meeting of the local authority where he asked Louth County Council, how many dogs are there in Louth and how many of those are microchipped and licensed. He also asked how the local authority

Cllr John sheridan.

could increase compliance of the dog license and getting them microchipped as they are very important for dog control.

According to John

there are six and a half thousand licensed dogs in Louth but the actual number of dogs lies somewhere between 12,000 to 18,000.

“It’s a worrying factor and by not having the ability to track the correct amount of dog that are actually in Louth as they can’t be put down to be recorded.

“It’s difficult to find the dogs that aren’t either, microchipped, or licensed, as there isn’t anything at the moment to search for those dogs. It’s not possible to go door to door, but we should engage with vets across the county, around compliance and as well as that get dog wardens to actually go out and attend popular walking routes at the weekends when people are walking their dogs. I believe this would be a good way to ensure dog compliance,” stated John.

John concluded by saying, “ That there is a balance to be found but ultimately as far as I’m concerned we need to shine a light on the compliance levels of dog’s licenses.”