Policy information
Dog Control
From Department of Rural and Community Development
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- 1. Introduction
- 2. Dog Licences
- 3. Dog-related statistics
- 4. Identification
- 5. Spaying and Neutering
- 6. Dog Fouling
- 7. Barking Dogs
The Department of Rural and Community Development is responsible for policy and legislation regarding dog control and dog breeding establishments. Under the Control of Dogs Act 1986 local authorities have responsibility for all operational activities. They have the power to appoint dog wardens, provide dog shelters, seize dogs, impose on-the-spot fines and take court proceedings against owners.
In general, for all matters relating to dogs, please contact your local authority. You can find a list of local authorities here .
If you own a dog you must get a dog licence and you must have your dog microchipped.
To apply for a dog licence, please go to the following link: Dog Licences.
Each year the department publishes statistics on a range of dog-related responsibilities of local authorities.
Your dog must wear a collar with your name and address on an attached badge or disc.
All pet owners are strongly advised to have their dog neutered if they don’t intend to breed from them in a responsible and caring way. This will reduce the number of unwanted puppies. Neutered male dogs are less likely to wander or display aggression. These procedures also reduce the risk of your pet contracting life threatening diseases.
You must clean up after your dog if it fouls in a public place. Failure to clean up your dog’s waste can lead to a €150 “on-the-spot” fine or on summary conviction to a fine of up to €4,000.
Excessive dog barking which causes a nuisance to any person is an offence. Your District Court can make an order requiring the reduction of excessive barking by a dog, can limit the number of dogs that can be kept on a premises, or can direct that a dog be delivered to a dog warden as an unwanted dog. You can make a complaint about excessive barking to the District Court under Noise Regulations.
Before you do this, you must first let the dog owner know that you are making a complaint. You do this by completing a Section 108 Form under the Control of Dogs Act, 1986. The Section 108 form is available from the District Court.
Regulations introduced on October 1st 2024 prohibit the importing, breeding, selling and re-homing of XL Bully dogs.
From February 1st 2025, it will be illegal to own an XL Bully without a ‘Certificate of Exemption’. More information can be found here: Ban on XL Bully dogs
Note: As a cross of restricted breeds, XL Bully dogs are subject to the restrictions listed below as well as the incoming regulations.
All dogs must be kept under effectual control. In addition, the Control of Dogs Regulations 1998 places additional controls on the following specific breeds of dogs:
- American Pit Bull Terrier
- English Bull Terrier
- Staffordshire Bull Terrier
- Bull Mastiff
- Doberman Pinscher
- German Shepherd (Alsatian)
- Rhodesian Ridgeback
- Rottweiler
- Japanese Akita
- Japanese Tosa
- every dog of the type commonly known as a Ban Dog (or Bandog)
While in a public place, these dogs, or strains and crosses thereof, must be kept on a strong short lead (only up to 2 metres long) by a person over 16 years of age who is capable of controlling them. Each dog must be securely muzzled also.
These are premises that keep six or more female dogs, older than six months, which are capable of breeding. You must register with your Local Authority if you meet this criteria.
If you are setting up a new breeding establishment you must first register with your local authority. It is an offence to operate without being registered with your local authority.
The Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 sets out the rules for these establishments.
Following a public consultation process, the Department issued revised Dog Breeding Establishment Guidelines 2018. These took effect on 1 January 2019. The Department also published a Dog Breeding Establishment Guidelines Cover Note alongside those Guidelines outlining the planned next steps in this area.
A summary of the responses received to that consultation process, and the responses, are available on the following link: Dog Control Submissions.
The Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 (the Act) and related Guidelines, set out certain requirement that dog breeding establishments must follow. Dog Breeding Establishments must be registered with their Local Authority, and each Local Authority should maintain and publish the list of Dog Breeding Establishments in their administrative area.
In their report of March 2023, the Working Group on Dog Control recommended the creation of a centralised national database of Dog Breeding Establishments, published online and updated regularly.
The definition of a Dog Breeding Establishment is outlined within the Act. As the definition relates to the number of breeding bitches, some premises that do not breed pups specifically for sale are also captured by the definition. These include, for example, Hunt Clubs, Animal Welfare Charities and Commercial Boarding Kennels.
Some Local Authority areas do not have any Dog Breeding Establishments registered in their area, in a small number of cases we are awaiting updated data and will update the list once this information is available.
In May 2022 the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, published the consultation report on ‘A review of measures relating to the control of dogs in Ireland’. This report follows a public consultation to which over 1,000 responses were received.
The Department carried out a review of measures relating to dog control in Ireland. This included measures relating to specific breeds and also dogs in general, both in urban and rural settings.
The consultation report ‘A review of measures relating to the control of dogs in Ireland’ can be found below:
Public Consultation: A review of measures relating to the control of dogs in Ireland
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A selection of submissions from representative organisations are published alongside the consultation report and are available at: Dog Control Submissions: 'A review of measures relating to the control of dogs in Ireland' - May 2022
For data protection reasons, submissions from individuals who provided responses are not being published.
Terms of reference, agendas and minutes for the Working Group on Control of Dogs are available here .
Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys appointed former Deputy Garda Commissioner, John Twomey, as the independent chairperson of the newly established Dog Control Stakeholder Group.
The Group is made up of representatives from key government departments and interest groups and will make recommendations on strengthening the policy and legislation around dog control.
Minister Humphreys has also asked the Group to examine the issue of restricting certain breeds of dogs, in line with actions being taken by regions in the UK, including Northern Ireland.
The Group will meet quarterly and details of the Terms of Reference, agendas and minutes for the Dog Control Stakeholder Group are available here.
Information on funding allocated to Dog Control can be found here: Dog Control Funding Allocations
Address:
Dog Control, Social Inclusion and Communities Unit, Department of Rural and Community Development Government Offices, Ballina, Co Mayo, F26 E8N6
Email: dogcontrol@drcd.gov.ie