A Tipperary vet says current laws around dogs need to be enforced.
This comes following an horrific attack by a Pitbull cross which has caused life altering injuries to a nine year old child in Wexford.
Mairead Leahy of Arra Vets in Tipp Town says that while there are arguments to say the owner is responsible for the behaviour of their dog there are certain breeds that are genetically more prone to this behaviour.
She went on to say that introducing more laws is pointless until the current ones around muzzling, leads, and the age you should to be in control of restricted breeds is reinforced.
“They need to be reinforced what is the point in bringing in more, like the law is there, it says the dog should be on a lead and the dog should have a muzzle on it and it should be under the control of someone over the age of 16. So, the law is already there we just need to reinforce it.”
Meanwhile, a mother says a dog attack that happened in South Tipperary earlier this year has destroyed her daughter’s life.
Annemarie was also reacting to the news of the attack and referenced an ordeal which saw her daughter jump into the Suir River to escape the four loose Pitbulls while also protecting her own two dogs, has left her with scars both physically and mentally.
Speaking to Tipp Today she said her once outgoing daughter now won’t even leave the house to go shopping or for a walk:
“She escaped dying by one millimetre there were two fangs in her neck that we didn’t even know about on the night because she was covered in mud and blood, and everything the next day the surgeon told her she escaped death by that, there were two fangs and thank God they didn’t go in any further than they did because she’d be gone, but we didn’t know that on the night, we didn’t know that until after surgery.”
