Carlow Regional Game Council attack proposed ban on e-collar training devices for dogs

The National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), which has five-hundred members in Carlow, has attacked Agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue's plan to ban e-collar training devices for dogs. It says the announcement would be devastating for both dogs and sheep.

Carlow has one hundred and nine thousand sheep [1], which risk attacks when dogs escape from the control of their owners. Latest government figures showed an increase in livestock worrying with 268 incidents across Ireland in 2022, a 24% rise on the previous year. There were a further 791 cases of aggressive dog behaviour reported to local authorities.
"The ban is totally ideological and without any evidence whatsoever", commented John Butler, National Chairman of the Regional Game Councils, which is Ireland's largest conservation organisation with over 25,000 members.[3]

"Peer-reviewed science shows that these devices do no harm to a dog. Once trained, the dogs avoid attacking sheep; and so, don't get shot by farmers or destroyed by police or vets. It is sheer madness for the government to prefer dogs, which are only following their natural prey instinct, to be put down, rather than having them trained by an e-collar with a low-level pulse from a 9-volt battery."[4]

Earlier this month, Minister McConalogue told RTÉ radio’s Today Show that the move follows months of “significant consultation” on the issue. But this claim was described as "totally bogus" by John Butler, who sits on the recently established Dog Control Stakeholder Group, inside the Ministry for Rural and Community Development in Dublin [5]. He said that the minister was "pulling the wool over the eyes of sheep farmers and dog owners." NARGC wants the government to acknowledge the obvious benefits of e-collars, not ban them.

The Irish Farmers Association also responded to Minister McConalogue's consultation. A submission questioned the case for banning e-collars.[6] Adrian Gallagher who is National Chair of the IFA Sheep Committee said earlier this month that "the frequency and severity of dog attacks on livestock has reached unprecedented levels, causing immense distress and financial losses for the affected farmers."[7]

John Butler of NARGC continued:

"McConalogue may cite "significant consultation", but he announced the ban before publishing the evidence submitted to his department. This looks like another attempted stitch-up and underlines that a decision was taken regardless of expert assessment. The facts show no dog is 'electrocuted', no harm or distress is caused, and that e-collars are remarkably successful in preserving the lives of both dogs and sheep."

The Dog Control Stakeholder Group is made up of representatives from key Irish government departments and interest groups and has been convened to make recommendations to the ministry on strengthening policy and legislation around dog control.

John Butler of NARGC concluded, "Minister McConalogue should have put his proposal to this government advisory committee and sought their opinion rather than acting arbitrarily and with haste. It is time he thought again."