Kilkenny dog owners hit with significant new laws from Minister Heather Humphreys

Ireland is to ban the XL bully breed following the death of a woman in an attack involving one of the dogs. 

It will be illegal to import, breed or re-sell XL bullies from October 1, while a ban on ownership of the dogs will come into force from February 1.

In June, two members of An Gardaí Síochana in Kilkenny and The Dog Warden responded to an incident in the early hours of Tuesday morning where two XL Bullys were found wandering in the Castlecomer area and warned local dog owners that they must fulfill their 'obligations'.

"There are many legal obligations that come with dog ownership. These include microchipping, keeping under effective control in a public place, licensing, fouling and last but not least their welfare," a post to the Kilkenny Gardaí social media account read following the incident.

READ MORE: Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys said she was making the decision in order to protect public safety.

"With recent and indeed tragic news and publicity, the control of dogs is once again in the media both here and further afield. One possible byproduct of this is that many owners of Restricted breeds including XL Bullys are surrendering them to shelters or in some cases 'dumping' them. This is illegal and indeed reprehensible," the statement added.

Gardaí are reminding the public that restricted breeds must wear a muzzle in a public place and be under the control of someone 16 years or older, physically capable of controlling the animal and a lead of 6ft or less.

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Current owners of XL bullies will be required to neuter their dogs to obtain a certificate of exemption between those two dates in order to keep them.

Once the legislation is enacted, any person in breach of the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to a fine of up to 2,500 euros, up to three months in prison, or both.