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You must have a current licence for your dog. A licence costs €12.70 and is
available at your local post office and is renewable annually. Non-compliance
with dog licensing laws can result in dog owners being fined.
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Dog wears a collar having the name and address of the owner on an attached
plate, badge or disc. The regulations contain penalties for non-compliance with
this requirement or for defacing or rendering illegible the above particulars.
While the law does not require an owner to micro-chip their dog at present, it is
a good means to ensure that if your dog goes astray, when found it can be
reunited with you/its owner quickly. It’s a once-off procedure, the chip is
about the size of a grain of rice and is secure and permanent. All stray dogs
brought into the dog shelter are scanned for a micro chip and it assists the dog
wardens and pound keeper in reuniting owners with their dogs.
The powers of dogs wardens include the power to request the name and address of a
person where there are reasonable grounds for believing the person is
committing, or has committed, an offence under the dog control legislation; to
seize and detain any dog and to enter any premises (other than a dwelling), for
the purpose of such seizure or detention. It is an offence to impede or obstruct
a dog warden in carrying out his/her duties.
Excessive barking which causes a nuisance to any person is an offence. In a
good-neighbourly manner, let the dog’s owner know how the barking affects you.
They may not have realised what was happening. If that approach fails, a
complaint about excessive barking should be made to the District Court under the
noise regulations. To do this, you must first inform the dog owner in writing
using a prescribed form, which can be obtained from your local authority or
local district court.
The Control of Dogs Regulations 1998 place controls on 10 breeds of dogs namely
the American Pit Bull Terrier; English Bull Terrier; Staffordshire Bull Terrier;
Bull Mastiff; Doberman Pinscher; German Shepherd (Alsatian); Rhodesian
Ridgeback; Rottweiler; Japanese Akita; Japanese Tosa and to every dog of the
type commonly known as a Ban Dog (or Bandog).
The controls, which must be observed when the dog is in a public place, require
that these dogs, or strains and crosses thereof,
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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.
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The dog(s) must be securely muzzled.
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The dog needs to wear a collar bearing its name and the address of the owner
The rules on muzzling and leashing do not apply to dogs used by the Gardaí, the
Dublin Harbour Police, State Airport Police and bona fide rescue teams in rescue
operations. The rules on muzzling do not apply to guide dogs for the blind.
Full details of both the Control of Dogs Act, 1986 and the amended legislation
with regard to restricted breeds can be found at the following links: