Dog attacks on sheep in Kerry in 2024 are to be mapped by Kerry County Council in an effort to identify the dogs and their owners. The Department of Agriculture is also being asked to employ its satellite tracking system in conjunction with the council maps, to help identify the out-of-control dogs.
The move is on foot of motions by Castleisland area Councillor Fionnán Fitzgerald after a “savage” dog attack on a prize ewe and ram near Tralee in December. The ewe was beyond help and had to be put down by the farmer. The large black dog, which had a collar and is thought to have been microchipped, was chased away from attacking the ram by the farmer and his 75-year-old father on their way up the hill to try and save the ewe. However, it returned to attack the ram.
It was the latest in a series of shocking dog attacks on sheep in Kerry during 2023 which left well over 100 animals killed by dogs in separate attacks across the county. Humans were also attacked by dogs in Kerry in 2023, including on Inch beach and on the Kerry camino walkway.
Mr Fitzgerald, a Fianna Fáil councillor, sought the move to map the attacks. Attacks on sheep go largely unpunished because of the difficulty in locating and identifying the dogs. Mr Fitzgerald asked Kerry County Council to produce and publicise maps of the county, highlighting areas that have had attacks by dogs on sheep, and to visit dwellings around those areas, checking to see if dogs are microchipped as they should be.
The council has agreed and said the mapping will also “raise awareness of the responsibilities of dog owners and become a useful tool in reducing the number of sheep kills”. The council is also seeking that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s satellite tracking system be employed to track the dogs to help in a prosecution. “Why shouldn’t a sheep farmer be allowed to identify a microchipped dog whose location has been identified through the DAFM’s satellite monitoring system?” Mr Fitzgerald asked.
