An open letter to Minister Humphreys, as well as all TDs and politicians in Ireland.
Dear Minister Humphreys and all politicians in Ireland,
Yes. We’ll take your dogs. Again. As we’ve done before. When your dog pounds overflowed after Covid. In January (of every year) when the Christmas puppies are left in cardboard boxes on the doorsteps of every Irish rescue, they call on us to help.
We’ve taken your discarded dogs for nearly twenty years now. We have loved them, healed them, and found them happy ever afters. We rehome more than 700 Irish dogs annually. Since 2005 we’ve rehomed an estimated 11 000 unwanted Irish dogs to loving homes in Sweden and Finland.
We’ll keep helping Irish dogs, but this time you’ve not given us enough time. Instead of fixing the problem at the source you’ve implemented a useless, populistic, indiscriminate ban on a whole group of innocent individuals that will fix nothing. It will not deter your backyard breeders, your puppy farms or your irresponsible puppy buyers. Just like that law on mandatory microchipping and registration you passed in 2016 has done very little to stem the constant flow of abandoned and straying dogs coming into the pounds, never to be reclaimed.
With all due respect, we’re tired, and heartbroken… and quite frankly broke, from trying to save just one more neglected, hurting Irish dog from the unnecessary suffering put upon them by the lack of breeding restrictions and resources to enforce the animal welfare laws you currently do have in place.
As a dog welfare organisation we’re all for breeding regulations, enforcing responsible dog ownership laws, and even phasing out breeds that potentially can cause issues. But what is happening in Ireland right now, and what has happened in several other countries where irrational breed bans have been put in place in an ill thought out panicked attempt at scoring quick political points, is nothing short of inhumane and cruel.
We apologise if we may sound exasperated, but as we write this the clock is ticking. We’re 29 days away from 1 October. A hard set deadline when rescues and pounds will be stuck with hundreds of abandoned dogs that they can’t rehome. We can’t save them all. There just isn’t time. It’ll be up to them to clean up the mess you’ve created. They will have no choice but to euthanize sweet, friendly dogs who’ve never hurt anybody, only because they look a certain way – because that is how humans bred them.
And speaking of breeding. With 29 days left to live, XL-bully bitches all over Ireland are still giving birth to puppies they never asked for. Puppies that will not be old enough to leave their mothers in 29 days, thus barring them from the safe haven we could have provided. We assume, Minister Humphreys, that you won’t be at a pound or rescue facility on 1 October to personally witness the carnage of this ban you’ve enforced?
Had you just given us more time. Starting with a breeding ban on XL-bullies, and imposing restrictive laws on breeding of ALL dogs in Ireland. Put a reasonable cap on the number of breeding bitches a breeder can utilize, put a cap on the number of litters each bitch can produce, and put a cap on the number of litters a male can sire. Dog breeding should never be a high-volume business to ensure all dogs used for breeding are mentally sound and physically healthy. Do something that will make a difference in the statistics. Then enforce a license of responsible dog ownership for restricted breeds.
We want to help you. We’ve been working closely alongside approximately twenty Irish rescues, pounds, and animal welfare organizations for many years, and we want nothing more than to help Ireland get control of the overbreeding, abandoned, and neglected dogs that must be costing Irish taxpayers millions every year. With responsible breeding and responsible dog ownership laws, tragic incidents like the ones seen in Ireland lately could be prevented. Because banning the XL-bullies won’t. Which breed is next to be banned?
We’ll be here.
Sincerely,
Hundar Utan Hem
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Hundar Utan Hem is a renowned Swedish rescue and dog welfare organisation that rescues and rehomes over 1000 dogs annually from Ireland, Poland, and Sweden. They provided neglected and abandoned dogs with veterinary care for €440K in 2023.
Read more at hundarutanhem.se/help.