The number of dog attacks in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area appear to be on the rise, councillors have been told.
Speaking at a meeting of Council’s environmental services committee, Council’s head of environmental health, Gillian Topping, provided members with a dog control update.
While there was some good news from the report - the borough’s dog licence register has the greatest number of dog licences each year since 2017 and also generates the most income, the number of dogs in the borough can also lead to some “unfortunate” incidents.
Answering a query from Alliance Party group leader, Councillor Eoin Tennyson, Ms Topping said there was a “very high number of dog attacks in the first quarter of this year”.
“Dog attacks are up by 30 per cent,” said Ms Topping.
From April 2019 to March 2020 there were a total of 165 dog attacks in the borough.
From April 2020 to June 2020 there were 56 dog attacks recorded across the borough.
“Dog attacks are very regrettable and it is very difficult to rehabilitate and find new homes for dogs that have attacked and you can understand why they are surrendered,” said Ms Topping.
The statistics also show that from April 2019 to March 2020, Council humanely destroyed 16 dogs classified as unclaimed strays and a further 12 dogs at owners’ request.
When asked why this figure was higher than some other council areas, Ms Topping said the interpretation of the statistics was important.
“Interpretation of these statistics is still key,” said Council’s head of environmental health.
“We retain ownership right to the end. Some other councils may pass ownership onto third parties and the fate of those dogs would not be reflected in these figures.”
