Six-week-old puppies Faith and Hope, pictured at Dogs Trust Ireland. Photograph: ©Fran Veale
With housing at a premium across the country many pet owners are being forced to choose between a new home and a beloved member of the family. Hundreds of animals are being surrendered or abandoned every year due to tenancy restrictions which don’t permit pets in rental properties.
As a result, Wexford councillor Michael Sheehan has called on Housing Minister James Browne TD, “to amend section 12 of the Residential Tenancy Act 2004 to eliminate blanket bans on pets in tenancy agreements thereby reducing the number of pets being surrendered and abandoned.”
Submitting this motion at the June meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Cllr Sheehan also provided figures from Dogs Trust which illustrated the number of healthy dogs being abandoned due to tenancy agreements with landlords.
In 2024 Dogs Trust had more than one call or email a day (431 annually) on average from people needing to give up their dog because their move did not allow dogs. This is a 112 per cent increase from 2019 when the number was just 203, which, according to Dogs Trust, highlights a “disturbing trend” affecting dogs and their owners.
The charity said that, based on a search of all rental properties on Daft.ie in April of this year, only 7 per cent (132 out of 1871) of properties in Ireland allowed pets.
81 per cent of the 24,000 people surveyed by Dogs Trust – through Ireland's Dog Census – believe that dog owners should have the right to have a pet in rental accommodation said the charity.
Discussing Cllr Sheehan’s motion, Cllr Jim Codd noted that this issue also affected homeless people.
“Homeless people who have dogs are prevented from entering DePaul (homeless shelter) because of their pets. These dogs should be taken care of by the warden while their owners are in emergency accommodation,” he said.
Cllr Vicky Barron added that the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) already catered for pets owned by homeless people, before the motion was subsequently passed. As a result WCC will now write to Minister Browne requesting an amendment to the Tenancy Act.
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