Mayo County Council is to consider hiring an animal welfare officer for the county but first of all, parties campaigning for the creation of such a role must clearly outline the proposed funding model behind it.
This was the outcome of a discussion on the matter at the September meeting of Mayo County Council on Monday last, at which Ballina councillor Cllr Mark Duffy raised a motion - “Calling on Mayo County Council to hire an animal welfare officer and to consider a request by the Animal Welfare Officer for Mayo Advocacy Group to present to the October meeting of Mayo County Council.”
Cllr Duffy outlined that with Mayo having a big geographical area, a number of charity groups, some funded by the council, some wholly funded by the ISPCA, were working in animal welfare. Unfortunately, numerous cases of animal abuse and neglect are arising around the county and three different petitions in recent times for the provision of an official animal welfare officer have garnered thousands of signatures.
A number of councillors supported Cllr Duffy in his call, noting how sad it was that animals are mistreated by people in Mayo, with Cllr Ger Deere stating: "Responsibility for animal welfare at the moment falls between the dog warden, the gardai and the Department of Agricutlure. Some years ago an abandoned horse was discovered in an awful state but because it could not be established who was responsible, I had to pay some of it myself, unfortunately, to get the animal put down."
Cllr Annie May Reape added: "I know this issue was raised before but it is a very costly and expensive area to run; we need a response from management on this." Cllr Michael Kilcoyne stated: "There is a fair amount of animal cruelty in the county and many painful incidents to witness. I still don't know why the role was not included in the remit of the traffic warden when that role was drawn up."
A written reply on the matter from Jacqueline Brady, Staff Office in the Veterinary Office of MCC stated: "The only money available to MCC in its current budget is €35,000, which is used to provide funding for animal welfare organisations. The cost to the council of directly employing an animal welfare officer to include payroll, travel & subsistence, accommodation overhead, vehicle and operational costs, would be approximately €150,000 and is beyond our current budget capacity."
MCC Director of Services, John Condon, advised members: "It will cost money to have such an officer; there are different ways to do it, whether through the budget or working with other groups. We were in negotiation with the ISPCA before on this but they did not go any further. It must be kept in mind that most of the animal rescue groups in the county that we do fund are related to the ISPCA. I suggest we hear the deputation first and what they have to say on this and then decide."
Regarding a request from Cllr Duffy to provide a rates waiver to some of the animal charities involved in animal welfare in Mayo, Director of Finance with MCC, Peter Duggan, told members: "If the charity involved is running a shop, as some are, it is a commercial entity that seeks to make profit and so, should not have exemption from rates; but they can apply for exemptions and make their case."
It was agreed that a deputation representing the animal welfare charities would address the council at an upcoming meeting to explore the matter further and outline financial proposals for the provision of an Animal Welfare Officer.
