The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) has called on the government to introduce legislation which would ban all non-working dogs from hills and farmlands, following a spate of recent attacks.
The association has said that legislation on this area must also include fines for those caught with non-working dogs on farmland and INHFA vice-president Pheilim Molloy said doing so “should be considered a criminal offence”.
The leader said that this may seem drastic but added that a clear message needs to be sent.
“It will remove any ambiguity about access with dogs, and challenge the minority who either do not understand or are unwilling to respect the landowners’ property and livelihood rights,” he stated.
The call comes following an alleged assault on a farmer in Co. Wicklow last week, who tried to stop walkers from accessing his land with dogs.
Pat Dunne was allegedly pushed to the ground by the walkers, who were trying to bring their dogs onto the well-known ZigZag trail which runs through Dunne’s land, where he keeps heavily pregnant ewes.
The INHFA stated its support for Dunne and called for an additional requirement that anyone involved in accessing property for recreational purposes must have private and public liability insurance.
Molloy believes that would help reduce farmers’ exposure to potential claims.
“Alternatively, the Oireachtas could enact legislation to ensure that anyone accessing farmland does so at their own risk and automatically waives the right to claim against the property owner,” he said.
Awareness that public access to hills and farms is not a public right must be increased, stated Molloy.
He said that the unregulated encouragement of this is “adding to the risk of farms as workplaces in a manner that would not be tolerated under health and safety requirements in other industries”.
Injured livestock, broken fences, camping and wildfires are just some of the cases that have been reported, challenges which have undermined the work of farmers.
“The INHFA are looking for public support to increase awareness around land ownership [which] many recreational users do not seem to appreciate.
“When they walk on farmland, they are entering owned land and entering a farmer’s place of work and livelihood.
“We must also recognise that there are landowners that don’t want people on their property and this right must also be respected,” Molloy concluded.