Castleisland-based Fianna Fáil councillor, Fionnán Fitzgerald has said he is “shocked and dismayed” that a map of dog attacks occurring across the county by Kerry County Council will not be publicised.

In response to a question by Cllr. Fitzgerald at a recent Castleirland-Corca Dhuibhne Municipal District meeting, the council said that due to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) concerns, the map cannot be made publicly available.

All dog attacks on sheep, which have been reported to the Kerry County Council Dog Pound since 2022, have been mapped, according to Kerry County Council.

“However, due to GDPR concerns, we are unable to make this information publicly available. We will continue to map any attacks and use it as an aid to the dog wardens when investigating sheep attacks,” the council said.

Earlier this year, the councillor tabled a motion calling on the council to produce and publicise such maps after there had been a number of attacks on sheep in the Kilduff area. Cllr. Fitzgerald told Agriland:

“It seemed apparent to me that there were areas that were more prone to attacks on sheep by dogs than other areas, and that it doesn’t necessarily happen where there are a lot of sheep.

“So you can have an area where there are sheep prolific on fields at this time of year or into the early spring and there would be no dog attacks, and then there would be areas with less sheep that would be more prone to dog attacks.”

Mapping dog attacks in Kerry

Speaking to Agriland, Cllr. Fitzgerald said he was “shocked and dismayed” that the map of dog attacks on sheep would not be made available online due to GDPR concerns, a situation which he described as “GDPR gone mad”.

The councillor said “there are peoples’ livelihoods at stake here and they are being put up against GDPR”, adding that he was not looking for names or pictures to be published, but a map of areas where attacks on sheep were prolific by dogs roaming the county.

“I was merely looking for maps of areas because it would surely prick the consciences of the owners of dogs that would be capable of an attack on sheep. It would prick their consciences and get them to say it’s possible that it’s my dog,” he said.

Cllr. Fitzgerald said he will return to the issue of the non-publication of the map of dog attacks at the next full meeting of Kerry County Council in December.

The mapping of areas where dog attacks on sheep are prolific would allow An Garda Síochána to monitor specific areas, and would allow the council’s enforcement section to focus on areas and do door-to-door checks for licences, he said.