The most significant oversight though is the complete absence of a cap on the number of breeding females permitted within a dog breeding establishment. We currently have multiple licensed dog breeding establishments authorised to keep hundreds of breeding females. I would be grateful if the Minister would clarify this issue and state whether the Government intends to put in a meaningful cap on the number of breeding females and therefore the scale of breeding establishments.

If you use dogs.ie to buy a dog you can be 99.9% you are buying a puppy farm dog. I have not included a hard legislative cap on the total number of breeding females at a dog breeding establishment in the present draft heads of Bill, which is what we are currently dealing with.

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