Vital funding allocated to councils to tackle animal welfare issues in Northern Ireland, including neglect, cruelty and the scourge of puppy farming, is to be axed.
The Department of Agriculture, which has funded Northern Ireland’s 11 councils to the sum of £1.25million annually, plans to cease the payments in a cost cutting exercise, according to DAERA insiders.
The news comes just weeks before illegal puppy farmers start their annual plan to produce and transport litters of puppies for the lucrative Christmas market.
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Northern Ireland's councils hold the statutory responsibility for the delivery of companion animal welfare and they have relied on funding from DAERA for years.
Removal of the funding from councils who had previously relied on it to try to investigate and curb issues such as illegal puppy farming, trading and transportation of puppies, neglect, abandonment, and practices such as illegal ear cropping, will have find their share of the money from elsewhere.
A DAERA spokesperson told DogsLive that the £1.25m allocated to councils was only ever intended to “support enforcement of companion animal welfare".
They said: "Councils are wholly responsible for the provision of dog wardens and the enforcement of dog control legislation. The dog licence fee is used by councils to raise revenue to support this service. DAERA does not fund this council service.”
The department has stated they have to date been "unable to confirm to councils the position regarding the availability of funding" but sources within both DAERA and councils who have spoken to DogsLive, say they understand the allocated funding is set to be slashed by 100%.
A senior DAERA source said: “We could see this coming down the line and we know the public will be upset, but we’ve been left with no choice. Animal welfare is close to the hearts of most of us and to be unable to support it with funding is deeply regrettable.”
A number of councils are already preparing staff for job or title changes and a number of threatening redundancies and in some areas such council staff who once worked in animal welfare will see their job titles change to ‘enforcement officer’ with their priority switching to ‘fly tipping’.
One council officer said: “We’ve been battling for years to help bring people who abuse animals to court, to save and protect animals and to act as a deterrent to criminals. The funding from DAERA was never enough even at over a million pounds a year.
“We needed the funding to be increased massively, not decreased or as we have been told, slashed altogether. In our council and others, we have been told our roles now will be called enforcement officers and our main priority will be to tackle fly tipping.
“Meanwhile we are drowning in animal cruelty cases, puppy farmers, illegal and cruel transporters who are feeding the puppy market in the UK, we have people moving dogs out of Eastern Europe into Ireland and on to Northern Ireland, we have people mutilating dogs with ear cropping and tail docking and DAERA’s upcoming message will be clear - none of this is a priority.
“And we are not the only council. Everyone is in the same boat. The cuts are to the funding and the funding was allocated to the councils to spend as they saw fit.
"Staff who've devoted their working lives to the welfare of animals are leaving their posts and grabbing any jobs they can before the official announcements.
“Our line managers have let it be known these cuts are coming - and just at a time when the puppy farmers are getting themselves ready next month as they launch into the Christmas puppy market again. It's a disaster and the ones who will pay will be the most vulnerable.”
In response to a query about the funding cuts, a DAERA spokesman said: “You will be aware of the unprecedented and exceptionally difficult financial pressures facing all departments, including DAERA, at this time.
“The starting point in managing the DAERA budget is to ensure that the Department can discharge its own statutory obligations and deliver its core public services and this process requires exceptionally difficult decisions to be made and prioritisation work to be completed.
“As a result, the Department has not yet been able to confirm to councils the position regarding the availability of funding for non-farmed animal welfare enforcement during the current financial year. The statutory responsibility for the delivery of this service lies with local councils.
“As soon as DAERA has completed this work and identified how best to close the current funding gap, further clarity will be provided to councils.”
Until now DAERA, Northern Ireland's 11 councils and the PSNI have taken responsibility for the public reporting of issues relating to concerns under Animal Welfare regulations.
DAERA is responsible for enforcement in respect of the welfare of farmed animals.
Councils are responsible for enforcement in respect of the welfare of non-famed, companion animals.
The PSNI is responsible for enforcement of the act in relation to wildlife and animal fighting.
Council animal welfare officers are responsible for the enforcement of companion animal welfare legislation in the geographical areas where they are deployed. And the PSNI has a responsibility for wildlife and animal fighting.
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