A spate of dog attacks on sheep has compelled Kerry County Council to design a detailed map of where each incident occurred, but it’s refusing to make it public due to ‘nonsense’ data protection concerns. Numerous sheep have been killed or seriously injured in Co. Kerry over the Christmas period, leaving farmers in emotional and financial distress.
In mid-December, dogs killed and wounded five sheep in Knocknagoshel, while on St Stephen’s Day, a dog gave chase to livestock at Templenoe before killing one animal. Such attacks are a periodic occurrence in rural areas throughout the country, but after nearly 100 ewes and lambs were killed in Kerry in 2023, Fianna Fáil Cllr Fionnán Fitzgerald called on the local authority to produce a digital colour-coded map so the public could view where each incident occurred. He said the resource would highlight what areas were particularly vulnerable to such attacks and believes it would be useful tool for gardaí in their investigations.
However, after asking Kerry County Council for an update, Mr Fitzgerald said he was ‘shocked’ to learn that the map would not be publicly released due to data protection concerns. He said it is ‘nonsense’ that the map cannot be published and that it would also raise awareness to the public about how prevalent the problem is. ‘I felt that if a map highlighted the specific areas of where these dog attacks were happening it would prick people’s consciousness and make them take notice o.
