A Department of Agriculture investigation triggered by RTÉ’s undercover documentary Milking it: Dairy’s Dirty Secret has resulted in four cattle marts and seven individuals facing penalties and prosecutions. The RTÉ investigation, led by Prime Time presenter and former Agriculture Correspondent Fran McNulty, investigated what it described as the “underside” of Ireland’s dairy boom. The DAFM has completed its investigations into suspected breaches of animal welfare legislation captured in covert footage aired last July, which showed young calves being kicked, dragged and thrown at marts across the country.

Independent councillor Dan McCarthy, a Kerry County Councillor, has called for a portion of the dog licence fee to be ring-fenced to compensate farmers who have lost sheep due to dog attacks. He raised the issue at the April meeting of Kerry County Council. In response, Kerry County Council said that “the income received from the collection of dog licence fees supports the operation and maintenance of the dog pound, including staff wages, and animal welfare costs”.

“This income is only a proportion of the overall cost of providing the animal welfare services within the county. The full costs of the services are met by the local authority through own resource funding. Therefore, there is no surplus funding available to establish such a compensation fund.”
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Fine Gael Councillor Maurice Dockrell has restated his support for an end to cruel greyhound racing and hare coursing. In a tweet on Friday (25 April 2025), the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Councillor stated: “I would like to see greyhound racing banned in Ireland along with hare coursing”.
https://x.com/MDockrel1/status/1915868927088853148
Cllr Dockrell previously called for an end to the two activities in 2022, stating at the time: “Animals are not for entertainment” He is also in favour of a ban on horse racing, fox hunting and puppy farming.
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Kermit needs a home.
Cork dog ‘used for badger baiting’ left with severe scarring – needs loving new owners
The story of Kermit, an English Bull Terrier, rescued from the streets and who was suspected of being used for badger baiting. This kind-hearted dog deserves a new loving home.
(https://www.corkbeo.ie/…/cork-dog-used-badger-baiting )
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Sinn Fein Councillor John Hearne (Waterford City & County Council) is the latest politician to express support for an upcoming bill which aims to end cruel hare coursing in Ireland. In a message to the Irish Council Against Bloodsports  (ICABS) this week, Cllr Hearne stated: “I fully support this bill. The hare is under enough pressure without this stress.” Cllr Hearne has previously stated: “I’m fully anti blood sports” and “I’m against all forms of animal cruelty.” In the past, he has voted against a pro-coursing motion, and commented: “I believe if people want to entertain themselves it should not involve stressing animals.”
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Dublin City Councillor Kourtney Kenny for becoming the latest politician to express support for a ban on cruel hare coursing. In a message to ICABS this month, Cllr Kourtney Kenny (Sinn Fein) stated: “I would 100% support a ban on any and all blood sports.” “It is disgusting, demeaning and belittling to any form of life, particularly a harmless animal, to be used as bait for ‘sport’ which also supports harmful betting culture for humans and also supports the greyhound industry where so many dogs are treated abhorrently,” Cllr Kenny added.
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Nightlife discovery and booking website, DesignMyNight has been thanked for removing greyhound racing pages from its website. The London-based company was urged to “stop facilitating the sale of tickets to greyhound tracks”. The move came after dog injuries and deaths was brought to its attention. While DesignMyNight continues to provide a ticket booking platform for tracks to use on their own websites, the company has removed pages from its own site which had included information about tracks and the ability to book tickets. “We have made the decision to remove these event listings from our consumer hosted website, DesignMyNight and therefore not provide any active marketing for these events or businesses of this nature in the future,” a company spokesperson stated. DesignMyNight was set up in 2011 and since then has launched in over 20 cities and towns in the UK, Australia and Ireland. Over 3.9 million people use DesignMyNight every month.