As questions of the potential creation of an animal cruelty register for Northern Ireland are raised at Stormont, a local dog lover has commented that a register is “long overdue”. Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Joanne Burns, said: “In my opinion the idea to create and animal abuse register in Northern Ireland is fantastic and long overdue”.

“We see so many distressing cases in the media of animals being physically abused, starved and neglected,” she said.

Joanne continued: “I’m sure it’s more complex, as some cases may have an element of mental health issues or poverty attached, in which case maybe there is a need for a different approach in those situations. For the most part though, to have something in place that will flag up a person if they have a history of animal abuse can only be a good thing.”

“There needs to be something in place also in regard to advertising dogs on social media and free ad websites as a lot of these dogs fall into the wrong hands,” Joanne told this newspaper.

At a recent meeting at Stormont, the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs was asked by an MLA to outline his plans to speak to Executive colleagues and his counterparts in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom about an animal cruelty register.

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots commented that although he is sympathetic to the creation of a register of those convicted of animal welfare offences, he noted that responsibility for doing so is not entirely within his gift as conviction data is strictly controlled and managed by the Department of Justice.

Minister Poots said: “The matter has been considered in detail by my Department and the Department of Justice as part of the review of the implementation of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, which was published in February 2016.

“The creation of such a register is very complex and would require data protection, human rights and prohibitive cost issues to be overcome. My officials have engaged with the Department of Justice on the matter and will continue to do so in order to explore whether the issues could be resolved. I am minded to raise the issue with my ministerial colleague Naomi Long, who has responsibility for the Department of Justice, in the first instance.”

During the discussion, Ms. Bradley commented on the “horrific and often stomach-churning” incidents of animal cruelty that have been reported in recent times.

Speaking directly to Minister Poots, she said: “The impediments that you raise are fair, but there is an urgency in getting past them and finding a way of moving forward.

“Obviously, it is a changing world, but will the Minister, in his role on the Brexit committee, commit to giving an assurance that he will find ways to make sure that the culprits have no place to hide and that he will work with the UK and Irish Governments to find a way of making a register a real, live document?”

Responding to Ms. Bradley, Minister Poots noted that he shares her view and continued by outlining a few of the difficulties that have been faced in other jurisdictions, including in the Republic of Ireland.