[Note: Any donations made through Change.org go directly to Change.org. If you wish to donate to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports to support our campaigns, you can do so at https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports Thank you]

The office of the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has confirmed that a ban on surgical artificial insemination “will be implemented”.

There have been growing calls on the government to ban the painful and unethical invasive procedure which is performed on dogs, including greyhounds.

Already banned in the UK, it involves making a cut in the abdomen and inserting semen directly into the uterus.

In the past four years, there have been more than 500 surgical artificial inseminations carried out here on greyhounds used in racing and hare coursing.

Responding to a renewed appeal to Minister McConalogue to ban the procedure, his office has this week stated:

“The Minister recently convened a Working Group on the Control of Dogs. The report of the Working Group contains a number of recommendations. Following its approval by Cabinet, the report has been published online. Recommendation 10(c) of the report is 'Prohibit surgical artificial insemination in canines'. It is intended that the recommendations of the working group will be followed up and implemented in the coming period.” Download the full report at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/0d6d7-working-group-on-control-of-dogs/#report-of-the-working-group-on-the-control-of-dogs

The Minister was told that surgical insemination involves anaesthetising the female dog, making an incision in her abdomen and lifting out her uterus before semen is injected into it with a needle. The uterus is then put back and the surgery area stitched closed.

Surgical artificial insemination is against the law in the UK, with the British Veterinary Association stating that “experts say it is highly unethical and painful for bitches due to the subsequent pregnancy putting pressure on abdominal wounds”.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons notes that “Surgical Artificial Insemination is prohibited by UK animal welfare legislation which legally restricts mutilations to animals (i.e. procedures which interfere with sensitive tissue or bone structure)”.

Responding to a recent Dail Question from Neasa Hourigan TD, Minister McConalogue revealed that the procedure was carried out 501 times on greyhounds since 2019, including 87 in 2022, 133 in 2021, 142 in 2020 and 139 in 2019.

This continuation of surgical artificial insemination is a reminder that the pursuit of winnings in the government-funded greyhound “industry” comes before the welfare of dogs. Not even cutting into the bodies of greyhounds in a bid to produce winning litters is off-limits in this shameful gambling activity.

In a February 2022 Dail Question, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin asked the Minister “if he will consider banning the surgical artificial insemination of greyhounds and other canines due to the growing body of veterinarian medical evidence regarding animal welfare issues from surgical artificial insemination of canines and in view that Britain has outlawed the practice”.

Responding at the time, Minister McConalogue stated: “My Department has not received any welfare complaints in relation to the procedure outlined by the Deputy. There are no related policy proposals being considered currently. The artificial insemination of greyhounds is regulated under the Artificial Insemination of Greyhounds Act, 2005. There are no plans to amend these regulations at present.”

Speaking at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture on 25 May 2022, Senator Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) commented: “A reply to a parliamentary question shows that over 400 female greyhounds underwent surgical artificial insemination in the past three years [2019-2021]. We know that the procedure is banned in Britain. Representatives of the Irish Veterinary Council have told this committee that they are looking at this very invasive procedure. The first thing to consider before carrying out any procedure is the requirement not to harm any animal. ”