I thank my colleague Deputy Jennifer Whitmore for her work on this Bill. Her work in bringing this proposed amendment forward is a step towards ensuring that dogs and puppies are treated correctly. I also thank Dogs Trust and Dog Law Ireland for their work to make sure that dogs are given a chance to be loved and treated properly. As I said yesterday during the briefing in the audiovisual room, how we treat our dogs is so important because they are sentient beings. This is a political issue. In fact, I would say it is a "pawlitical" issue that can no longer be ignored. As my colleagues have all said, Ireland having the horrific title of being the puppy farm capital of Europe is not something that any of us should be proud of. Breeding puppies for profit and forcing mother dogs to be continuously pregnant to produce puppies is just beyond cruel. In the audiovisual room yesterday, Dogs Trust told people about the state of the mother dogs and puppies that come to them when rescued. They told of the horrific conditions that these unscrupulous breeders are keeping the dogs in. I have to say that it was sickening to the stomach. Ireland is supposedly a country that loves its animals but, having heard what we heard yesterday in the audiovisual room, I really doubted that, to be honest. If people knew what was really happening on puppy farms, they would think twice before buying a puppy. This Bill and Deputy Whitmore's work will, I hope, bring closer the reality of people realising that the cute little puppy they are getting may have had a shocking start to life that affects every part of its life. It may mean that the puppy fails to thrive and may die prematurely. I am imagining the number of puppies that will be gifted this Christmas. I am also imagining the joy of somebody getting a little puppy at Christmas - or any time of the year but apparently it happens a lot at Christmas. I do not agree with this because dogs are for life and not for Christmas, as one advertisement used to tell us long ago. When puppies have that shocking start to life, they have a reduced chance of survival. If a puppy is failing to thrive, imagine the huge vet bills a family could wrack up trying to save the little thing's life, and then it dies. If children are involved, there will be absolute heartbreak. I am a mother of four and we have had pets that reached the end of their lives. It devastates children, but this is preventable. Deputy Whitmore's Bill sets out to prevent cruelty against poor puppies and their mothers having lives that are absolutely awful. It is a start in that process.

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