The number of dog licenses issued in Clare has reached a 20-year low.
New figures have revealed that just shy of 1,700 licenses were approved in the county last year, the lowest number since the 1990s.
In 2018, a total of 1,690 dog licenses were issued in Clare – an almost 45% drop on the 3,060 issued the previous year.
The figure is also the lowest seen in this county since the 1990s, while it hasn’t dropped below the 2,000 mark since 2001.
However, there has been a significant increase in the number of lifetime licenses issued, with 166 approved last year, versus just 23 the year before.
An individual license, which lasts one year, costs €20, while a lifetime license is €140.
The figures, released by Minister of State for Community Development Seán Canney, also reveal that Clare has one of the highest rates of stray dogs entering pounds in the country.
Some 438 strays were taken in at the county’s pound last year, with only six counties nationwide seeing a higher number of stray dogs.
