ALAN TOBIN, a county councillor from Co. Meath, drew criticism from angry dog owners on social media on Sunday when he shared an image of a dog legislation sign.
The Fine Gael politician took it upon himself to have the signs displayed within his constituency.
After sharing the post on Facebook, Mr Tobin was inundated with messages from Irish dog owners unhappy about the signs, and even found himself trending on Twitter. One commenter included a photo of his pet dog relieving itself on Tobin's County Council election poster.
One commenter included a photo of his pet dog relieving itself on Tobin's County Council election poster.
The controversial signs, which include pictures of the listed and restricted dog types, inform owners of the rules of walking these breeds in public.
The 'dangerous breeds' list includes breeds such as Staffordshire bull terriers and German Shepherds which must be kept on a short strong lead by a person over 16 years who is capable of controlling them, be muzzled whenever they are in a public place and wear a collar bearing the name and address of their owner at all times.
So far the post has been shared over, 184,000 times and received over a thousand comments many of them from fellow Irish dog owners posting pictures of their family pets and arguing that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.
Tobin appeared on Ireland AM on Tuesday, 10 May, alongside dog behaviour consultant Nanci Creedon to defend his position.
The Animal Right Action Network (ARAN) said Mr. Tobin's opinions on dangerous dogs was "short-sighted, ill-informed and unhelpful to these already troubled dogs." ARAN’s John Carmody urged Mr Tobin to get "his information right before sounding off on issues relating to animals that he knows very little about.”
Alan Tobin's Facebook Post