Control of Dogs Privacy Notice

1.0 Purpose of the processing

Personal data is processed as part of the Council’s regulatory work under the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2010 and related regulations and bye-laws. The purpose of the personal data processing is to enable the regulatory work to be carried out by the local authority.

The Council is obliged to protect personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the provisions contained in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The purpose of the processing of personal data for the Control of Dogs legislation is to:

• Enable regulation and enforcement of dog licensing;
• Enable regulation and enforcement of dog breeding establishments;
• Enable regulation and enforcement under the control of dogs Acts;
• Enable issuing fines and enabling offences to be administered;
• Prosecute offences under the Acts and regulations;
• Take payments as prescribed by the Acts.
• Manage activities at the dog shelter;
• Enable the handling of complaints about dogs from the public;

2.0 Legal bases for the processing of personal data

The main legal bases to process personal data in the case of dog control and other animal health and welfare regulation are the following legal provisions:

• The processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of an official authority vested in Clare County Council, Article 6(1) (e) GDPR and Part 5 of Data Protection Act 2018 (Law Enforcement Directive (LED) with the Council as competent authority under the following:
• the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2010, as amended;
• Control of Dogs (Restriction of Certain Dogs) Regulations 1991;
• Control of Dogs Regulations 1998;
• Dog Breeding Establishments Act, 2010
• Control of Dogs (Amendment Regulations) 2013;
• Animal Heath and Welfare Act, 2013;
• Microchipping of Dog Regulations 2015, as amended;
• Control of Dogs (Dog Licensing Database) Regulations, 2019;
• the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended;
• Clare County Council Beach Bye-laws 2021.

3.0 The categories of personal data concerned

The personal information concerned is:

• Name and address, Eircode;
• Contact details: phone and emails;
• Dog licence number;
• Animal microchip details;
• Photographs, videos;
• Bank card details;

4.0 Processing and recipients of the data

A small team of Council officials, in the environment department of the Council have access to the data in the performance of their roles and the management of the dog warden service and the dog shelter.   The dog warden team also has access to the personal data. The dog warden service is a contracted service between the Council and Midland Animal Control Ltd. The Council’s legal advisors are recipients of personal data in the event of offences being prosecuted.

Third party access to personal data is not allowed, except in the very limited circumstances permitted by law. Access requests shall be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the GDPR and the Council’s data protection policies and procedures.

There are no plans to transfer personal data to a third country or international organisation.

5.0 The retention period for the data

The Council subscribes to the records retention and destruction policy for local authority records. Indicative retention periods are:

• Dog shelter register – 1 year after calender year in question.
• Annual and lifetime dog licences – duration of licence plus 2 years.
• Register of dog licences including annual and lifetime licences – indefinitely retain the historical registers;
• Microchip records (strays) – 1 year after calendar year in question
• General administration of control of dogs (fouling/no licence) – 7 years from fine issue year. Where proceedings involved, retain till conclusion of proceedings.
• Register of dog breeding establishments, if any & inspection and enforcement records – retain indefinitely. Where proceedings involved, retain till conclusion of proceedings.
• Enforcement of control of dogs legislation – 7 years from fine issue year. Where proceedings involved, retain till conclusion of proceedings.
• Operation and administration of dog shelter – 7 years.

6.0 Data subjects have a range of data rights

• Right of access by the data subject
• Right to rectification
• Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)
• Right to restriction of processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to object and automated individual decision-making

The Council’s data access request policy and procedures are available on www.clarecoco.ie or please contact dpa@clarecoco.ie.

7.0 The right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority

If you are not satisfied with a decision on your request for access to data or have concerns about personal data processing, you have the right to make a complaint to the Data Protection Commission, Canal House, Station Road, Portarlington, Co. Laois, Ireland. Before doing so it is recommended that you contact Clare County Council (DPA@clarecoco.ie) to establish the circumstances. We may be in a position to resolve the problem in a timely manner. 

The Data Protection Commission website www.dataprotection.ie has further details and the forms that are required to be completed if you wish to raise a concern or make a complaint.

8.0 Contact details for the data controller and data protection officer

The identity and the contact details of the controller:

Clare County Council,
New Road,
Ennis,
Co. Clare
Telephone: (065) 6821616
Email: environoff@clarecoco.ie
Website: www.clarecoco.ie

The contact details of the data protection officer:

Data Protection Office
Telephone: (065) 6846405
Email: DPA@clarecoco.ie

Page last reviewed: 18/09/24

Content managed by: Corporate Services Department

Back to top