Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said he was contacted by a local resident about a recent incident in Herbert Park, Ballsbridge.
The resident posted a warning on Facebook to dog walkers after coming across a dead rat not far from where the farmers’ market takes place and where The Big Grill Festival was held this month.
He inquired with Dublin City Council about whether poison had been laid down and to alert dog walkers with warning signs if that was the case.
“There has been an incidence of rats in Herbert Park and Ranelagh Gardens in particular, so there does have to be a response to that,” Cllr Lacey said.
“But if rat poison is being put down, that’s a danger to dogs and other animals. There has to be a protocol followed, whether it’s by putting signage up or fencing to keep dogs out of it.”
He added that issues relating to public parks came up frequently during his campaign for local elections.
“Issues in parks don’t get a lot of high-profile media attention, such as the closure of parks for commercial events, how parks are managed, and how choices are made, but they matter to people,” he said.
He said his party will prioritise looking into how parks can be improved to ensure everybody can use them appropriately.
At the beginning of the year, there were calls from Paul McAuliffe, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North West, for an investigation into a suspected dog poisoning incident in a park in Finglas.
At the time, Dublin City Council confirmed there was no programme of baiting being carried out in the park.
They said any such baiting is always carried out by “approved licensed pest control companies” with the use of tamper-proof boxes, which would make it highly unlikely, even if an active programme was in place, to be the cause of that poisoning incident.
The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) advised dog owners to keep their pets on a lead where possible.
“The best advice, as with any situation, is when you bring your dog for a walk, you should always know where your dog is, always have them in sight,” spokesperson Gillian Bird said.
“Keep them on the lead, and ideally not the long stretchy leads, because sometimes your dogs can be out of sight, and you don’t know what they’re doing.”
Another piece of advice from the DSPCA is that if it’s not something a dog has ingested, it might be something the dog is walking in.
“A good idea would be to wash their paws when they get home, just to make sure there’s nothing they’re possibly walking in as well that could be causing problems.
“That can be anti-freeze; there may be rat and mice poison; there could be any sort of thing out there that could be causing it.”
Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.
