Resident of a rural part of Co Limerick have opposed the proposed building of the State's first crematorium for pets.
Mr Garrett Hartigan, a dog breeder, has applied for planning permission to build the pet crematorium at Lisnagry, off the main Limerick-Dublin road. He states that the facility would dispose of carcasses by incineration and the ashes would then be scattered on the 1.5 acre site if people did not want them in an urn.
The only similar facility in the Republic is the crematorium for human remains in Glasnevin, Dublin. An attempt to build a pet crematorium at Redcross in Co Wicklow met opposition from local people.
The application in Limerick received objections from 27 people living in the area, and the council has sought further information. Residents claim a crematorium would be an environmental risk in an agricultural area, and that no Environmental Impact Statement is available.
Three residents described it as "another word for incinerator". "Our concerns are odours, fumes, dioxins, ash from the chimney; what quantity of animals, size of pets and from what parts of the county this would serve".
Other residents state there would be a lack of traffic controls on the narrow country roads. The plans have also been submitted to the chief fire officer and the Mid-Western Health Board's chief medical officer.
The council's planning authority has stated that it has "very serious reservations" given the size of the road in the area, the development's impact on residents.
"It is contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area to allow a commercial development in a rural area." It has requested information on the venting of fumes, odour controls and the number of cremations that will occur.
It also wants clarification on how ashes are to be disposed of. Mr Hartigan has also been asked for detail of his long-term development plans and whether he intends to cremate non-domestic animals or build a second crematorium.
He said he hoped the facility would serve the surrounding counties, disposing of about 4,000 carcasses annually.
Most of them would be delivered by a single van following collection from vets. There would be no dioxins because the crematorium would be gas-fired. He said 14,000 greyhounds are put down annually. "You cannot keep burying them. That is aside from the number of pets put down.
"There are unofficial pet cemeteries everywhere. I know it for a fact."