TD bitten by dog while out canvassing for election shares update

One unlucky TD shared his unlikely experience where he got injured while out canvassing for upcoming elections.

Mick Barry TD posted on X (formerly Twitter) a photo of himself waiting for a tetanus shot, after being bitten by a dog while out canvassing with a colleague for upcoming elections.

Mr Barry was handing out leaflets with his colleague, Cllr Brian McCarthy on the early afternoon of Saturday last, when he came across an “old, sleepy dog, that was neither big nor small”.

“We were in the Hollyhill area - loads of houses have dogs and you avoid some houses because you don’t like the look of the dog, but this was an old sleepy dog and I thought he is probably not a biter, but I thought wrong!,” Mr Barry said.

“After I was a few steps past the gate he sprang into action and sank his teeth into the back of my left leg. I went down to the local urgent care centre and had to wait three and a half hours but got my tetanus shot and antibiotic prescription. 

“They say once bitten, twice shy but an anti-socialist canine is not going to stop me from canvassing hard!”

Hundreds of social media users reacted to the freak-incident online, with over 74.5K people viewing the tweet and over 480 people commenting on it. 

“There were quite a few far-right haters who were expressing sympathy for the dog [in the comments] but I was encouraged by the large number of decent people who expressed sympathy and wished us luck in our campaign,” Mr Barry added.

Deputy Barry is a member of People Before Profit-Solidarity TD for Cork North Central.

His colleague, Cllr McCarthy, is hoping to be reelected in the upcoming local elections for his constituency of Cork city North West.