An animal charity is urging pet owners to keep their pets safe during the current heatwave forecast to blanket the country in sizzling temperatures for the next week.

The ISPCA have issued an urgent appeal for homes for 62 dogs they found in Co Cork.

It is a miracle that seven tiny puppies discovered next to their dead mother on a roadside are alive, animal welfare officers revealed today.

Animal welfare centres are expecting a traditional post-Christmas influx of unwanted pets within the next few weeks.

AN ANIMAL welfare organisation has again called for new regulations for the dog breeding industry after 50 dogs were removed from a “quagmire of muck and faeces” during a raid on a puppy farm in Co Waterford.