Number of dogs put down could hit record

THE number of dogs being put down could reach a new high this year, animal welfare officers fear.

Of the 35,000 to 40,000 dogs found abandoned each year by officers with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals, more than 20,000 are destroyed either due to ill-health or because they just can’t be rehomed.

With a number of shelters, including the Waterford city pound, refusing to take in dogs unless they are confident of finding them a home, fears are growing that the number of pets destroyed, abandoned or left to die is about to peak.

Waterford dog warden Michael Lonergan said the public had ignored all appeals and called on all owners to take responsibility for their dogs.

“The situation in the past was that people could bring their dogs to the pound, regardless. But this is no longer the situation. People will have to do something about it themselves. Some dogs out there are unwanted and we will take them if we can rehome them. Many dogs are being rehomed. But there are too many dogs out there.” Mr Lonergan said many puppies were brought for children over the Christmas period and are now being neglected.

“People bought pups, never checked their gender and then discovered they were female and didn’t want them. Others bought them for children and now that the weather is getting better, children just want to play outside. Children can’t look after a dog in the first instance and the onus falls on adults.”

Under existing legislation, much of it dating back to the start of the last century, every county in the country is obliged to have a dog warden and pound.

The ISPCA wants Environment Minister Martin Cullen to introduce a new Animal Welfare Bill to deal with the issue of animal care.

Up until last October, there was only one full-time ISPCA inspector covering the entire country. That figure has now increased to five to deal with the problems associated with animal neglect and cruelty.

Anyone who wants to rehome a dog can look at dogs on offer by logging on to the ISCPA website, www.ispca.ie

It features a description of each dog, as well as colour photographs.