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.