Thousands of dogs deserted over Christmas

THOUSANDS of dogs have been abandoned nationwide following the worst Christmas of animal abuse in years.

Animal welfare groups yesterday appealed for people to provide homes for stranded dogs to help ease the crisis.

Former ISPCA president Marion Fitzgibbon said the festive period was the busiest she’d experienced after more than 20 years working with animals.

“Puppies are being dumped in boxes and buckets in car parks, and most of them are dying because we can’t get to them on time,” Ms Fitzgibbon said.

Since Christmas Eve animal welfare workers in Limerick have been receiving an average of 30 calls a night from people who have found stray dogs.

“These animals are usually dropped into places that stay open late like taxi offices, who then contact us to help. We’re doing our best but we need people to foster animals quickly,” Ms Fitzgibbon said.

Several people who went on holidays during Christmas failed to make proper arrangements for their animals and many of these pets are still wandering the streets.

“There were only a limited number of vets working over Christmas, so the situation became very bad,” Ms Fitzgibbon said.

A large number of dogs escaped from homes on New Year’s Eve after they became frightened by fireworks.

“Animals not kept in homes were so fearful that they jumped over very high walls and broke bones,” Ms Fitzgibbon said.

The fact that many dog wardens were on holidays for the last 10 days also contributed to the animal abuse crisis.

“There were injured animals that we couldn’t get to straight away because we were so busy.

“Most people involved are volunteers and we were overworked,” Ms Fitzgibbon said.

And Leitrim Animal Welfare (LAW) has come up with a new way of enticing people to adopt abandoned pets.

The group is asking people, who feel they’ve gained weight during Christmas, to get a pet to help them exercise.

“If you’re thinking of going on a diet, forget it.

“Instead you can adopt a dog and watch the pounds fall away while exercising your new pet,” a LAW spokesperson said.