Animal inspectors face ‘strain’ over lack of resources

HARD-PRESSED animal inspectors in Ireland are working at less than one-tenth of the necessary capacity because of a lack of resources.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has four full-time inspectors on the road, but one inspector told the Irish Examiner yesterday it needed at least 50.

“We need an average of two inspectors for each county, but we have four in the whole country,” Niamh Byrne said.

Britain has 400 inspectors working for the RSPCA, 100 times as many as this country while the population is just 15 times greater.

The ISPCA receives a small amount of government funding each year, but is a charitable body and relies almost completely on donations and legacies to provide services.

“It’s quite a strain on human resources and financial resources,” said Ms Byrne.

Along with its own inspectors, the ISPCA works with affiliated societies and local authorities.

Ms Byrne covers Co Cork and sometimes has to travel to up to five locations in a day, following up complaints to the National Animal Helpline.

Calls range from animals without sufficient shelter or food, to extreme cases of neglect or mistreatment.

“It has been extremely busy and a lot of things have been influenced by the severe weather we’ve experienced,” Ms Byrne said.

“We’d have cases of animals being kept outside when they should be inside, and that can impact in a huge way on their welfare.”

A reasonably common complaint from the public centres on dogs which are chained up 24 hours a day — a practice which may seem inhumane in this day and age but remains perfectly legal under welfare legislation which dates from 1911 and 1965.

“You could have a dog on a chain with a bowl of food and water, but remains on the end of that chain every day and eventually becomes so desocialised and aggressive that it becomes completely frustrated and out of control. It could be a dog that was obtained as a pet but isn’t seen as a priority any more now that it’s not young and has grown up.”

In such a case, if the owner can’t be reasoned with and doesn’t decide to change the regime, there’s little Ms Byrne or her colleagues around the country can do, as it’s not against the law.

A veterinary nurse by training, Ms Byrne has worked with the ISPCA for the last three years and says she’s seen a huge variety of cases, many of neglect.

“A lot of the bad ones can wind up in court, justifiably.”

Anyone with concerns about the welfare of an animal can contact the helpline on 1890-515515.