Up to 10 dogs a day ‘put down’ in pounds
Department of the Environment figures show the highest number of dogs destroyed in pounds last year was in Wexford (441), followed by Cork county (391). The lowest number was in Cavan (3).
Dogs Trust spokesperson Kathrina Bentley said Wexford was “very much an area of high puppy farming” where proximity to a port made it easy to ship dogs to Britain.
She said some breeders were “breeding non-stop” and a lot of dogs were being bought online by people who knew nothing about their requirements and wanted rid of the dog once they realised the commitment involved.
Ms Bentley said Dogs Trust inbox was full of emails beginning with: “I don’t want my dog,” and this was particularly the case after Christmas, once children got bored with puppies. She said huskies were very popular pets at the moment and they were seeing more of those coming to the pounds.
Dogs Trust, which actively works with pounds to rehabilitate stray and abandoned dogs and re-home them through a re-homing centre in Dublin, currently has 160 dogs, including Buddy, a male border terrier rescued from a Cork pound at the age of 12 months and now nearing his fourth birthday.
Buddy had tummy and skin problems and Ms Bentley reckons the cost of treating his ailments could have led to his abandonment. He is now Dogs Trust “office dog.”
The Trust welcomed the 11.5% fall in the number of dogs entering the pounds system in 2013 compared to 2012 and the 21% reduction in the number of dogs being destroyed in pounds over the same period, down from c 4,500 to c 3,500.
However, Ms Bentley said they were still struggling to get across the message of “responsible ownership.”
The latest figures show 15,481 dogs entered Irish pounds last year. The number of greyhounds destroyed remains high at 427 in 2013 compared to 404 in 2012.
Dogs Trust has rehomed 4,000 dogs since it opened in 2009 and is currently full to capacity.
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