Up to 10 dogs a day ‘put down’ in pounds

Up to 10 dogs a day are being “put down” in Irish pounds and the problem is compounded by the growing trend of people buying pups online and then abandoning them, according to the country’s largest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust.

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.