Sale of land puts Waterford animal shelter at risk of closure

A Waterford animal shelter may be forced to shut down or relocate unless it can find €25,000 to buy land that it currently rents.

Deise Animal Sanctuary operates on eight acres in Ballymacarbry. The land is used to keep larger rescue animals such as horses and donkeys, while a wooded area is home to 56 cats.

Animal welfare officer Abby Wood said: “We had a case where a group of lads were terrorising an elderly home — they were outside beating feral cats to death with hurleys. We captured the cats and neutered them.