Starving and injured... abandoned Molly the latest victim of cruelty
THIS is the shocking condition a lurcher dog was in when it was handed into a Northern Ireland animal rescue centre after being abandoned.
Molly is thought to have been used for hunting.
She was handed into Almost Home Animal Rescue NI which is based in Moira, Co Down, after she was found wandering.
Alison McClelland from the rescue centre said she finds it heartbreaking when she sees the condition that the animals arrive in.
She said: “Possibly because she is a lurcher she has been used for hunting and then just dumped.
“They don’t always look after their dogs very well, she had a lot of injuries and was not in a good way. She is having vet treatment for her skin which has mange and she is massively underweight.
Alison said it’s hard to know how long Molly was alone for before being found.
“There were poachers out the night before, it’s possible that they just left her behind”, she said. “Wherever she has been, she hasn’t been looked after, hasn’t had the vet care and was just neglected.”
Alison added: “It makes me really angry. It’s so frustrating and so heartbreaking.
“Unfortunately now you see it more and more, Molly is not the first or the last.”
Since Christmas, Alison says that the rescue shelter has been “inundated” with unwanted pets.
“We have been full from Christmas and it’s a constant juggling game.”
Almost Home Animal Rescue is constantly fundraising and said its vet bills alone can be up to £7,000 a month, and the organisation is completely run by volunteers.
“We do take quite a lot of dogs in that do require vet treatment, it can run up bills,” she said.
“It’s terrible, we are seeing more and more of it all the time.
“The public don’t always see this side of it. They see them when they come up for rehoming.
“It’s not easy, it’s really heartbreaking and plenty of days we’ve cried when they arrive with us and see what they’ve been through.
“Unfortunately it’s never ending; you think you’ve seen the worst and then another comes along. But it’s worthwhile when they have the confidence and they can move on and go to their forever homes — that makes it all worthwhile.”