FAMILY’S HURT AND ANGER AS SEVEN STOLEN PUPPIES STILL MISSING
BELOVED DAISY BACK WITH FAMILY AFTER BEING FOUND BY DSPCA
A LITTER of springer spaniel pups have been stolen from a family home in Enniscorthy. The eight-week old pups, along with their mother, Daisy, had been sleeping in a secure kennel in the Doyle family’s back garden when thieves broke in in the middle of the night and took them.
‘They were taken Tuesday night, sometime after 11 p.m.,’ said Patricia Doyle. ‘Rachel, my daughter, went out the next morning and they were just gone. They had been very secure in there, our garden is surrounded by walls, and the dogs were in a roofed kennel, insulated, with the door bolted shut.
‘Whoever took them was determined to get them,’ Patricia said. ‘They’d brought something to cut the bolt off the lock, they came prepared. ‘They had been watching us and waiting for the opportunity to get them. The seven pups had been in the house before that, we’d only put them in the new kennel the previous night.’
Pure-bred springer spaniels can be sold for as much as €2,000, however, the Doyles weren’t breeding them for financial gain.
‘We don’t breed dogs, we’ve had Daisy since she was a pup and we just wanted to keep the line going,’ said Patricia. ‘This was the only time she was going to have pups, she was going to be spayed after this.
‘One of the pups was going to my other daughter, one to my father-in-law, one to Rachel’s god-daughter, and then the rest to families in the area, people we knew.’
The Doyles have been in constant liaison with local Gardaí and port authorities have been notified should the thieves try to export the dogs overseas.
In addition Patricia and Rachel have been working tirelessly to track down the dogs themselves, posting updates on social media and following the advice of those who have endured similar experiences. On Friday last, those posts appeared to have done its job as, in a huge boost for the family, Daisy was found by the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruetly to Animals (DSPCA).
‘A lady found her in Dublin in a distressed state,’ said Patricia. ‘The people who’d taken her had tried to cut the microchip out of her neck so she had to have surgery on Friday night.
‘We went up to collect her on Saturday morning and she was still in shock, she wouldn’t walk. But as soon as Rachel knelt down and began to talk to her she perked up a bit and began walking. She had to have more veterinary treatment on Sunday but she’s back home now.’
Unfortunately, Daisy’s pups weren’t with her and the whereabouts of the four females and three males is still unknown despite the best efforts of the Gardaí.
‘We’re just hoping and praying they’re still in Ireland.’ said Patricia. ‘If the person who stole them just leaves them somewhere safe we’ll collect them and move on with things.
‘To steal the mother aswell is unusual, but apparently they do that to prove the pups aren’t from a puppy mill; by showing them the mother they can say they’ve bred them themselves.’
Gardaí are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. In addition, if anyone has unwittingly bought or buys a springer spaniel in the coming weeks, they should do the same.
‘Whoever stole her and the pups has just done it for money,’ Patricia said. ‘We can’t sleep, we can’t concentrate, we’re constantly on the phone doing everything we possibly can to find them - we’re devastated. But we don’t want to give up on them. If we start crying I don’t think we’ll ever stop.’
Enniscorthy Garda Station can be contacted on 053 924 2580