Sheep found dumped in a town stream
Passers-by at the entrance of Garden City off the Arklow Road were met with a pungent smell coming from River Banogue on Tuesday evening.
The Animal Welfare Inspector from North Wexford SPCA received a call from a member of the public to say a dead dog had been dumped in a black bag in the low-level stream.
The Inspector Aileen Travers visited the area and rang Wexford County Council to report the dumping of the dead animal. Upon their quick arrival, they told the inspector it was actually a sheep.
‘The report came in Tuesday evening to us in NWSPCA,’ said Aileen. ‘I rang the Council first thing Wednesday morning and they removed the dead sheep.’
The black bag had torn holes and the sheep wool was jutting out, making it look like it was a bag of clothing. ‘I did think at first maybe it was a sheep, because it certainly did not look like a dog,’ said Aileen.
The stream travels downhill from Ballytegan, and goes through Gorey town until it joins up with River Ounavarra at Ballywalter, which is situated outside of Courtown.
Aileen said sheep have suffered enough this winter due to the awful bad spell of weather and snow.
‘Some sheep did get a hardtime this year,’ said Aileen. ‘Members of the public have called us to report sightings of sheep with no food and some who have died in fields.’
Aileen added that cruelty is just getting worse, but they are very thankful to the members of the public for reporting such cases as they rely on those calls.
North Wexford SPCA received 98 calls in 2016, but this crept up to 104 in 2017. They were inundated with phone calls during the snow time this year.
If you want to report an incident or interested in adopting an animal in NWSPCA care, call 087 639 2531.