Put-upon animal welfare groups need your help

“SOMEBODY needs to do something” – how many times have you read this on social media, heard it on the radio, read it in the papers?

No, I’m not referring to the economy, homelessness or unemployment, but the horrific amount of animal abuse and abandonment in Ireland.

As with most charities, our donations are down 40pc and the need for our services has risen by 50pc. Due to the despairing situation many people are finding themselves in, animals become overlooked.

We, as a small charity, currently have a veterinary bill of €32,000 and a mere €1,500 in the bank account. How are any of us expected to keep going?

As an animal shelter which never refuses to treat any animal in need, we incurred veterinary fees of over €68,000, (with some of the more harrowing cases costing up to €1,500 each) and feed bills of almost €26,000 last year. This year is on course to cost much, much more.

The county council dog pounds gave themselves a pat on the back when the dog destruction figures for 2017 were released. But look at the small print.

Of the 11,559 dogs that entered Irish council pounds last year, 1,472 died – but 5,824 were transferred to animal welfare groups. That’s more than half. At no cost to the councils, but huge cost to the welfare groups.

If more help is not given to welfare organisations, if government subsidised neutering is not introduced, if the welfare legislation is not enforced, then Ireland will rapidly revert to the situation during the 1990s, where there was a handful of us in rescue and 35,000 dogs were being destroyed every year.

Gina Hetherington

Founder, PAWS Animal Rescue, Mullinahone, Co Tipperary