New group for animal welfare

A NEW countywide Animal Welfare Committee has been established with a multi-agency approach being taken by a number of animal welfare organisations throughout the county.

Superintendent Paul Hogan outlined at a meeting of Wicklow Joint Policing Committee last Wednesday that, for a long time, different organisations were working in their own areas, without full knowledge of what others were working on. Now that a new committee has been formed, it makes for a more efficient service countywide with better cooperation, he said.

Representatives meet a few times every year and the initiative is said to be working well.

Members include the Garda Wildlife Crime Officer, the Wicklow County Council dog warden and representatives from the Irish Horse Welfare Trust, Department of Agriculture, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Irish Farmers’ Association and the ISPCA and WSPCA.