ISPCA says reports of animal cruelty are ‘at an all time high’
CHARITY CHIEF INSPECTOR ADMITS THAT THEIR RESOURCES ARE ‘DANGEROUSLY STRETCHED’
THE Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has said reports of animal cruelty are “at an all time high”, with the charity receiving more than 17,000 calls for help from across the country to its helpline last year.
The figure was contained within the society’s annual inspectorate report for 2018, which was officially launched last Friday at the ISPCA Equine Rescue Centre in Mallow, in the company of Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed TD.
The report, contained graphic images of horrific cruelty and neglect, which the society’s CEO Dr Andrew Kelly, said their team of nine animal welfare officers who between them cover 17 countries, “faced on a regular basis.”
“I would like to sincerely thank and pay tribute to our inspectors for their hard work in 2018 dealing with those animals most in need, sometimes in very difficult and harrowing circumstances,” said Dr Kelly.
“Their professionalism, integrity, dedication, compassion and resilience has allowed them to deal robustly with animal welfare offences across Ireland. Without them, thousands of animals would continue to suffer, hidden away and in silence,” he added.
The report outlined that in 2018 the ISPCA received a total of 17,338 calls to its National Animal Cruelty Helpline, compared to 16,211 in 2017. These resulted in 3,494 investigations by their inspectors (compared to 3,273 in 2017), with 22 prosecutions initiated (compared to 19 in 2017).
A total of 1,102 animals were either seized or surrendered and taken in ISPCA care over the course of last year.
Speaking to The Corkman ISPCA chief inspector Conor Dowling, said the inspectorate report was a key tool in raising awareness of the work the society does and the volume of animals they deal with annually.
He was keen to point out that while the report highlighted some of the more severe cases the inspectors came across, their job was not just about rescuing animals in distress.
“In many situations there may be very little wrong and a little nudge in the right direction for an owner may be enough. A lot of the work done by the ISPCA goes unseen and events such as today give us an opportunity to show the public what we do, the very real impact we are having and how we are using the Animal Health and Welfare Act,” said Mr Dowling.
“It also offers us an opportunity to appeal to the public to help support us in our work, because we rely on that support,” he added.
To underscore this point it costs in the region of €3.8m to run the ISPCA each year, with almost 90% of that money coming from donations and gifts in wills. The remainder comes from a modest annual Department of Agriculture grant.
Mr Dowling said that the ISPCA had never been busier or under so much pressure, adding that their resources
were ‘dangerously stretched’.
“We can do more if we have the resources. We are appealing to the Government and the animal loving public to help us caring for Ireland’s most cruelly treated, neglected and abused animals.” The 2018 ISPCA Inspectorate Report can be viewed in full at www.ispca.ie.