This article is from page 10 of the 2012-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THERE was a large increase in the number of dogs being put down in Clare last year, with a total of 728 animals destroyed in the county throughout 2011. This compares to a total of 547 animals destroyed in Clare in 2010 – a year when more animals were put down in Clare than in any other county in Ireland. Given this 34 per cent year-on-year increase, it is likely that Clare will retain the unwanted title of Ireland’s biggest dog-killing county when na- tional figures for 2011 are released later this year.
This news comes despite massive efforts being made by a number of organisations in the county – including the ISPCA and Clare County County – to reduce the number of animals being destroyed each year. Of the 1,378 dogs dealt with by the Clare dog pound in 2011, 176 were returned successfully back to their owners while 465 dogs were rehomed in Britain though Deirdre Ryan and Rover Rescue.
The majority of dogs, 812 in total, were brought to the pound by their owners, while 563 were stray dogs.
“People don’t realise the scale of the problem in Clare. I have been in the pound this morning from 9am to 1pm and already we have had 11 dogs handed into me here this morning,” Clare dog warden Frankie Coote told The Clare People yesterday.
“Nobody here wants to see a dog put down. We are making every effort we can. It is heartbreaking having to put down an animal. We have about 150 dogs in for biting people each year and another 170 or thereabouts in for chasing livestock. The fact is that once a dog does something like that, we have to take action. But we have one of the highest numbers of dogs who we get back to their owner each year.”
Only 4,000 of the estimated 30,000 dogs that currently live in Clare are registered.
“These problems could be solved quite easily if dogs could be microchipped. That way we know as soon as we find a dog who the owner is and we don’t have the expense of keeping that dog for days. That way, when we come across a stray, we know it’s a stray straight away. This would sort the whole thing out very quickly. As it stands now, the figures in Clare are not going to change because we have too many dogs,” continued Frankie.