This article is from page 2 of the 2012-10-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE lives of hundreds of Clare dogs have been saved following a massive investment in the Clare Dog Pound by the UK-based Dogs Trust.
The investment, which could amount to as much as € 100,000 per year, will mean that every viable animal surrendered to the pound will be inoculated, micro-chipped and re-homed, either locally or in the United Kingdom.
The news comes after months of work and lobbying by the Clare Dog Warden, Frankie Coote, who believes that the investment will change the way that dog are treated in Clare forever.
“I think everyone has been concerned about the amount of dogs who are put down in Ireland. There are about 1,000 dogs put down in England each year compared to more than 18,000 in Ireland. This is great news – the Dogs Trust are basically sponsoring us to change that in Clare,” said Frankie.
“This is going to save the lives of 400 or 500 dogs in Clare every year, so it is massive news. This means that every puppy, let’s say, that arrives into us on a Monday, we can afford to get that dog all of its inoculations and also to get that dog microchipped.
“So if any member of the public comes and wants that dog, they will receive it with all of that already done. That is about € 160 spend on each dog. If we can’t re-home that dog in Clare, and the dogs can’t be homed elsewhere, then the Dogs Trust will bring those animals to the UK each week in a specially-designed carrier truck.”
This funding means that all nonviable dogs will be put down in Clare. Dogs that have been violent or whose owners requests that they are put down, will still be put down at Ennis Dog Pound.
“If a dog is dangerous or it has been left in to be put down by its owner, then there is nothing we can do. We are obliged under the law to do it. But any young healthy dogs, that we just didn’t have homes for in the past, they will all be saved now,” continued Frankie.
The arrangement came into effect yesterday morning, October 15, and will be fully funded by the Dogs Trust for a year’s trial.
Hopes are high that this trial will be extended to an ongoing relationship in 2013. Wh ile it w ill g e t b e t t e r by t h e we e ke n d , t h e re w ill b e a fa ir a m o u n t o f ra in d u rin g t h e we e k a n d t e m p e ra t u re s n o t c lim b in g a b o ve 11 d e g re e s.