Animal cruelty on the rise, claims Coote

INCIDENTS of animal cruelty are on the rise in Clare and the recession is partly to blame for it, the county’s dog warden has claimed.

Frankie Coote, ISPCA dog warden, made the comments after the discovery of three dead dogs, which he believes were hanged. The remains of the dogs were found at the side of a country road in North Clare along with the bodies of two calves, which had been wrapped in black plastic.
Mr Coote received a call from the environment section of Clare County Council on Friday saying a member of the public had found the body of a dog “dumped over a ditch near forestry close to Lickeen Lake in Ennistymon”.
“I went there where I was told to go and found two bags, silage bags. You could clearly see there were animals in them. I thought they were dogs first but on closer inspection, I found they were two young calves. I would say they were a few days old when they died. They looked like twins and were dark in colour. They died of natural causes but the farmer didn’t phone the knackery or the knacker’s yard, which would be the normal process when disposing of animals,” he recalled.
“I was almost back in Ennis thinking I had the job done. Then I got a phonecall from Clare County Council. They had got another call from the person, who reported seeing the dogs in the beginning, this time saying they were disappointed that the bodies had not been taken away. That was when I realised there were more bodies there,” he went on.
“I went back to the scene and immediately found two dogs dumped inside the wall, off the road, and another, third one in a few feet further. One of the dogs had been there approximately three weeks. The other two could have only been there two days, judging from the decomposition. We brought the carcasses to Ennistymon Garda Station where we photographed them. We examined them and the only marks I could see on the dogs were on their necks. It looked to me that they were hanged before they were thrown in over the ditch,” Mr Coote surmised.
Anyone with information on the animals dumped in North Clare is asked to contact Clare County Council, the dog pound or Ennistymon gardai on 065 7072180.
Mr Coote is also appealing to animal owners to contact Clare County Council or the ISPCA if they are struggling to keep their pets or livestock.
“If you have an animal you can’t keep for whatever reason we are here, we will help. If you have a dead animal, we are there to help out then too,” he said.
While Friday’s discovery was horrific, Mr Coote is not shocked by it.
“I think it is disgusting that someone would just dump the carcasses on anyone’s land. It is disgusting. I would like to point out that the majority of farmers would be appalled by this and I have spoken to some of them and they are shocked. I believe that one person dumped the calves and dogs. It is too much of a coincidence that they were all dumped so close together. Someone has been going back there to the one spot dumping dead animals,” he stated.
“I am not shocked because nothing surprises me in this job. Some years ago, this practice of hanging dogs was common enough with greyhounds. What I would say to people though is that we are here. We are just a phone call away. If people want to dispose of a dog or are not in a position to keep them, we will first try to re-home the dog and if we cannot and he must be put down, we will do it humanely,” Mr Coote added.
The first months of the year have seen an increase in the number of animal cruelty cases, according to Mr Coote, who believes the recession has a part to play in the rise.
“We have seen more cruelty cases in the last three months than we have in the same period any other year. Usually when you come out of the winter, it eases off a bit but I think the recession is hitting people too. The funny thing is I have called to people as recently as this week where they can hardly feed themselves and they make sure the animals are fed first. Then you get these rogues like the person who did this for example and they are really letting down the whole community and should be ashamed,” he said.
“In recent times, we have stopped certain individuals that were doing it. There was a time when it was quite common to find dead horses in Connolly and Broadford and then in Tiermaclane in Clarecastle, people were going down there with calves and putting them over the wall. I think we have stopped a lot of that.”
Mr Coote warned that follow-up inspections would be made at the North Clare site to ensure there are no more bodies there. He also appealed for the public’s patience, pointing out that it is a very busy time for the pound.
“On Friday, for example, we were called to Ennistymon to collect the body of a dog, we found the calves and went back and found the dogs. Then on our way home we got a call from gardaí in Ardnacrusha telling us there was a dead horse dumped at the side of the road there. We arranged to get that picked up and disposed of appropriately and then we got another call to tell us there was a dog dumped behind a wall in an Ennis housing estate. Friday was a busy day for us. We would ask people to be patient with us because we were under so much pressure, it is unbelievable,” he concluded.