CLARE County Dog Warden, Frankie Coote has described his discovery of a dying German Shepherd in West Clare on Monday as the worst incident of animal neglect he has had to deal with in his 23-year association with the ISPCA.
On the back of an anonymous call, accompanied by Garda Seán Kelly from Kilrush Garda Station, Mr Coote called to the house, behind which the stricken dog lay.
“I thought the dog was dead for a considerable amount of time. As I went to examine the dog and take some photographs of what I thought was a carcass, I then discovered that the dog was able to move its head and could look up at me,” he revealed.
“The dog had been alive and he had been eaten by maggots and rodents.We reckon the dog had been lying on its side for six to eight weeks, without food or water.
Poignantly, the stricken animal appeared to thank the dog warden and Garda Kelly for finding him and putting him out of his misery.
“The dog was one of the kindest I’ve ever met. All he did was lick my face, while I was carrying him out of the building. ” Mr Coote said.
The dog warden said that, as bad as the story is, it needs to be put out there.
“We see bad things and you just get on with your job but I think people need to know what’s actually happening out there and see if we can curtail it from happening again,” he said.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.