DOG owners in the Tulla Road and Knockanean area of Ennis are being advised to keep their pets under control following two separate incidents where traps were deliberately left in open areas.
In the first incident, poison-laced food was picked up by a German Shepard that subsequently died, while in another incident, a dog had to have surgery after swallowing a sausage baited with a treble fishing hook.
County dog warden Frankie Coote has appealed to dog owners to be on the alert when out walking their pets and to ensure they remain under their control at all times.
“This is very sinister. Although we did have a couple of incidents last year where cats were poisoned and shot with air guns, the use of the treble hook is new to me. I would just ask people to be on alert, keep their pets under control and that way they can’t pick up anything harmful,” he said.
“If pets are kept under control, there’s less chance of problems. Pets can stray into someone’s property. Garden weed killers might be put out; these are lethal and dogs could be poisoned by accident.
“Farmers may also lay poison on their lands and birds could pick it up and travel with it. It may be outlawed and illegal to lay poison but it happens. The danger is that the poison could be dropped in green areas where children play,” he warned.
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.