Tag Archives: Animal welfare

STUDENTS in St Anne’s Community College have pivoted to video in order to put across their message about stopping animal cruelty, writes Dan Danaher. Transition Year students had planned to deliver a power point presentation about animal welfare for primary school students in Killaloe and Ballina. However, they opted not to proceed with these plans due to the high incidence of Covid-19 and are now planning to film students giving an overview of their research project in a new video. Rebecca Rogers, Daniel Spaight, Amy Reilly and Dominik Maslanek are in the media group for their Young Social Innovators project. Having surveyed students in their class, the four teenagers discovered most of them had an animal at home and animal welfare was a topic that really interested the majority of the class. As part of their research for this YSI project, the students looked at Irish case studies of animal cruelty and are making posters to raise public awareness around …

A FASHIONISTA turned animal rescuer has been left “speechless” by the generosity of supporters, after the donation of a car to enable her vital work to continue.  Caitríona Lowry, who runs Hilltop Sanctuary, alongside Pat Tobin, turned her back on a love of fashion and shopping, around a decade ago to respond to the needs of abandoned animals. “I was all about the clothes and shoes and socialising at one stage,” she said. “It’s funny how priorities change. Now, every penny goes towards the work we do.”  Caring for 103 animals, including donkeys, horses and abandoned household pets, certainly racks up the expenses. An operation for a sick mare, for example, was €5,000 and badly injured and neglected animals need huge levels of ongoing care, which can be costly.  Crucial to the work of the East Clare organisation is a reliable car. “The Gardaí get in touch with me and I might have to collect an animal if they can’t …

AN “EXPLOSION” of abandoned cats has prompted a West Clare animal sanctuary to issue an appeal to owners to take greater responsibility for their pets.   Dr Rhona Lucas who runs An Cat Dubh Sanctuary said that since the lockdowns eased, she has been inundated with abandoned cats, often in need of urgent care. “In the month of September, I took in 46 cats,” the 78 year-old outlined. “It has been a shocking year for admissions. I’ve actually been too frightened to count the total number of cats taken in this year.” Rhona said that the problem of abandoned and straying cats is particularly severe, but that she is also taking in more dogs than usual, as well as other animals. “It seems that many people got pets during the lockdowns while they were at home,” she said. “Now they’re back in the workplace and sadly many pets are being abandoned. Normally, I would have a busy summer and then a …

A CLARE TD has hit out at “do-gooders,” who claim people have the right to keep horses, regardless of their capacity to give them adequate care. Deputy Cathal Crowe made his remarks at a recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), where he disputed social media claims that people have a cultural right to horse ownership. “There was a situation where a horse died in the south of Clare in the last 14 days,” he said. “That horse was not being cared for in accordance with the Animal Health and Welfare Act or the Control of Horses Act.” Citing his own personal experience, Deputy Crowe disputed the belief that people should be allowed to keep horses, if that is their culture. “You can say it’s a culture to keep horses,” he said, “but I don’t agree. My grandparents had horses. My father didn’t, because he hadn’t the space. He didn’t think he had the God-given right to keep horses.” …

THE online system for preparing applications for the €120m Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme is now open. The system can be accessed directly through the Department of Agriculture’s website by farmers who are registered for online services via the department’s agfood facility. Alternatively, farmers may opt to use an approved agricultural advisor to prepare applications on their behalf. “This is another milestone, and I want to encourage as many young farmers as possible to avail of the very extensive list of investment opportunities that are available under this new scheme,” commented Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney. The new online system is accompanied by detailed information on the department website. The closing date for the current tranche of applications is Friday, September 18. “This is just the first tranche of applications, however,” the Minister said. “These tranches will be organised regularly and it is important for farmers to remember that, particularly when they need time to organise planning-permission for any new construction.” …

Six Clare animal welfare groups are to receive funding totalling €34,700 to assist them in their work next year. The announcement comes as Senator Tony Mulcahy appealed to parents and others to think responsibly when considering giving a pet as a present this Christmas. He also urged people to heed the warnings and advice offered by the animal welfare organisations in this regard. The Clare groups in line for payments include Clare SPCA, Newmarket on Fergus (€15,000); Second Chance Animal Welfare Ltd., Shannon (€9,800); Rover Rescue, Ennis (€3,600); An Cat Dubh Sanctuary, Clounlaheen East, Mullagh (€2,400); Burren Animal Rescue, Rockforest, Tubber (€2,100); and Irish Whale & Dolphin Group, Kilrush (€1,800). The ex-gratia payments form part of an allocation totalling €1,867,200 which is being distributed to 142 animal welfare bodies throughout Ireland to assist in their work during the coming year. Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy said this year’s County Clare allocation is almost €2,000 higher than the figure received in …

AN ENNIS woman with an incurable case of ‘puppy love’ is at the centre of an incredible tale of devotion and care for sick and abandoned dogs. Martina Flaherty, from Westbourne, loves all breeds of puppies and dogs and has saved more than 130 lives since she set up Babydog Rescue with her friend, Mags Mooney from Lisdoonvarna, earlier this year. Dog warden, Frankie Coote can’t praise Martina enough. “Martina’s work is essential because she has about 130 dogs taken from the pound since she started Babydog Rescue earlier this year. It’s a huge amount of dogs. She has a wonderful way of dealing with people and other rescue groups. “Martina and Mags Mooney fundraise and I think they have over 60 pups inoculated with the seven-in-one injections that have gone out to homes in Clare as well,” Frankie said. “There’s a lot of work goes into it and a lot of expenses before the dog goes out. They’ve fundraised …

by Jessica Quinn AN Ennis based group of animal lovers are urging the people of the county to get behind a new awareness and fundraising day that they hope will go on to become an international event. On May 1, Clare will host the first ever ‘MayDay for Animals’. This awareness and fundraising day will see Clare people tying a balloon to their home or place of work to remember animals in need of rescuing, and to celebrate animals rescued. According to organisers, there is a real urgency now to communicate to people the cruel reality of what is going on for some animals in this county and country. In addition to this, they want to encourage people to think before they commit to getting a pet, as it is heart-breaking for a family pet to be suddenly removed from the family home and surrendered to the pound or worse, dumped miles from home. MayDay is about making people more …