Environmental Services

South Dublin County Council

County Hall,

Tallaght,

Dublin 24

Dear Sir / Madam,

It has been brought to our attention that an alleged incident occurred at Dunboyne dog pound where a female blue & white whippet came into their possession on Monday 21^st January 2008 with a fractured leg. We were informed the dog received pain relief but no active veterinary treatment during that time for the reason that the dog was not deemed to be their property until it had remained on the premises for 5 days. During that time, the dog allegedly showed aggression and was euthanized.

Firstly, we feel that in this particular case, the dog was under considerable distress and whether adequate pain relief was achieved and maintained is plausible. It should also be noted certain pain relief medications can alter a dog’s personality making them excitable, anxious and susceptible to exhibiting inappropriate behaviour, to declare the dog as aggressive is an unfair statement under those conditions.

Secondly, there were rescue organisations that were willing to take this dog into their care and commence veterinary treatment to repair the fracture prior to re-homing. Apparently the transfer of this animal was refused even though the welfare bodies that approached were willing to waver any responsibility to the pound for the dog’s behaviour and was willing to produce a disclaimer documenting this.

We believe that Ireland currently has poor animal welfare facilities where several departments attempt to manage the situation, as there is no specifically appointed department, the result is that no-one accepts responsibility and without adequate networks and protocols in place, animal care is severely compromised.

Our aim is to request that you promote a higher standard of animal care and liaise with the various animal welfare bodies that have offered their services to you.

Furthermore, we ask you waver the current 25 Euros release fee that you have in place to all welfare bodies, not just PAWS or Leitrim animal welfare.

It is hoped in the future that Ireland will follow the UK in revising their animal welfare act. It certainly seems to be a matter that the public are concerned about and we think it would be a very pro-active manoeuvre of Dublin’s Environmental services if they implicated the above suggestion.

Kind regards