An animal charity based in Longford has been forced to rent additional kennels following a surge in unwanted dogs.
The ISPCA has noticed a spike in cruelty cases and has launched an emergency appeal for support this week. Four shelters including its headquarters in Kenagh as well as Wicklow, Donegal and Mallow have reached full capacity - and they're renting space elsewhere. Trustee Pete Wedderburn says that's why there's a need for more kennel blocks in Longford. The organisation received the greenlight in February to construct 2 detached structures housing 20 kennels at the local site.
Pete says the issue of abandoned dogs stems from those purchasing dogs during the pandemic.
'There was a huge surge in demand for puppies during the Covid lock down.
Because of the demand and the high profits a lot of people decided to breed their dogs, both legal and illegal puppy breeders , and now what's happened is the demand has gone right down, so all these puppies have got nowhere to go.
We're only managing by using private kennels, and why we're having this emergency appeal for funds is that we need to build new kennel blocks at our centre in Longford.'
