'Worst year ever for unwanted dogs' in Animals in Need's 17 year history

In the seventeen years since Animals In Need (AIN) formed, the volunteers are reporting that this has been the worst year for unwanted dogs to date.

And the number of dogs being found abandoned or straying or being surrendered to animal rescues is increasing by the day in Donegal.

In this week alone, an AIN volunteer has collected four dogs from the Letterkenny Pound on Monday and another four Pound dogs were rescued on the following day.

Amongst the dogs taken from the Letterkenny Pound on Monday were three young collies who were all suffering from serious malnutrition when they were left in there.

Joe is still looking for a home

Thankfully, the Dog Wardens had been feeding them good food during their time in the Pound, which probably saved their lives.

The two worst affected collies, Pat and Joe, have a long road to recovery ahead of them.

A trip to the vets confirmed that their skin conditions and sparse hair was not due to mange but was caused by malnutrition.

Pat and Joe are now on a special diet, including being fed high quality tinned food three times a day.

They have also been wormed and a tonic was prescribed for them both by the vet.

With the arrival of these eight dogs from the Letterkenny Pound at the start of this week, AIN’s foster homes are now full.

The dogs rescued are all large dogs and there is only so much space available.

There is also a long list of people wishing to surrender their dogs and AIN is appealing to people to be patient as emergency cases such as dogs left in the Pound, who only have 5 days to be reclaimed or adopted, must take priority.

With the soaring rises in the cost of pet food in recent months, many people are struggling to feed their pets and AIN have assisted people as much as possible.

AIN’s cat foster homes are also very busy at the moment, with new arrivals and adoptions.

A lovely big tom cat was found at the weekend in Creeslough in a sorry state.

He had arrived at a lady’s house, who soon realised he was not well and he was therefore rescued and taken to the vets.

Sadly, he took a turn for the worse whilst in the vets and did not survive.

He was yet another unneutered tom cat who had been left to fend for himself and had been unable to cope, which was a sad ending for such a friendly cat.

Willis has gone to his new home

The cat rescuers were also heartbroken by the sudden death of a kitten who had been in foster care for several weeks.

There had been no signs of illness in this little one, which made their passing even more of a shock.

In good news, grey and white fluffy kitten Willis has gone to his new home.

Willis was in a mess when he was found abandoned.

He was very dirty and his long fur had clumped into big matts, but after gentle grooming, tackling one area at a time, he has emerged as a handsome boy.

Tabby and white cat Joe has not been so lucky and is still waiting to be picked.

Joe is one of AIN’s longest foster cats and keeps being overlooked.

He is neutered, vaccinated, wormed, microchipped and litter trained and adores head rubs. They are, in fact, his favourite thing.

Joe would make the ideal companion for someone who would like a cat who spends their days outside exploring and then comes in for head rubs and a soft bed in the evenings.

If this sound like the feline friend for you, please contact the cat helpline for further information.

Finally, AIN’s charity shop in Donegal Town is closed today (Wednesday) for renovations. The shop will reopen on Thursday, February 16 at the usual time of 11am to 4pm.

To help AIN’s animals, please donate €2 to AIN’s ‘Help Us To Help Them’ fundraising appeal via your phone by texting the word ‘KITTEN’ to 50300. Every last cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment and vaccinations.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering etc, please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188. For cat/kitten enquiries please call 087 7644420.

Animals in Need Donegal is also on Facebook and has a website at http://www.animalsinneeddonegal.com.