A good week in Donegal for adoptions at Animals in Need

The dog crisis continues throughout Ireland, with an unprecedented number of dogs being surrendered to Rescues, left in county Pounds or abandoned.

Nearly all the dogs looking for homes in Donegal are collies, and it can be difficult to find suitable homes for this active, intelligent breed, as many people still consider them to be working dogs rather than a companion animal.

However, there is good news for a collie-cross called Bailey, who was featured in this column a few weeks ago.

Bailey is a large dog of around two and a half years old, with a thick, brown coat and a lovely nature and Animals In Need (AIN) are delighted that Bailey will be going to a fantastic new home next week.

ABOVE: Bailey has found a fantastic new home

Unfortunately, AIN’s dog foster places are all currently filled and the charity is unable to take in anymore dogs until they rehome the dogs already in residence.

This can take some time as many of the collies find homes overseas, in the UK or further afield, and in order to travel they need a Pet Passport, which requires a dog to stay for a minimum of 30 days with the Rescue, before the Passport is issued.

It has been a good week for cat adoptions too.

AIN’s kittens are available to book at six weeks old and can then go to their new homes when they are eight or nine weeks old, fully weened and have had their first vaccinations.

This weekend saw the first mass booking opportunity, with sixteen kittens available, and all the kittens were quickly reserved.

AIN still has another twenty younger kittens in their care, who will be advertised when they are old enough, so keep an eye on their Facebook page if you are interested in adding a new feline to your family.

And let’s not forget the mother cats, who often get overlooked in favour of their kittens.

Dekota is an affectionate young cat who has now been neutered and is looking for a new home.

The other mother cats are all feral and will be released back into their territories after neutering.

Several injured cats have needed help, including a feral cat who had serious injuries to her leg. Sadly, she was beyond help.

There was a better outcome for Max, who was found a week ago with a badly injured front leg, which had to be amputated.

Max made a good recovery and is getting around fine on three legs. He is now looking for an indoor home.

AIN also rescued a number of kittens during the week, including Annabelle, a little kitten found stuck under a fence in Bundoran.

Annabelle was taken straight to a vets as she had a large lump in her throat. The vet believes it to be a thyroid issue that hopefully will be resolved with medication.

Her throat is not affecting her ability to bottle-feed and she has a healthy appetite.

Three small, orphaned kittens arrived at AIN on Friday and they too are being hand-reared and being fed special kitten milk formula with a bottle.

Meanwhile, mother cat Susie gave birth to three kittens and Bubbles, another pregnant cat in foster care, gave birth to four kittens over the weekend.

Finally, AIN would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at Supervalu in Buncrana and to An Garda Síochána Donegal, Buncrana Division, who collected all their Return logo bottles and cans and donated them to AIN.

AIN have launched an appeal for people to donate their return bottles and cans to the charity, as every three items will pay for a meal for a rescued animal.

There are three drop off points for bottles and cans; AIN’s Charity Shop in Donegal Town, Bru Lab Café, Glen View Business Park, Carnamogagh Upper, Letterkenny, and Finnegans shop in Rossnowlagh.

ABOVE: Sixteen kittens were booked at the weekend

The scheme has had a fantastic response so far and more drop off locations will be added shortly.

Thank you to everyone for your support.

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.

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 cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment, and vaccinations.