Large rise in people surrendering their dog

Dogs Trust Ireland has received 394 requests from members of the public, from Christmas Day to the end of January, asking to surrender their dogs into the charity’s care. The most commons reasons being provided are dogs exhibiting unwanted behaviours, owners not having enough time to spend with their dog and difficulties finding pet friendly accommodation.

The charity is urgently appealing for donations to cope with the alarming 33% increase in the volume of dogs they are being asked to assist, compared to the same period last year. Many of the dogs, especially those raised during the pandemic lockdowns, require extra behavioural support, meaning they are spending longer in the care of Dogs Trust.

Ciara Byrne, Head of Communications at Dogs Trust Ireland explains: “As a charity that relies solely on the generosity of our supporters, we are appealing for donations as the current dog crisis is putting a huge strain on our resources. We are taking in more and more dogs with behavioural issues who then spend more time with us as our dedicated team works with them, to get them to a stage where they can be adopted. We are thankful that so many people contact us for help and advice about their dog and don’t resort to abandoning them. We try to help where we can, from our online Dog School training classes, to advice available on our website, our aim is to keep as many dogs as possible, happy in their existing homes.”

One-year-old Collie cross sisters, Serena and Venus are just two examples of the growing dog crisis in Ireland. Both dogs were pregnant when surrendered to Dogs Trust in December. While the charity has since found homes for their puppies, Serena and Venus are now hoping to find their forever homes. As they are unsocialised and unused to walking on a lead or the sounds of traffic, they are currently looking for a quiet home where they can slowly come out of their shells.

Speaking about dogs like Serena and Venus, Eimear Cassidy, Regional Rehoming Manager at Dogs Trust Ireland continues: “Sadly, we are struggling to rehome medium to large sized dogs, especially those who are nervous or worried, as they need quite specific homes. We are appealing to people who work from home or are at home a lot of the day, live in quieter areas, don’t have children under 16 and who are willing to give a dog a few months to settle in, to please contact us. We understand that people have preferences for certain breeds, but it breaks our hearts to see so many of our beautiful, bigger dogs being overlooked while the smaller dogs are generally quickly adopted.”

FURTHER DETAILS

For more information about how to support Dogs Trust cope with the increasing number of abandoned and surrendered dogs in Ireland, please see DogsTrust.ie/DogCrisis