Since we first
learnt of this fact 18 months ago we have taken
in a steady stream of dogs via a rescue group,
Dogs in Distress, from one of the busiest dog
pounds in Ireland. Ashton dog pound serves
Fingal county council and Dublin city county
council and will dispose of over 20
unclaimed dogs a week. Recently, thanks to the
internet, almost all of these have been taken by
rescue and have been successfully rehomed.
Butch
was found roaming in Corduff, Blanchardstown by
the dog warden on the 25th of July 2005 and was
taken to Ashton dog pound, his owner had 5 days
to reclaim him. By the 27th he had been
photographed and listed on the internet by a
volunteer from Dogs in Distress and by the 1st
of August he had not been claimed and no offers
of a home, his time was almost up.
Butch was just a
youngster, perhaps a year old, friendly with
people and dogs alike and a lovely golden
colour. Probably a GSD - Lab mix who would grow
into a big dog and not the kind of dog who would
be easily rehomed in Ireland. So we offered to
take him here, we booked a place on transport
and one of our volunteers offered to sponsor
him, Dogs in Distress found him a place to await
his onward transport a few days later to a new
life.
Dogs in Distress
contacted the pound and booked Butch to be
collected after the bank holiday Monday.
However, on the
previous Friday the pound management had given
Dogs in Distress a letter imposing 23 terms and
conditions and refused to release dogs unless
the document was signed. Many of these new
regulations would have made it impossible for
the rescue to operate in their present
manner and so they asked for a meeting to
discuss the matter and asked that no dogs be
destroyed in the meantime, the management agreed
but still refused to release dogs to rescue.
