Drowned puppies give ‘paws’ for thought

Drowned puppies give ‘paws’ for thought


Áine Ryan

AS the festive season approaches, one local woman’s grim discovery on the ocean’s edge near Westport has, unsurprisingly, left her reflecting on that well-worn axiom: ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas’.
Last week local solicitor and Rosbeg resident, Mairéad Bourke was alerted to a grim bundle of flotsam that had been washed up at a nearby pier, just three kilometres from Westport and along the winding coast road to Louisburgh.
She was distraught to discover an orange net bag with four drowned puppies inside.
“Most people know the slogan , ‘A dog’s for life, not just for Christmas’, except for the person who took an orange net onion bag, filled the bottom with bricks and dumped four live defenceless puppies into it. This person then tied a knot around the bag and threw it into Clew Bay,” Mairéad Bourke told The Mayo News.  
She revealed that a local man who was walking his dog last Tuesday morning discovered the bag in low tide off the pier at Rosbeg.
“When I heard the story, I had to investigate  and make public the cruelty that the individual visited on these defenceless animals. I had to see it for myself to believe his story. The bag looked harmless until up close when the first thing one saw was the tiny perfectly formed feet of the tiny animals,” she said.
“The pups were well past saving. Their features writhed in fear gave testament to their painful and joyless deaths. Not a sight to behold,”  she added.
Still angry and upset a week later, Ms Bourke said the perpetrator of this unnecessary ‘callous act’ might benefit from reading the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. It clearly states that the penalties for such offences include a fine of up to €5,000 or imprisonment for up to six months.   
Moreover, she suggested ‘there are animal welfare organisations and compassionate vets who would willingly help to neuter, rescue, re-home or put unwanted animals to sleep humanely’.