Rescue shelters in Cork

votejohn

Getting a new dog in the coming months, so where would you advise me to go get it?

Which shelter in Cork puts dogs to sleep the fastest? The hero in me would like to rescue a dog at deaths door!

Inexile

votejohn wrote: »

Getting a new dog in the coming months, so where would you advise me to go get it?

Which shelter in Cork puts dogs to sleep the fastest? The hero in me would like to rescue a dog at deaths door!

Sorry to be pedantic but shelters dont normally put dogs down - pounds do. the Cork spca have a purpose built shelter near Mahon. Sorry dont have their site but you can google it - though they dont have pictures of dogs on the site. Also there is www.dawg.ie which have a premises near Doneraile and there is www.westcorkanimal.ie. Both of these sites have lovely dogs. You will also find dogs for rehoming on www.irishanimals.ie which list dogs by breed and by region. Dont restrict yourself to Cork your pooch just may be living in a neighbouring county. rescue groups often do home checks for each other so distance shouldnt be an issue. Also you should email homeward.bound@yahoo.ie. she currently has lakeland terrier x pups looking for a home. Pictures are on the rehoming threat.

If you adopt from a rescue you will be freeing up a place for another dog in dire need - that may keep the hero in you happy. Also a rescue will match your lifestyle to a particular dog which is better than taking the saddest dog out of the pound only to find out two months later that you arent suited.

btw thanks for thinking of getting a rescue dog - they need help.

DePurpereWolf

You could think of rescueing a greyhound

An awful lot of those are put down every year because they are not useful anymore to their owners. I'm fostering a 19 month old right now that was supposed to be dead last Friday. She did not feel like chasing lures.
Anyway, here is more information: www.kerrygreyhounds.ie

bega

]Sorry to be pedantic but shelters dont normally put dogs down - pounds do. the Cork spca have a purpose built shelter near Mahon.


Since when is the CSPCA a shelter?? <snip> The same people, different location! If I wanted to save a dog's life, thats were I'd go.

By the way Greyhounds do make Greyt pets!

Inexile

bega wrote: »

]Since when is the CSPCA a shelter?? Twas only a few years ago they were electrocuting dogs in Clontarf St. The same people, different location! If I wanted to save a dog's life, thats were I'd go.

By the way Greyhounds do make Greyt pets!

According to the CSPCA website they "operate a policy of trying to re-home every dog that comes in. The only dogs that are put down are those that are aggressive, are suffering a painful, incurable disease or those that have been in the Home for such an extended period without anyone wanting to adopt them that it is no longer fair to keep them. "

I hope these are different to those bega refers to. I just had my first hands on experiene with greyhounds. There were about 10 of them, all on leads but they didnt budge until we started walking. They were the most relaxed dogs I ever seen.

bega

The ISPCA refuses to have any affiliation with the CSPCA. The stories I hear about that place make my blood boil............. besides all that.
How can a so called shelter remain closed all weekend, the busiest time for visits from potential new owners? The website claims no healthy etc dog is destroyed....RUBBISH! What is too long a time? A week?:mad:

Inexile

Not all SPCAs are affiliated to the ISCPA. The KSCPA and the Galway one arent affiliated yet both were featured on a RTE documentary re animal welfare alongside the DSCPA.

I havent been up there yet myself but I cant believe an organisation would spend so much money on premises, to include heated kennels, etc just to dispatch animals asap. Has anyone been there lately or know more about them.

Anyway back to original topic how is Votejohn getting on with the search.

votejohn

im only moving into my new dog friendly house in the next two weeks, so going to move first then start doing the rounds!!!

Paul91

FYI - I took a German Shepherd out of the CSPCA in August - in September we where a little shocked when she had 6 pups!! - she was 5 weeks pregnant when i took her out, (at a cost of €100) no vaccinations, no microchip, no paperwork, they didn't even give her a brush to remove the matting in her hair and she'd been in there a week.

I phoned them after the pups where born, they offered to take them off me, when i said i wouldn't be willing to put them in their care they hung up on me!

A little investigation has led me to the following info in the Cork Council meeting minutes,

1) As she was on the dangerous dog list they where not supposed to rehome her end of.

2) All dogs that leave there are supposed to be micro chipped.

3) Obviously she hadn't been checked by a vet for disease nor spade - therefore potentially adding to the problem of stray and unwanted dogs. (don't worry we will find homes (good homes) for them all)

4) No dog licence

Personally would be very wary of them and only take a dog out if you can get it to a vet within the week <snip>

FYI if you have any more "experiences" please let me know as i am putting some information together on them.

Call me Socket

Paul91 wrote: »

i am putting some information together on them.

Can I ask why? Just curious..... I'd be very interested (ok, nosey!) to see your compilation when you're finished...

Paul91 wrote: »

As she was on the dangerous dog list they where not supposed to rehome her end of.

You'll need to be correct if you're putting some sort of report together... There is no 'Dangerous Dogs List' in Ireland- they have one in the UK. What we have here is a 'Restricted Breeds List'...

Paul91

Call me Socket wrote: »

Can I ask why? Just curious..... I'd be very interested (ok, nosey!) to see your compilation when you're finished...


You'll need to be correct if you're putting some sort of report together... There is no 'Dangerous Dogs List' in Ireland- they have one in the UK. What we have here is a 'Restricted Breeds List'...

why - because i've heard to many bad things and wish to try and colate them for further reference

if i where to put a report together i would of course get all the facts correct, thanks for the prompt on that one, "The Control of Dogs Regulations 1998" is where the list has been established

bega

Hi Paul,
Well Done you!!! If you need any help in highlighting the truth about cspca..............I'm here for you.
<snip>. Run by the City Council. If you witness any animal cruelty, abandonment etc after 4pm Weekday or anytime over the weekend, don't bother trying to contact them. <snip>
I feel so sorry for the poor animals that end up on their premises!
Bega

babystrawberry

bega wrote: »

]
Since when is the CSPCA a shelter?? <Snip>. The same people, different location! If I wanted to save a dog's life, thats were I'd go.

WTF?? i know of their premises in Mahon, huge state of the art place, NEVER realised this used to go on <snip> WHY?????

I had no idea the CSPCA was like this
I remember reading Paul91 thread already on his new GS that they rehomed from the CSPCA and she was actually in pup? Found that quite strange that this was unknown the the pound first off!
Absolutley disgusted to read on this thread how bad the place seems to be?! :mad:

Paul91

if you have the stomach for it - go in there - the food is spread all over the floor, the same floor they poop and pee on, no food dish's - steel bucket's for their water. the GS i took out had been there a week, and had matt's in her hair which took me ten minute to comb/brush/cut out, she was unvaccinated, not-chipped and according to the councils minutes - should not have been rehomed anyway as she was on the list of ten naughty dogs. No home check either, I could of been anyone, you can just walk in there with a €100 and take a dog out there and then, no questions

Paul91

bega wrote: »

Hi Paul,
Well Done you!!! If you need any help in highlighting the truth about cspca..............I'm here for you.
<snip>. Run by the City Council. If you witness any animal cruelty, abandonment etc after 4pm Weekday or anytime over the weekend, don't bother trying to contact them. <snip>
I feel so sorry for the poor animals that end up on their premises!
Bega

He Bega, your message was curtailed, can you PM me it please?

Inexile

Hi Paul, saw your GSD and pups on the other thread and they are all gorgeous.

Im really disappointed to read the comments about the CPSA. If they are just acting as a glorified pound why are they charging a €100 fee. I dont understand why an organisation would spend money on a purpose built premises and then run the rescue in such a bad way. Part of me wants to visit to see it for myself but I dont know if I could handle it. Does anyone know anyone who volunteers in the place or do they have volunteers? I would like to hear the CSPCA response to the critisms posted here.

Paul91

Inexile wrote: »

Hi Paul, saw your GSD and pups on the other thread and they are all gorgeous.

Im really disappointed to read the comments about the CPSA. If they are just acting as a glorified pound why are they charging a €100 fee. I dont understand why an organisation would spend money on a purpose built premises and then run the rescue in such a bad way. Part of me wants to visit to see it for myself but I dont know if I could handle it. Does anyone know anyone who volunteers in the place or do they have volunteers? I would like to hear the CSPCA response to the critisms posted here.

i would like them to talk to me, but the one time i called they hung up on me, i'm going to be quite a few euros out of pocket on this for one thing, though i wouldn't begrudge the wee pups that

meoklmrk91

I would suggest Limerick Animal Welfare http://www.limerickanimalwelfare.com/ having just finished up work experience for school there I can tell you without a doubt that they do brilliant work there. They always have lots of dogs, cats and bunnies available for re-homing. There is a mandatory E120 adoption fee for which you get your dog who is spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped plus lots and lots of advice.

At the moment they have about 20 dogs but they often have a lot more, about 90 cats and kittens and about 30 rabbbits.

Jokermuffin

Hello,

I brought home a homeless cat today that I found in the train station. It is not a stray,it is very affectionate and trusting. It has hair loss and scabs all over its skin and is severely under weight and his eye is infected and sunken in his head, also his meow sounds like a squeek...

I fed him, watered him and have him in a blanket infront of the outdoor fire on the balcony.

I have no idea what to do next....Where can I take him that will help? I live in Cork.

Is there ANYTHING I can do for him for now?


All suggestions much appreciated.

Thank you

M
(I posted this on a different thread and then realized it was the wrong one so sorry if you've seen this twice)

star-pants

I think you posted it in the correct section - this thread is pretty much for a discussion of rescue shelters in Cork - but perhaps someone can direct you to a shelter that would take on your found cat.
Please refrain from adding the same post to multiple threads.

Jokermuffin

Apologies,

Totally new to this. I thought it was in the wrong thread and that the thread I started failed or something because I wouldn't come up.

Sorry again!
Thanks for your help

M

brianwalshcork

Jokermuffin,

Give the animal care society a call tomorrow and talk to them.

http://www.animalcaresociety.ie/

Jokermuffin

Thank you, will do.

M

sunshinegirl

Is it any wonder the dog shelters take poor animals out of the cork animal home. My mate got a cat from there she was infested with fleas and underweight. I really think primetime or someone should investigate the going ons in there. Id say alot of people would agree with me.
I have great admiration for the shelters,we got our pup from one,she was rescued from the cork animal home.
Im told the longest most animals are kept there is a week before being destroyed,not sure how true it is?

Jokermuffin

Over 10 years ago when I was in 4th year I did my work experience in the CSPCA.............Serious mistake.

I was a kid and I was traumatized from the experience. I was ment to be there for 2 weeks and I lasted 3 days. I am not going to describe what I saw but I will say that if you are trying to help an animal DO NOT EVER bring it there. Dead - every Thursday the vet comes and puts all the animals down.

Somebody needs to do something. And people do dedicate their lives to this....but there are not enough people and not nearly enough funds! It is one of these things that just gets swept under the carpet of "more important" things to worry about.


Just to update you on the cat that I found, the cat hospital in Glanmire are angels. Literally. But unfortunatly he tested positive for cat AIDS and Lukemia and had to be put to sleep.
Thank you everybody who helped me with posts.

M

DePurpereWolf

sunshinegirl wrote: »

Is it any wonder the dog shelters take poor animals out of the cork animal home. My mate got a cat from there she was infested with fleas and underweight. I really think primetime or someone should investigate the going ons in there. Id say alot of people would agree with me.
I have great admiration for the shelters,we got our pup from one,she was rescued from the cork animal home.
Im told the longest most animals are kept there is a week before being destroyed,not sure how true it is?

It's not too uncommon to get a pet out of a shelter with fleas, a bit of Frontline on your part would have gotten rid of the fleas in three days.
You can't add weight to a pet in a week. That at least takes a month or two.

Of course it's horrible that pets need to be put down, but what's the alternative? Having the rescue fill up and not accept any more dogs in? At least they'll have a slim chance and a painless death.

I'm not pro the Cork cspca, but I only hear negative remarks here, which is never a good way to understand what's going on.

A rescue shelter is just not a happy place. The pets shouldn't be there in the first place.

meoklmrk91

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

It's not too uncommon to get a pet out of a shelter with fleas, a bit of Frontline on your part would have gotten rid of the fleas in three days.
You can't add weight to a pet in a week. That at least takes a month or two.

Of course it's horrible that pets need to be put down, but what's the alternative? Having the rescue fill up and not accept any more dogs in? At least they'll have a slim chance and a painless death.

I'm not pro the Cork cspca, but I only hear negative remarks here, which is never a good way to understand what's going on.

A rescue shelter is just not a happy place. The pets shouldn't be there in the first place.

I have to disagree, my local animal shelter is a very happy place so many animals come in injured/starving/infested with parasites and many other awful things to boot a good amount are also very frightened of people due to their past experience. Within days there is a difference in these animals, they start to wag their tails a bit more or come up to their kennel door when they see people coming.

Yes pets shouldn't be there in the first place but Irish people as a whole are terrible to their animals. So there is a need for places like this, we have population that treats their pets as a commodity and draconian laws.

All animals shelters are having a really tough time at the moment, I think if Cork SPCA was a bit more open about that then things wouldn't be so bad. When animal lovers hear these stories and the way animals are being treated then they are far less inclined to donate to the charity and there goes your main chunk of revenue right there. If Cork SPCA were to come out and say ''look we just don't have the money to do this anymore'' I bet there would be lots of people willing to help. But while they are lying to the people who adopt their pets and treating the animals as badly as I have read in the above posts they are either going to end up bankrupt or shutdown.

suziwalsh

Highly recommend DAWG http://www.dogactionwelfaregroup.ie/

messygirl

hiya i was in the cspca today, just thought it was a bit strange they didnt let you in to see the dogs, i found it hard to get a proper look at them and its hard to get a fell for if the dog is right for you. Is it true they put dogs down to sleep?! that is fairly depressing.... god love the poor animals...

Paul91

messygirl wrote: »

hiya i was in the cspca today, just thought it was a bit strange they didnt let you in to see the dogs, i found it hard to get a proper look at them and its hard to get a fell for if the dog is right for you. Is it true they put dogs down to sleep?! that is fairly depressing.... god love the poor animals...

depends on who you talk to in there, i was told by a couple of the staff the don't put dogs down, when i was in there i found it very frustrating and the people very hard to deal with, you basically walk past reception to the back of the building and there is a viewing screen with the dogs out the back, they won't let you in to them - but you can ask for a dog to be brought out to you, which is what we did - and then promptly took her out of there as you could feel every single rib and sternum bone (she' been there a week and was 5 weeks pregnant, which they didn't know/tell us) if you do take a dog out of there be carefull if you have animals already i.e. make sure they are up to date on their vaccinations as the CSPCA does NOT vaccinate, neuter or tag any dog leaving their premises

Discodog

They put down 150 dogs in 2008 & received €57,000 from the Council in 2007.

Their 2008 figures are as follows:
11 On premises
12 Seized
577 Surrendered
442 Rehomed
150 PTS

This highlights the conflict when Pounds are run by SPCA's on behalf of the Council. The benefits are that the Pound should not be run for profit & the dogs should get a much longer potential rehoming time. The big problem is that the Control of Dogs is often diametrically opposed to Animal Welfare.
As a SPCA they should neuter, vac & chip but as a Pound they do not have to.

If an SPCA runs the Pound they have to comply with control of dog regulations. Anecdotal evidence suggest that some SPCA's pounds are as bad as those run by local authorities. The number of pounds run by SPCA's has reduced.

Paul91

Discodog wrote: »

They put down 150 dogs in 2008 & received €57,000 from the Council in 2007.

Oh I know they put dogs to sleep - it was just another illustration of their professionalism telling me they don't

Discodog

Because they are running a Pound they have to submit annual figures which are public information. An SPCA or rescue can restrict it's input of dogs whereas a Pound cannot because of it's duty, under the law, to control dogs. So you would expect a high PTS figure. The following is from their website :

"Unfortunately, there are occasions that an animal has to be put to sleep while in the shelter, for example when it has a painful and incurable condition, it is too old to re-home or when all avenues have been exhausted and no-one wants to adopt it. On every occasion is done by a qualified veterinary surgeon, using an intravenous injection. The cost to the Society is high but we feel that this is the most humane approach."

The PTS figure of 3 per week seems excessive if they are following the above.

These are 2008 Pound Statistics showing the percentage of dogs that are PTS.

3% Leitrim
7% South Dublin
10% Meath
16% Louth
19% Dublin (Ashton)
25% Cork City
29% Galway County
29% Sligo
33% Wicklow
36% Monaghan
36% Waterford City
43% Wexford
52% Waterford County
52% Laois
60% Galway City
60% Roscommon
61% Carlow
66% Offaly
66% Westmeath
67% Clare
68% Kilkenny
70% Limerick County
71% South Tipperary
71% Mayo
74% Donegal
76% Longford
76% North Tipperary
79% Cavan
80% Kerry
80% Cork County
83% Kildare
91% Limerick City

star-pants

If people are quoting statistics can they please give links to back them up - thanks. Just saves on hassle.

Paul91

star-pants wrote: »

If people are quoting statistics can they please give links to back them up - thanks. Just saves on hassle.

here ya go http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/DogControl/FileDownLoad,19869,en.xls

star-pants

Paul91 wrote: »

here ya go http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/DogControl/FileDownLoad,19869,en.xls

Cheers - http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/DogControl/ is the link to the site for anyone else looking. (as not everyone may be able to download the excel straight away)

Paul91

cheers star-pants (i don't do anything outside of excel )

Discodog

Just to clarify the €57,000 figure comes from here:
http://www.corkcity.ie/ourservices/corporateaffairs/minutesofordinarymeetings/minutes2008/Councilminutes1102081.pdf

The following is from the Irish Examiner of 15/9/2009:

THERE have been calls for an emergency meeting of the Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CSPCA) amid concerns about financial difficulties.

Staff salary cheques have bounced in recent weeks and the city council confirmed last night that it is reviewing the arrangements it has with the CSPCA.

The CSPCA is the primary agent acting on behalf of the city to operate the dog warden service and to provide a dog pound. It receives about €60,000 a year to provide both services.

The CSPCA also sells dog licences on behalf of the city.
But Chris Connolly, the public relations officer (PRO) of the new committee appointed to oversee the charity, went public with a range of concerns yesterday. He said the new nine-person committee, which was appointed in May, has serious concerns for the future of the CSPCA.

He claimed efforts by committee members to get answers to certain questions are being blocked. "We are going public on this for the welfare of the society," Mr Connolly said. "I am afraid that the society may not be around for very long if things continue this way."

He also criticised the introduction of a €30 fee which is being imposed on people who bring stray dogs to the CSPCA pound in Mahon.

Attempts to contact the CSPCA were unsuccessful yesterday.

The charity was at the centre of controversy last year after similar financial troubles led to staff not being paid for the third time in almost a year.

The then chairman, Diarmuid Kilcullen, expressed confidence last September that the charity had resolved the difficulties.

He said the society had taken steps to secure funding to ensure there would be no repeat of the situation.

At the time, he cited "substantial overheads and very sizeable veterinary expenses" which he said they were trying to meet.

The CSPCA is largely dependent on donations and bequests from benefactors.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Discodog

Regarding my previous post as to whether SPCA's should run pounds the following are ISPCA or Local SPCA run pounds together with their PTS rates & their ranking out of 32 if No 1 is best.

Laois 52% 14th
Roscommon 60% 16th
Offaly 66% 18th
Clare 67% 19th
Kilkenny 68% 20th
Kildare 83% 31st

The interesting thing is with the exception of Kildare the percentages are very similar & Kildare, run by the ISPCA is an utter disgrace.

As a stray dog you might think yourself better off going to an ISPCA Pound but the figures show otherwise.