Cruelty to Dogs

johndoe99

2 years ago, my next door neighbour got 2 dogs and kept them locked in his coal shed and only let them out for 5 minutes a day to feed, and then they were shut back in. The moaning of them continuosly broke me after only a few hours and after a few days of this they turned on each other and the grunt of the two was covered in blood, i politely spoke to him and he laughed at the fact that the dogs were killing each other. I rang the ISPCA here in Waterford, and the next day they came and confiscated the dogs and banned them from ever having dogs again.

A week ago I came home from work to hear a dog moaning again, and over the next few days I could see he was being again locked in the coal shed 24/7. I rang the ISPCA and informed them again and brought the previous incident to there attention, they never came. I rang again yesterday, and they finally came and saw the dog was locked in the coal shed, i was listening in on the conversation, and they basically told him to keep the dog indoors, as soon as the ISPCA person left, he immediately locked him back in the coal shed and he has been there since.

The ISPCA here in Waterford is a joke. Surely they should have prosecuted him on this occasion.

Does anyone reading this have any ideas what I can do, is there a higher ISPCA authority that i can phone ?

Thanks

annefitzy

I have my own views on this but cant and wont share them on a public forum

but have you tried ringing the national help line the number is 1890 515 515

star-pants

I would ring every day twice a day if I had to, you bug them enough they'll do something it about it.
I'm shocked that after they have removed dogs from your neighbours, they're content to let them have dogs now.

star-pants

Also - Q -- do you think if you offered to take the dog off his hands would he agree?

johndoe99

I would ring every day twice a day if I had to, you bug them enough they'll do something it about it. I'm shocked that after they have removed dogs from your neighbours, they're content to let them have dogs now.

As I said the ISPCA is a joke.

Also - Q -- do you think if you offered to take the dog off his hands would he agree?

I doubt he'd part with the dog, he seems to enjoy cruelty way too much, besides i have a cat that would not take to him.

star-pants

Sorry I meant more that if you could take him you could get him rehomed, I know someone down there who'd help with that. Just was brought to my attention that it seems that the spca down there can be a bit eager with the pts of dogs.

johndoe99

Update:
i was chatting with my neighbour and i told him it was me that called the ISPCA, and i basically called him every name i could think of concerning his cruelty. He now just locks the dog in at night, and leaves him out rest of day in a 6x6 foot yard, but i guess its better than nothing.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

star-pants

Thanks for giving us an update. At least the dog is getting outside for the day and can run around etc. As you said, best of a bad situation. Fair play for talking to him.

Steve30x

star-pants wrote: »

Thanks for giving us an update. At least the dog is getting outside for the day and can run around etc. As you said, best of a bad situation. Fair play for talking to him.

My parents rescued a Yorkie from a guy that was similar to this but not only did he lock the dog in the shed all day every day and never leave it out but he used to take his frustration out on the dog. My parents had the dog for six years up till christmas last year. He was the sweetest dog I ever knew. People like this shouldnt have a dog.

star-pants

Quite right they shouldn't but there's only so much people can do to stop it.

nite11owl

I have 3 things to say on this post. 1st of all well done for speaking up if more people did then things might get better, 2nd dont blame the the people trying to help when the animal welfare laws in Ireland are next to useless and a joke and 3rd the ISPCA and the Waterford SPCA are two seperate organisations they are not the ISPCA so please don't comment that the ISPCA are a joke when you had not dealt with them but had dealt with a local group of volunteers

dee o gee

nite11owl wrote: »

I have 3 things to say on this post. 1st of all well done for speaking up if more people did then things might get better, 2nd dont blame the the people trying to help when the animal welfare laws in Ireland are next to useless and a joke and 3rd the ISPCA and the Waterford SPCA are two seperate organisations they are not the ISPCA so please don't comment that the ISPCA are a joke when you had not dealt with them but had dealt with a local group of volunteers

Agree with you there, unless the wspca is affiliated with the ispca they have NOTHING to do with the ispca. Also most shelters are run by volunteers on there own time, these people in fairness do have their own lives/jobs/familes to cope with, and have no power to confiscate an animal from somebody, all they can do is offer advice and try and persuade the owner to sign the animal over, if there is abuse they can report it to the garda but they themselves can't do anything.
Fair play to you for reporting him though!! Unfortunatey the law here is in a shambles so theres probably no more they can do for the poor dog!!
Is there any way you could persuade the owner to let you bring the dog for the odd walk, im sure the dog would love to be out of that shed/yard??

DUBLINHITMAN

fairplay to you john for getting involved
i couldnt watch that going on either if i lived beside some one like that

Discodog

nite11owl wrote: »

I have 3 things to say on this post. 1st of all well done for speaking up if more people did then things might get better, 2nd dont blame the the people trying to help when the animal welfare laws in Ireland are next to useless and a joke and 3rd the ISPCA and the Waterford SPCA are two seperate organisations they are not the ISPCA so please don't comment that the ISPCA are a joke when you had not dealt with them but had dealt with a local group of volunteers

There is plenty of legislation but the SPCA's & Gardai won't use it. The legislation is here for all to see:

http://www.ispca.ie/Legal-Index.aspx

cucoigcrice

hello all-
i have first hand experience with dogs being mistreated. it honestly p*sses me off t tell you the truth. i wont completely trash the ISPCA however i feel that it is not run to its full potential. One thing i noiced is that is a newspaper or tv crew get involoved they will be running to a cruelty case. Another things is that i feel some of the staff really dont want to be there and believe me it is hard enough to get such a job.
Although i understand not all apples in the barrel are bad, this is just my view to my local centres

Discodog

I think that you have touched on a key issue. Rescues are run by passionate volunteers. Some SPCA positions are paid & other go to FAS workers who may not be so passionate.

Our local Inspector has gone onto part time working due to financial shortages. I can't imagine a Rescue doing that. My local SPCA have a number of voluntary staff & in their defence, one cannot always be selective, so the public may get through to someone who is a little less than efficient.

I called them today & a rather sweet but confused lady took about three attempts before understanding the situation. She was definitely doing her best & it is a great credit to her that she volunteers but she would of driven some callers nuts.

The law is supposed to deter crime yet as no one every gets punished for cruelty the deterrent isn't there. I would love to see a few well publicised "example" sentences but the SPCA's & Gardai seem to want to avoid prosecution at all costs.

The emphasis of the SPCA's is directed towards educating which is very laudable. But the idea that someone is ill treating their dog out of ignorance is not an excuse. I suspect that the judiciary would act if the SPCA's & Guards started implementing the law.

The majority of the public are unaware of the legislation that exists & inexplicably animal care is not part of the school curriculum. Teach kids how to properly care for animals & in 15 years the problem will of been greatly reduced.

WalkingDude

There is plenty of legislation but the SPCA's & Gardai won't use it.

The law is supposed to deter crime yet as no one every gets punished for cruelty the deterrent isn't there. I would love to see a few well publicised "example" sentences but the SPCA's & Gardai seem to want to avoid prosecution at all costs.

http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/Ca...ect.5772676.jp

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...241989066.html

http://www.carlowpeople.ie/news/man-...d-1676290.html

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer...story82471.asp

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...242799265.html

Just a small selection from this year.

See http://www.ispca.ie/news_category.aspx?cat_id=5 for more cases

John, just to clear something up, the ISPCA could not have confiscated the dog or banned the owner form keeping dogs as they don't have the authority to do either. Only a judge can impose a ban on foot of a prosecution.

Unfortunately, confining a dog in a shed would not be in contravention of current Irish animal welfare legislation unless there were severe hygiene / ventilation issues.

Discodog

I would draw people attention to the other thread here that contains the same newspaper references & I do not wish to repeat myself.

Maybe there are sufficient issues to at least put before a judge. I would suggest that the OP looks up the Court records if an original ban was applied. I would write directly to the original trial judge enclosing a simple sworn affidavit that the cruelty was continuing.

It would appear that WalkingDude may have some connection or affiliation with the ISPCA. If so please can you suggest to the ISPCA & local SPCA's that they openly post here. You will see that all the other rescues like PAWS & EGAR do this.

This forum is full of well meaning animal lovers & many want to help if they can. It is also used by some of the most highly informed animal welfare experts - many who run rescues. Instead of trying to repel criticism how about being open & inviting ideas to improve the SPCA's.

WalkingDude

It would appear that WalkingDude may have some connection or affiliation with the ISPCA.

None directly. I just don't appreciate unfair criticism and the dissemination of innacurate information or misinformation to others who may not know better than to accept what they read.

I would draw people attention to the other thread here that contains the same newspaper references & I do not wish to repeat myself.

Those references are consistent unlike some that are contradictory:

I would love to see a few well publicised "example" sentences but the SPCA's & Gardai seem to want to avoid prosecution at all costs.

Successful convictions for extreme cruelty are headline grabbers but we never get to hear of all those cases that are not prosecuted.