seen pup being abused but couldnt do anything

fathead82

On Sunday,I was at the playground in the local park. There was a young boy,around 10 or 11 with special needs there on his own with a jack russell pup around 7 weeks old.
He came over & sat beside me & started smacking the pup on the head & nose,the pup kept snapping at him.He didnt have much communication so there was no point saying anything.I moved to another bench.he followed me & stood in front of me,held the pup out in front of him & started violently shaking it. He then put it on a swing & started pushing it until it flew off,put it back on again & pulled it off by its lead. Then he ran up the steps into a playhouse,dragging the pup up the steps & sat in the playhouse smacking it while it kept snapping at him.
I was there with a 3 year old & didnt want him to see this going on,or for him to get bitten if he tried to touch the pup so we left.
What would you do in that situation? Im a lad so couldnt approach him to say anything & it was early sunday morning so there was no other adults around.
Theres a big housing estate down the road so im guessing he came from there,there was no sign of any parents supervising him.

EireIceMan

I dont see why you couldnt say anything. Special needs or not, what he was doing was wrong.

ardle1

fathead82 wrote: »

On Sunday,I was at the playground in the local park. There was a young boy,around 10 or 11 with special needs there on his own with a jack russell pup around 7 weeks old.
He came over & sat beside me & started smacking the pup on the head & nose,the pup kept snapping at him.He didnt have much communication so there was no point saying anything.I moved to another bench.he followed me & stood in front of me,held the pup out in front of him & started violently shaking it. He then put it on a swing & started pushing it until it flew off,put it back on again & pulled it off by its lead. Then he ran up the steps into a playhouse,dragging the pup up the steps & sat in the playhouse smacking it while it kept snapping at him.
I was there with a 3 year old & didnt want him to see this going on,or for him to get bitten if he tried to touch the pup so we left.
What would you do in that situation? Im a lad so couldnt approach him to say anything & it was early sunday morning so there was no other adults around.
Theres a big housing estate down the road so im guessing he came from there,there was no sign of any parents supervising him.

Pity you had to see that, but you really should've phone the ISPCA.

fathead82

I just never talk to kids I dont know,especially when there no other adults around. He didnt understand anyway they young lad tried talking to him & he just kept saying "puppy puppy".

fathead82

ardle1 wrote: »

Pity you had to see that, but you really should've phone the ISPCA.

I tried reporting to a few spcas before but there are none near enough & nothing was ever done.

Qualitymark

I think you should have said something, gently.

Even more worryingly, a friend who was involved in animal rescue told me many years ago that she had realised after some time in this work that, invariably, when animals in a family are abused, so are others in the family. She got to know a couple of "animal-minded" gardaí, who would go and quietly investigate, and call in social services to help when this was warranted.

irisheddie85

surely a 10 year old with special needs who can barely communicate shouldn't have been walking around a play ground on his own. I think the puppy may not have been the only one suffering abuse/neglect in this situation

fathead82

irisheddie85 wrote: »

surely a 10 year old with special needs who can barely communicate shouldn't have been walking around a play ground on his own. I think the puppy may not have been the only one suffering abuse/neglect in this situation

I agree,I often see him hanging around,almost always on his own. He is a danger to himself,road users & other children.Seen him with a few other children around a year ago putting a line of rocks across the road. He tried to knock the 3 year old off the slide on Sunday. Obviously its not his fault because he knows no better.
As for saying anything to him about the puppy,with the way things are these days there is no way I would approach any child to give them a lecture.If it was a group of teenagers or an adult,I would have no problem saying anything.

Tranceypoo

Would you phone the ISPCC OP to report your concern about the child being on his own a lot etc? Plus I would phone the ISPCA as well

fathead82

I rang the nearest spca today,she said there is not much they can do when i dont know his name or have an address but she will keep an eye on the area(which I know isnt going to happen as its too far away),she also said to contact her again straight away if I see them in the playground.
Im not going to ring the ISPCC because I dont want to be responsible for potentially breaking up a family. I might say it to a local guard i know.

Tranceypoo

fathead82 wrote: »

I rang the nearest spca today,she said there is not much they can do when i dont know his name or have an address but she will keep an eye on the area(which I know isnt going to happen as its too far away),she also said to contact her again straight away if I see them in the playground.
Im not going to ring the ISPCC because I dont want to be responsible for potentially breaking up a family. I might say it to a local guard i know.

Phoning the ISPCC doesn't mean they're going to rush round and take the child away from its family, but they might already be on some sort of register, social services might already be aware etc etc, leaving the puppy situation aside for a moment (and that is worrying enough to be honest), this child could be a danger to himself or somebody/something else, speak to the guard that you know and ask him/her what he thinks you should do at the very least.

jimmer123

I would have taken the puppy off the child

FoxyVixen

I understand that this is the animal forum and you were right to be concerned about the puppy.

However, to me children come before animals and more so those whom are more vulnerable.

Phone the ISPCC.
Clearly that child has no supervision at such a young age, and more worringly with special needs as you say. Social services don't operate as in american tv dramas ripping a child from its family. In fact, the services here are so stretched and under pressure that this case could have gone off the radar.

Phone the ISPCC now!

carfiosaoorl

I would have been more concerned about the child being unsupervised and would have reported that. Maybe he wasn't meant to be out alone but had escaped. I have a child with autism this is my worst fear. I hope if she ever gets out without me noticing someone would do something to help her

rock chic

irisheddie85 wrote: »

surely a 10 year old with special needs who can barely communicate shouldn't have been walking around a play ground on his own. I think the puppy may not have been the only one suffering abuse/neglect in this situation

absolutely were was his parents or guardian as a mother of 2 special needs lads older than this boy id never allow this id be on to the social services as well as the ispca

fathead82

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

I would have been more concerned about the child being unsupervised and would have reported that. Maybe he wasn't meant to be out alone but had escaped. I have a child with autism this is my worst fear. I hope if she ever gets out without me noticing someone would do something to help her

He didnt escape,I often see him hanging around,sometimes with other children who im guessing are his siblings. If I thought he was in danger I would have done something.
I have reported it to a guard I know,he says knows the family & will keep an eye out for the young lad & if necessary,he will contact social services.

FoxyVixen

That's great you've told the Guard, it's a start in monitoring the situation.

Though ideally, I would still inform the ISPCC from the information you've provided. No ten year old with communication problems should be allowed admittance in a public playground with no adult supervision and you only assume the older children are siblings.

A call won't aggravate the situation. The Gardai are also a body stretched to their limits and with reduced numbers to keep an eye on every aspect of social conduct.

fathead82

FoxyVixen wrote: »

That's great you've told the Guard, it's a start in monitoring the situation.

Though ideally, I would still inform the ISPCC from the information you've provided. No ten year old with communication problems should be allowed admittance in a public playground with no adult supervision and you only assume the older children are siblings.

A call won't aggravate the situation. The Gardai are also a body stretched to their limits and with reduced numbers to keep an eye on every aspect of social conduct.

Yeah,Obviously the parents are irresponsible for letting him out on his own & even worse for giving him a puppy & letting him off to do his own thing. The guard i spoke to is a friend of mine & will make it his business to keep an eye out. I also reported the animal abuse.