What To Do When Animal is Being Neglected and Local Welfare Wont Do Anything?

WilliamPDunne

So, I have this issue in my area. I have contacted on several occasions about an animal that has been neglected for over a year or two, it has never been walked and is very thin which you notice a lot more as it is a large Belgian Shepard, a beautiful creature. Now, I don't live close to this woman, but a couple of people I know do and have told me the dog barks in the yard all day, with little room to move as the owner seems to have huge lofts in the back yard and it is full of rubbish and crap basically. I contacted the <snip> about this several times by email, asking them to please do something about it. They apparently sent the dog warden, but I know from neighbours that no dog warden came out. This is some of the stuff they replied with:

" I will reiterate .
We have sent out our inspectors and they have been unable to get access to the dog .
We are a wholly voluntary organisation , with no statutory powers and no obligation , legal or otherwise , to resolve cruelty cases or neighbour disputes. "

They then go on to say:

"If we ask to see an animal the request can be refused . We have no more rights than you do to oblige this woman to co-operate.
We do our best to resolve these issues but we do not succeed in all cases.

We have informed the dog warden of your concerns and he has obviously not found a case to answer."

Also:

" In our previous correspondence I suggested you contact him or the Guards directly.
It appears you have not done this but would like us to do so on your behalf with no concern for the safety of our volunteers.

It is regrettable that we cannot assist you further . I hope you have success with other SPCA's."

The last part infuriated me beyond belief. I had told them I could not contact the Guards as I think some of them know this woman, as she is well known in the town as it is a small town. I have to think of the safety of my children first. They are a registered welfare group!!! This dog is still suffering, and they will not do anything about it, and I feel like it is because someone there knows this woman personally as a friend or such, and this is a breach of their commitment as animal welfare group. You only have to walk into their facilities to see how the dogs are kept, it is a disgrace of a place.

I don't know what more to do, other than write a letter to the Guards or something, I really want this animal taken off her, he barks because he is going mad from being locked in and never walked. This <snip> think it is a neighbourly dispute, but it's nothing to do with the woman, it is to do with how the dog is being treated which is unacceptable. Myself included are all worried for the dog.

Can anyone tell me the best course of action to take on this? Should I contact other SPCA's??? This is really depressing me and making me sick with worry.

njs030

Well they aren't refusing to do anything, as they said they don't have the power to do anything.

Contact the ispca who do have power or the guards who also have power.

Edit- not walking a dog isn't cruelty legally. There's only a small amount of reasons a dog can be removed from it's owner and even if it is then the case has to go to court and the animal sits in a kennel for a year or two waiting. Poor thing.
If the warden had checked and sees no case to answer then I'm afraid there isn't one.

Ms Doubtfire1

Whats the location of the dog? Reason I'm asking is there are 2 organisations with the quoted initials

DBB

Please do not name individual rescues on thread, as per the forum charter.
Thanks,
DBB

Raminahobbin

You seem to be getting inordinately annoyed at a VOLUNTARY CHARITY ORGANISATION who have extremely limited powers to do what you're asking of them. You're getting frustrated & angry, and rightly so, but your frustration & anger is totally misdirected. The reality is that in this country there's very little they can currently do under the law as it currently stands, they have no powers & cannot remove an animal or barge their way onto a property without the owners consent.

You can hound the ISPCA for help as they're the only organisation with the power to help in a legal sense (open to correction on that...obviously guards do too). The ISPCA were given the following powers/rights in the recent updated legislation. You need to understand that this is specific to the ISPCA and not to all SPCA's, even though the names have the same letters.

When investigating any animal cruelty complaint, an ISPCA inspector's priority is look after the animal's welfare.

Once the animal is 'safe', the Inspectors decide if an offence has been committed. If so, ISPCA inspectors, as authorised officers, can initiate a prosecution under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

Under the Act, ISPCA Inspectors can enter any property (apart from private dwellings) without the owner's consent, if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence is being committed under the Animal Health and Welfare Act

The Act also gives an ISPCA Inspector the power to:

Use reasonable force to enter a property (other than a private dwelling)
Use reasonable force to enter a vehicle to rescue an animal.
Issue Welfare Notices’ such as telling owners that they must get vet care or improve the way they feed and house their animals.
Failure to comply with the Notice is an offence and the Inspector can seize any animal referred to in the Notice.
Seize an animal or other property or evidence relating to an offence.
Request and authorise a veterinary surgeon to humanely euthanase an animal that is suffering so severely that this is the kindest thing to do.
By law, an animal owner must give such assistance or information to an authorised officer as may reasonably be required

The people you are notifying sound like they're getting tetchy back at you, which I think is understandable given that
a) they're just volunteers, with no real legal powers to help
b) You're essentially blaming them for an animal's suffering, something which they have no real control over & are probably frustrated at their lack of ability to help

Jimmy Bottlehead

Pop into your local Garda station, OP.

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tk123

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+1 and/or the dog warden.

OP You're involving a third party to cover your ass who have no authority and getting annoyed with them.... I'm assuming you've used a fake name for your email address and user name here - otherwise the guards may be on to you already and planning a kidnapping

ganmo

tk123 wrote: »

+1 and/or the dog warden.

OP You're involving a third party to cover your ass who have no authority and getting annoyed with them.... I'm assuming you've used a fake name for your email address and user name here - otherwise the guards may be on to you already and planning a kidnapping

Op be careful you're in danger of falling off your high horse, The welfare organisation may have called by without being spotted by the neighbours

Dog welfare = dog warden

Noise problem = county council

sillysmiles

WilliamPDunne wrote: »

I have to think of the safety of my children first.

So you expect volunteers to put themselves in potential danger over something they haven't witnessed because they don't have the power to inspect the animal.
But you are not willing to make a complaint to the gardai over something you have direct knowledge off.

I think there is something more to this.