THE ISPCA HAS suspended two staff members after 10 dogs at a Roscommon dog shelter were left without food and water for a number of days.
The dogs were left abandoned for at least the August bank holiday weekend and were found after members of the public contacted gardaí expressing concern for the animals’ welfare.
The shelter is run by the ISPCA and is part funded by Roscommon County Council with the animal welfare charity saying that they are treating the incident “extremely seriously”.
Gardaí and a council employee entered the shelter last Monday after they were alerted by a member of the public that it was left unattended.
The concerned person is understood to have initially noticed that the shelter was closed the week previously.
The ten dogs which are believed to include huskies, labradors and collies were then removed from the shelter and nine were taken to a veterinary clinic in Cloverhill.
All of the dogs are now understood to be healthy and are ready to be re-homed. Five are currently in the ISPCA dog shelter in Longford.
One of the dogs was deemed to be aggressive and was assessed by an animal behaviour specialist but is now suitable for re-homing.
The ISPCA’s chief executive Dr Andrew Kelly told TheJournal.ie that the dogs were not in a bad condition when they were were found but that it is “completely unacceptable” that they were left alone:
The dogs were actually in good condition but they were slightly dehydrated and they were hungry. There is absolutely no truth the story that’s being reported that one of them was found with a wire around its neck.
“They were however left without food and water which is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Kelly added that they are “investigating the sequence of events” that led to the dogs being left left unattended and expected to complete the investigation in the coming days.
All local authorities are required to provide services for the care of dogs and Roscommon County Council pays the ISPCA a yearly fee to run the shelter and to employ a dog warden.
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