A 35-YEAR-OLD man has pleaded guilty to breaches of the Animal Health and Welfare Act after a dog and a cat were found in an “outrageous state of filth”. 

Trevor Mahon, from Tullyhorky in Donegal, appeared before Ballyshannon District Court on Friday. 

He pleaded guilty to breaching animal welfare legislation after gardaí discovered a boxer dog and a cat in a state of neglect in February 2019. 

Judge Kevin Kilrane ordered Mahon to pay €832 in costs to the ISPCA and to make a contribution of €300 to the charity. 

“Upon viewing the photographs of the living conditions inside the property, these animals were living in an outrageous state of filth and the ribs were protruding on the dog. This case no doubt has caused embarrassment to the defendant,” the judge said. 

With the help of the ISPCA, gardaí brought the animals to a local vet. The boxer dog, later named Rosco, weighed only 20.4kg. The eight-year-old cat, named Mindy, weighed 2kg. The cat was put to sleep, based on vetinerinary advice, some weeks later. 

ISPCA centre manager, Denise McCausland, said: “Rosco was dangerously underweight on arrival with his ribs and hip bones protruding but his gentle and sweet nature shone through almost immediately as he rewarded us with a waggy tail. We knew this lovely boy was going to thrive with care and attention.”

“Although Mindy didn’t appear as thin, she was in fact very underweight and relished good food and attention she received on arrival. It would be a long road to recovery and we were ready to get started,” she said. 

ISPCA inspected Kevin McGinley said that “sadly these rescue cases are not rare”.

“Many of the animals we have seized have been in our care for over a year, while we wait for cases to be heard in court. We are experiencing further delays in the judicial system due to Covid-19, which puts extra pressure on our resources,” he said.