“DURING THAT FIRST night, I hand-fed them milk by syringe nearly every hour.”
Just over two weeks ago, three newborn puppies were found abandoned in a plastic bag dangling over a river near Drumkeen in Co Donegal.
The collie puppies were no more than 10 days old when they were found by a member of the public, and it was uncertain whether they would survive.
Centre manager and veterinary nurse Denise McCausland has been caring for the pups – two boys and a girl – around the clock since they arrived at the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) Donegal Animal Rehabilitation Centre.
“The first 24 hours were critical. It was touch-and-go whether any of the puppies would make it,” she says.
They were placed under a heat lamp to keep them warm and a ticking clock helped calm them when they cried for their mum. It was just heartbreaking.
The puppies, who have been named Fern, Alex and Glen, were really hungry and severely dehydrated when they were found, says Denise, and how long they were left in the plastic bag for before being discovered is unknown.
“They were suffering from the shock and stress of suddenly being orphaned. Puppies this young and tiny are so vulnerable without their mum.”
Denise spent the following days at the rehabilitation centre closely monitoring and caring for the days-old pups, who should have been with their mother until they were at least eight weeks old.
Fifty four days is the average recovery time that a neglected, abandoned or cruelly treated animal spends in the ISPCA’s care, with specialist facilities for these cases available in the Animal Rehabilitation Centre.
“It is so important that they get enough fluids for both nourishment and hydration and also that they expel frequently and easily,” she says. “Too much or too little and the situation can change for the worse really really quickly.”
“Every one to two hours in those first few days, I would weigh each puppy, checking their gums for colour and that their little bellies were comfortably full and stretched. If their skin is too loose, their gums discoloured or their urine too dark, we need to intervene immediately. Glen, the tiniest of the three, needed to be fed with the syringe for almost five days before we could start using a bottle.”
I really didn’t rest more than 15 minutes at a time for those first few nights.
After two weeks in the care of the ISPCA, the three siblings are now “thriving”.
“They have almost doubled in weight over the last week and are starting to behave like puppies should,” says Denise. “It is really wonderful that they have all survived and are now able to comfort each other after being robbed from their mum at such a young age.”
Although Fern, Alex and Glen have pulled through, they will continue to need the care of the ISPCA for several more weeks. “When a puppy has suffered like this, they need a lot of critical care, attention and treatment to help them recover,” says Denise.
It breaks my heart to tell you these rescue cases aren’t one-offs. We’re continuously receiving and responding to calls about abandoned, neglected or cruelly treated animals on our ISPCA National Animal Helpline.
Due to COVID-19, many of the ISPCA’s fundraising activities have been cancelled or postponed, meaning donations are more important than ever. By donating, you can help the ISPCA find Ireland’s most vulnerable animals, like Fern, Alex and Glen, loving homes today. A donation will help the ISPCA get to them in time, with life-saving treatment and vital care.
If you can, please make a kind donation and help raise more #HappyTails!
The ISPCA issued an urgent appeal for information concerning the abandonment of these three puppies but no-one has yet come forward. Animal abandonment like this is a criminal offence. Anybody with information is asked to contact the National Animal Cruelty Helpline in confidence on 1890 515 515 or to make a report online here.
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