Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE IRISH SOCIETY for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has encouraged dog owners to get fit with their pooches as figures show that a quarter of family dogs are overweight.
The ISPCA is asking owners to train with their dogs and participate in the Flora Women’s Mini-Marathon to raise funds for the charity’s dog welfare programme.
Recent reports have shown that Irish adults are also overweight and vet Pete Wedderburn said “people and their pets are eating too much food and not doing enough exercise”.
“Just like people, dogs can suffer from ill health from being overweight and it can shorten their life span from illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease,” he said.
To help dog owners in their mission, the ISPCA has ten recommendations for trimming those bulging canine tummies:
The ISPCA today reports a sharp rise in calls to their animal cruelty helpline, resulting in the ISPCA responding to 32 per cent more animal cruelty cases in 2012 compared to the previous year. In February this year, the organisation was involved in the largest canine rescue in the history of the state with more than 140 dogs recovered from one single owner.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Bring your dog for a walk…. My next door neighbour has his large dog confined to the side of his house for the past 3 years, not once bringing him for a walk….. & he works in a pet centre. Not one to give advice on how to care for your pet is he.
That’s really sad. Are you able to offer to take the dog for a walk. That is a form of animal cruelty in my opinion
That is a form of cruelty and should be reported.
Can u report him that’s cruelty to animals .
How do you tell your dog it has a weight problem? You know how emotional they can get.
The ISPCA would want to look at their own record of running Irish pounds before they critise anyone else ! The pounds they run have done of the highest kill rates in Ireland ! Now that’s cruelty especially when they have rescues willing to take these dogs !
Pounds are generally ran by/affiliated with the county councils. They can have a high pts rate simply because they only have so much room and some dogs are brought in in appalling conditions. ISPCA centres are independent from that. In my opinion they do the best they can with limited resources.
Actually Louise you are incorrect . If you go to Dept of Envirnoment websites they list all the pounds in the country and some are run by the ISPCA . They pounds have in fact some of the highest kill rates in Ireland . I know this for a fact because I am currently doing a research paper on Irish pounds . I have spoken to some people and rescues alike during the course of this research and the level of co-operation they get from the ISPCA is slim or none .
On the other hand is the inspectorate of the ISPCA which does the best of work in dealing with animal issues in this country and have to deal with appalling cruelty on a day to say basis . They go beyond the call of duty in many cases. I have also been to their head quarters in Longford where they give the best if care to all the animals in their care and have first class facilities .
Why they treat animals in pounds differently I just don’t understand as no animal looks to be confined to a pound . Reputable rescues have tried on numerous occasions to get answers on pounds from the ISPCA only to be meet by a wall of silence or indifference !!!
Look at the facts for yourself , facts produced these pounds themselves !!!!!
Mary is correct in her assertion that the ISPCA run some of the country’s pounds, and she is also correct when she states that some of those pounds have the highest PTS rates in the country. I spent most of my Journalism MA making a radio documentary about it, and most recently has a feature on adopting pound dogs published in The Sunday Times. The pound system is flawed and it’s only thanks to rescue volunteers and wardens who want the best for the animals that so many get out.
At the root of the issue is the overproduction of dogs – that’s something neither the ISPCA nor rescue workers can control. but serious questions have to be asked as regards why some pounds are willing to let rescues in to take dogs out to try and re-home , and others aren’t. Every single dog isn’t suitable for rehoming, but the vast majority are.
The Inspectorate do fantastic work, but like many other, I am confused as to how you can differentiate between animals in ISPCA rescue centres and ISPCA run pounds.
10 tips for an overweight dog?! I’ve two and they go for people too. Eat less, exercise more.
Overweight/obese parents,kids and pets eat a sensible diet and do some exercise as that Russian meerkat says “it’s simples”
Was this article not mis-named? There was only one tip – exercise!
It’s all about proportion .. Mum keeps me on a diet of fresh food she buys in the pet shop.. We go jogging together have some low fat treats .. And apples, I love a slice of apple.. Sorry to the poor doggies that are not as lucky as me.. It’s too sad.. & makes mum v upset.. Anyway back to my chew toy.. Chow
There is absolutely no need in this country to euthanise healthy rehome able animals! That is taking the easy way out , not going to the trouble of dealing with reputable rescues to take dogs after their 5 days as strays is ‘up’ . Every pound in Ireland seems to have its own policy and seems to be answerable to no one !!!!
What do you suggest that we do with the dogs to make room for others that need I come in everyday? Should the others just be left to die in the street?
I think you may be thinking if the naive fair tale version. The truth is sometimes there is no where for these dogs to go so the only alternative is euthanasia. It’s a kinder end than starving in the streets because there are not enough people to foster and adopt.
Until people stop buying inbred pedigrees and start spaying/neutering their pets this problem will continue.
You can write all the papers and articles you want but until you work in a veterinary practice, pound or rescue you really won’t have any idea what the problem is really like and the realistic measures that sometimes need to be taken.
@ Amanda . First let me assure you that I have worked in a pound and with several rescues !
If pounds surrender their dogs ( after their 5 day stray policy ) to reputable rescues there would be room for more dogs . It costs these pounds money to euthanise healthy animals for veterinary fees and disposal of bodies , yet they choose to pay these costs rather than give animals to rescues willing to take them ! Where is the logic in that . In fact some pounds actually charge rescues for the privilege of taking these dogs off their hands .
I assure you I am not naive and I am writing from the point of experience . My opinion is that no dog should be left out of a pound without being neutered and microchipped . In the long term this would stop the wilful breeding of a lot of dogs . The government pay on average €8 per night multiplied by 5 nights to those who run the pound . If dogs were microchipped their owners could be located quicker and thus stray dogs could be reunited quicker thus saving the pound even more money .
In Germany each dog is neutered before it is homed or the adopter is given a voucher to neuter the animal if it too young ! The impact of this is that less pups are born and less dogs end up in pounds. It pays for itself . The government could also bring in low cost neutering vouchers to enable pet owners get their pets fixed ! Again this would eventually pay for itself
Sometimes you don’t take the easy options and murder innocent animals !
Like a lot of people you are guilty I attributing human emotions to animals. You actually think euthanasia is on the same level as murder?
Do you actually know how much it costs to spay the average sized bitch and then microchip her? It’s a lot more than he cost of euthanasia and disposal. Local governments do not have the money .
The dogs trust already offer vouchers but too many are taking and not enough giving so they run out of money early in the year.
If you are that concerned and actually want to change things start your own rescue/charity.
@ Amanda . You obviously did not read my comment at all ! Look up what euthanasia means ! In this case it means the killing of innocent animals . If you read my point you would see that there are savings to be made by pounds that could be used to microchip and neuter animals . Buying in bulk you can buy microchips for as little as €11 each , little more than it costs the taxpayer to keep one animal in a pound for one night ! Veterinary surgeons offer low cost neutering to rescues and by reducing the number of stray animals on the future this will cut down on the amount of animals entering the pound system ! Even when this country was awash with money during the ‘Celtic tiger’ money was not spent on our animals .! By neutering and microchipping you spend now to save in the future .
My original point was about the high kill rates in ISPCA pounds , a fact you failed to address so obviously you have your own agenda on this forum ! Other pounds in this country have a low kill rate relative to these pounds because they deal open and honestly with rescues and give animals a second chance !
And yes I think animals experience human emotions . Cut them and they bleed , hurt them and they will cry ! The day I stop fighting for the rights of animals in this country is the day I die ! Believe me animals are far nicer to deal with than some people !
As for getting involved in rescue myself I already am which is why I can speak with authority on the subject !!!!!
I never said animals don’t portray emotion. Do you not know what anthropomorphism is?
Who is going to pay for these “low cost” spays? Charities are to the pin of their collars already.
You seem to be incredibly angry. You need to calm down think about these issues rationally.
I don’t have any agenda, so I don’t know what your referring to. However I know that rating on forums doesn’t actually solve anything in the real world
Amanda . I am the least angry person in the world as I genuinely have a love of animals and love working with them . I would not trade any one of my rescue animals for all the gold in this world .
Once again you failed to address the central issue of my point which was the high kill rates of animals in ISPCA Run pounds ! You can choose to ignore it all you wish but facts are facts .
For myself I have trouble reconciling the two sides of the ISPCA the inspectorate which do such great work and the part if the ISPCA which euthanises animals at such a high rate .in our pounds ! It sickens me to see that animals are not given a second chance at life as they end up in the pounds through no fault if their own !
I am not ranting on this forum , I am pointing out simple facts . You can put any interpretation you like on my comments , people like you don’t bother me and you can hardly dispute facts produced by the pounds themselves !
In my opinion the easy option is for pounds to euthanise animals rather than deal with reputable rescues who are willing to take these poor animals on . At the risk of repeating myself this would save pounds money as they would not incur extra veterinary costs and disposal costs . But rather than see that you choose to see only what you want to see and ignore the wanton destruction of thousands of animals annually in this country . It’s past time that people stood up for the voiceless animals in this country !
I’m not disputing anything I’m just giving you the facts.
I’m not affiliated with the ispca so why would I comment on their pts percentages?
I’m not sure what you mean by people like me?
Why are you being so aggressive? It’s like you are trying to paint everyone who has a different view (fact based without clouding it with human emotion) as some sort of evil animal murderer! It’s ridiculous. I treat animals every day if the week so I’m well aware of the real issues.
@ Amanda . Silly me , I thought you were responding to the point I made like people normally do on these forums !
If you deal with these issues on a daily basis and don’t let your emotions get involved then I am glad you are not treating my pets !
I make no excuses to anyone for my passion about animal welfare issues or the lack there of in this country ! For the record I never mentioned the word ‘murderers’ ! Secondly I don’t force anyone to agree with my views but I have the right to them and your only answer is to attack me personally . And thirdly the day I lose the passion and human emotion , like compassion and caring for the animals in my care is the day I give it up !
Well you said people are “killing” innocent animals so what would call the people doing the “killing” then?
If you had any involvement in actually treating animal you would know that becoming too emotional will cloud judgment and more often than not will result treatment that is not in the animals best interest.
I have seen people who “love” their animals refuse to euthanise them even though they are suffering from painfully debilitating illnesses just because they cannot think past their own selfishness so I don’t need a lecture on “emotions”.
Unlike your “people like me” comment none of mine were personal.
I won’t be replying to your irrational comments anymore.
Have a good evening
Strangely they never mentioned that feeding them from the table should also be a big no-no. Not feeing them dinner leftovers is important also.
have your say