Dogs Trust says its had close to 2,000 people asking to surrender their dog already this year.
From January to October 2019, over 1,900 people across Ireland contacted them looking to relinquish their pet. The most common reason provided for someone wanting to give up their dog was that they didn’t have enough time anymore.
Ireland’s largest animal welfare charity, has today launched a campaign called “A Dog Is For Life” to remind people of their slogan “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas®”.
As part of the campaign, the organisation will be launching a new TV ad which features a puppet dog who brings to life the message behind its famous slogan.
To highlight the upsetting reality of dogs being abandoned or surrendered, Dogs Trust has released CCTV footage of Pudsey, a Jack Russell Terrier, being tied to a tree outside the gates of their Rehoming Centre in Finglas.
Speaking about the footage, Head of Operations at Dogs Trust, Karla Dunne said: "A staff member spotted a small dog tied to a tree, just outside the gates to our Rehoming Centre. The man could have brought him into our centre where there were staff there to attend to him immediately, but instead he chose to abandon him, frightened and confused beside a very busy main road until someone spotted him."
She went on to say; "When our Veterinary team examined the dog, they found he had severe dental disease, alopecia and red marks on his forelegs from licking at them which we think may be behaviorally linked as x-rays on the areas showed no abnormalities. Due to the dental disease, poor Pudsey had to have four teeth extracted but thankfully this won’t affect his ability to eat and the little fella is recovering well from his ordeal."