Heartbreak at animal welfare charity as abandoned puppy ‘just not strong enough’ to survive

Colleen Tinnelly of the charity said the abandoned puppy was “just not strong enough” to survive.

“Unfortunately it’s very sad to say that one of them actually passed away last night (Thursday),” she said.

“Our veterinary team worked tirelessly around the clock yesterday at the USPCA and it was probably one of the most heartbreaking I’ve ever had in the job – watching our staff trying to keep one these puppies alive.

“The four others are doing well thankfully, but it’s very early days.

“They are very, very young and they have been brought away from their mother, but they’re doing well thankfully and we’re hoping that they will make a full recovery,” she told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme.

The litter is one of several instances of animal abandonment reported by the USPCA as they reopened on Wednesday following the Christmas break.

Ms Tinnelly said “This is the worst year I have seen. We are under severe pressure with restrictions and the number of volunteers and staff off with Covid at the minute

“So we are finding it really tough. We have had the busiest two days I’ve seen in a long time.”

Other animal shelters across Northern Ireland are reported to be operating at full capacity.

Lyn Friel of the Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary near Antrim said: “I think a lot of the problems began when we went into lockdown, as so many people were isolated away from family and friends.

“A lot of well-intended people bought their parents, their relations, puppies or kittens.

“So a lot of our calls are people who can no longer look after these animals. Most of them are cats and dogs, but there are quite a few horses and ponies involved as well. And that is because people are finding it financially very difficult to look after them.

“People who had a couple of our ponies for more than a year had to return them. They lost their jobs and they lost their home so they are moving out of Northern Ireland.

“So a lot of this is Covid related. A lot of people got dogs and then went back to work, so the dogs are in the house and they don’t know what’s happening. So they can wreck the house due to separation anxiety.

“What we have been offering, which as been very successful, is set up a lot of fosterers, especially for cats but we are in the process of doing it for the dogs as well.”

Ms Friel said more education is needed as the same mistakes are being made over and over again, particularly situations were people ring to say their dog is biting the children and now, since it now lives outdoors, it’s constant barking is annoying the neighbours.

“So we work a lot with education, to help people work with their dogs, with their training to help them... to keep the dogs in the home rather than move them out.”

READ: Christmas pups found trembling at the roadside

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