Limerick Animal Welfare (LAW) has said this year has been one of the worst years they have experienced with regard to stray dogs roaming the streets. Marie Quirke, manager of the LAW sanctuary in Kilfinane, said they are ‘inundated’ with calls to take in animals.
“We get requests all day every day to take in animals. We just have to ask them can they hold onto the animal until we have space,” she said.
LAW can have 200 animals at the sanctuary in Kilfinane at any one time, give or take, and operate a no kill policy. Animals currently at the sanctuary include cats, dogs, horses, goats, chickens and a pig.
The sanctuary manager said at this time of year it is important to reiterate the annual message of not buying dogs as Christmas presents. “It is never too early to warn people of the danger of buying pups for Christmas, because they are being advertised already,” she added.
The law now states that owners must have their dogs microchipped and registered. Marie said if this is done by people, it greatly increases the number of dogs they can re-home each year.
The sanctuary in Kilfinane is open seven days a week from 12pm to 3pm. It is very busy on the weekend, with people coming to adopt pets. LAW has a number of staff and volunteers working at the sanctuary.
LAW insure that the number of animals in the sanctuary does not go too high, as this could create overcrowding in kennels and increase the spread of sickness between the animals. They have recently built a new building structure and are in the process of refurbishing the old kennels. Anyone who wishes to make a donation to this cause can do so on their website, Facebook page or by ringing the sanctuary.
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