Puppies wing their way to new homes

HOMES have been found for a staggering 481 puppies thanks to the Dogs Trust Puppy Wing facility that was opened just over one year ago.

The canine welfare charity opened the puppy wing in direct response to surging levels of puppies and pregnant mums being cruelly abandoned across the city.

Up until recently, Ireland was known as the

‘puppy farming capital of Europe’, and it’s still a major problem with an estimated 90,000 puppies bred nationwide every year.

Mark Beazley, Executive Director at Dogs Trust Ireland, said the charity was delighted with the public’s response to the puppy wing.

“Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine very kindly opened this facility for us one year ago and our ambitious rehoming figure was to save 500 puppies each year,

? he said.

“To come so close to that figure and to have rescued and rehomed 481 pups in the last 12 months alone is a phenomenal result for the dedicated puppy rehoming team here at Dogs Trust.

“We knew we had to do something and could no longer sit back and watch these unwanted puppy figures rise nationally each year. We know there are fantastic homes across Ireland for these pups.

?

The Dogs Trust Puppy Wing is the first of its kind in Ireland and it provides a whole range of special services for mothers and their new pups, including full veterinary care, offering them the safest start in life.

An example of just how important the facility is became clear recently when fortunately the charity was in a position to care for over 40 of the most vulnerable pups, nursing mums and dogs rescued from a puppy farm seizure in County Carlow.

Many of those pups have now been rehomed into loving forever homes, a true sign of the success of the new wing.

Dogs Trust receives no Government funding and has been working in Ireland since 2005. Its mission is to bring an end to the destruction of stray and abandoned dogs. For more information visit www.dogstrust.ie.