A REVENUE detector dog was presented with a prestigious DSPCA Silver Medal last week for her role in the seizure of 18 distressed puppies at Dublin Port on January 11.
The pups were discovered by setter spaniel ‘Meg’ in the boot of a car stopped at the port for a routine search. The undocumented puppies were in poor condition after being transported to Ireland in the car boot with little ventilation.
Meg has been trained to search for drugs and cash but this time her handler noticed that she had detected other dogs. On inspection the designer puppies, including Shih Tzus and Pomeranians, were found.
Dog detective Meg was rewarded for her work at Dublin Castle on Tuesday, January 26, when she was presented with the DSPCA Silver Medal. It’s the first time in 175 years of the DSPCA that the honour has been given to an animal.
Meanwhile, the DSPCA say the online purchase of pets is still ongoing in 2016 and buyers are often finding they’re not getting what they pay for.
Last month a two-month-old kitten was bought online by an unsuspecting buyer who met the seller in a dark car park. The buyer handed over €80 but when they got the kitten home they discovered it wasn’t the one they wanted but a similar looking one with bad diarrhoea and a chronic skin condition that caused her to scratch so much she ripped into her own skin.
The DSPCA also received a call recently from an owner who purchased a puppy online before Christmas. The owner was invited to the home of a middle aged couple who showed them the mother and puppies.
However, after bringing the puppy home the new owner discovered the pup was microchipped to a registered dog-breeding establishment.
“With thousands of pets looking for homes in rescue centres, people wanting to get a new pet should go to their local animal shelter to rehome a rescue animal and not buy any animal online,” said DSPCA Head of Education, Gillian Bird.