Animal charity pleads with public to adopt some of its dogs and cats as it reaches capacity

The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) has said its shelter is full and cannot take in any more animals.

The society is appealing to the public to adopt or foster some of the animals it already has in its care to ease the burden on its services.

The DSCPA already has a waiting list of 850 animals, mostly cats and dogs, which are being “owner surrendered”. This is because their owners cannot or will not look after their pets anymore.

The animal charity has no place for them at its existing shelter in Rathfarnham and cannot take in new animals until it can get the ones it currently has new homes.

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DSPCA spokeswoman Gillian Bird said they currently have 60 dogs at the shelter looking for a home. There are also 50 dogs in foster homes.

They have 30 cats and kittens looking to rehomed and that is likely to rise in the coming weeks as “kitten season” begins usually from April when they are most likely to be born.

There are also a number of rabbits, gerbils and ferrets looking for a new home.

Ms Bird said there has been an increase in the number of sick, injured and cruelly treated animals coming into the shelter and the number of animals being reclaimed by their owners is going down.

“We are not finding the original owners for many of the original animals because they are not microchipped and that is having a knock-on effect of how full the shelter is,” she said.

Many shelters experienced a surge in admissions of abandoned pets after Covid-19 ended, but Ms Bird stressed that this is not the reason why they are full.

[ Aftermath of the Covid puppy boom: ‘A tsunami of unwanted dogs’ ]

Most of the animals coming to the shelter are above eight years old or under one year and so were not bought or sold during lockdown.

She appealed to owners not to seek to surrender their pets at present as they may be on a very long waiting list. “Is there a way we can help you with behavioural issues with your dog for instance?” she asked.

We have extended our kennels and we have more facilities. You can keep building and building, but it is not going to help your situation because the more animals you have, the more cost there is to the charity.”