Donations to dog group ‘down 35% since charity scandals’

Donations to the Irish Dogs for the Disabled charity, which runs almost entirely on a voluntary basis, are down by 35 per cent since the funding scandal at the suicide charity Console.

Jennifer Dowler, chief executive of the Cork-based charity, said donations had dropped by about €64,000 so far this year due to, what she believes, is a negative perception of charities by the public.

The charity receives no government funding and costs about €300,000 a year to run, mainly raised by members of the public through events such as coffee mornings and mini-marathons.

Ms Dowler said the charity’s donations were down anyway this year, but had dropped by 35 per cent since the scandal at Console broke.

“It’s quite a competitive market and there has been a lot of negative press in relation to charities. Everything has a knock-on effect. We will just keep going and we are hoping it will turn around again.

“You can understand why people are concerned – I get that. But it’s our lifeline. People need to ask more questions and get to know charities.”

The charity trains dogs for three specific roles – as stability dogs, assistance, or task-based dogs for people using wheelchairs, and as therapy dogs for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. It has about 200 dogs at various stages of development and training.