High volume of dogs placed for surrender in Leitrim

Leitrim Animal Welfare is "currently experiencing a high volume of dogs needing to be surrendered."

The dog shelter with a no kill policy said while it usually deals with a large number of surrenders, more and more people are giving up their pets due to the housing crisis on a frequent basis.

Leitrim Animal Warden Megan Gaffney said, "Dogs have been a huge part of Irish family life for thousands of years and this is still prevalent today. Yet Irish society is incompatible for integrating dogs and animals in to every day life. For instance, allowing dogs to enter shops, chemists, libraries etc is not permitted or accepted and now with the housing crisis, the majority of landlords will not accept pets in the home.

"This is a crucial element within the housing crisis that is harmful in more ways than one. Animal lovers are not getting equal access to housing over a family that has no pets. Evictions and moving homes in general is a difficult process to undertake and mental health plays a huge factor for both the animal and humans alike. Animal companions can be very therapeutic and help people overcome life's daily struggles, just by purely caring for another sentient being.

With the housing crisis, it is having a domino effect to an already under funded and heavily constrained sector of society, that being animal welfare.

"If Irish society as well as landlords could accept this already common way of life, by having animal companions. This would alleviate the pressure from animal welfare organisations and already struggling families. When dogs are surrendered to pounds/shelters, they usually spend the majority of their time sitting with deep depression. Unable to eat, exercise or relax properly. awaiting for their family to return and bring them home. Making the decision to surrender one’s pet is a very tough and heartbreaking position to be in as most families would consider their pets as family, the same way they would view their own child."

Leitrim Animal Welfare have come up with a way to help both families and their pets to stay together and more importantly, obtain good mental health. Our Animal Warden Megan has started writing personalised letters to landlords for those facing a tough decision to surrender their pets.

If you find yourself in this situation and are in need of a personalised letter, you can do so by emailing Megan at [email protected].