North Coast Dog Rescue charity facing "crisis"

Causeway Coast Dog Rescue says its waitng list is full and continues to grow daily

Tara Cunningham, who is currently working with the charity, has said since the covid pandemic things are becoming more concerning
Author: Chelsie KealeyPublished 20th Jul 2023

A North Coast dog rescue centre has warned it is facing a “crisis with nowhere to go’”

Causeway Coast Dog Rescue said every day the charity receives a “barrage of calls to take in surrendered dogs”

Members of the public who can no longer care for their pets and dog breeders are among those surrendering their animals to the charity.

Tara Cunningham, who is currently working with the organisations, said the situation has been particularly concerning since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said: “Unfortunately, we have large cases coming in all the time as well as day-to-day surrenders of dogs for several reasons.

“This is just getting worse, and we just feel we must speak out. Something must be done.

“We see the trends all the time so at one point we were inundated with Huskies, Spaniels, and Collies.

“Now it is the Cockapoos, the Springers, and the medium and cross breeds.

The charity says it has a lot of small dogs in its care at present

“It is because people have not understood that these dogs take an awful lot of work.

“We have got lots of little ones at the minute and unfortunately the trends we are seeing now is a lot of difficult behaviours with guarding for all the dogs.

“They have not been socialised and people just do not understand the amount of support and training that these dogs need.

“We are calling for an understanding that breeding is breeding.

“It does not matter if it is in your home or what people think is a puppy farm it is a case of the dogs still end up with the charity. “

Tara has also called for “kindness and patients” as volunteers are receiving abuse from member of the public if the charity is unable to take a dog the same day,

Tara added: “It is unacceptable.

“We will help, we will not turn anyone away, but you must be patient with us and kind in your calls.

“We started ringing around the other charities and they are all the same as us. They are more than at capacity and they have a very long waiting list which is getting longer each day.

“Unfortunately, so many of these volunteers are incredibly stressed. They are very worried and are very concerned.

The chairty says some pet owners are handing over their animals because of increased costs

“The difficulty is what do we do? We are just trying to work out way through it and that is why we are asking for people’s patients and kindness."

Future plans

The Causeway Coast Dog Rescue has been gifted land in Coleraine which the charity aims to build a facility on.

The long-term goal includes aspirations to build: kennels, somewhere that can educate children, training and a place that offers veterinary services.

Tara said the “great vision” aims to benefit Coleraine and the whole of the North Coast.

She said: “We have been building a network with other charities across the country, seeing what their experiences are and working across the water and in Dublin.”

How can you foster a dog?

Email: info@causewaycoastdogrescue.org or call: 07595602702.

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