The horrific discovery of a dog that had been callously drowned in Ballina has caused great outrage in the town.
On St Patrick’s Day morning, the North West SPCA, based in Ballina, was informed about the incident by a man who had pulled the dog out of the river.
The dog, which was a one year old Labrador/collie mix, had been tied to a cavity concrete block and thrown into the river and drowned.
The incident has caused revulsion in the town and wider community and has been publicised nationwide since its discovery.
The Animal Rights Action Network put foward a reward of €1,500 which was added to by another doner by €500 for anyone who comes forward with information that will lead to the prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the crime.
North West SPCA posted graphic images of the dog on its Facebook page this week and stated: “We make no apology for these horrendously graphic photos. We got a phone call today about a situation at the Quay in Ballina from a man who had the awful task of pulling this poor dog out of the river.”
The post added: “This was so difficult to witness, the suffering of the dog would have been unbearable. The cruelty involved in this is unspeakable. In this day and age it is unthinkable that anyone could carry out this cold blooded act. We are appealing to anyone that has any information please contact us or the gardaí.”
Ballina based Independent councillor Gerry Ginty, who is well known in the animal protection area through his work with North Mayo Horse Sanctuary, told the Mayo Advertiser this week: “I’d say one thing to the person who did that to the poor dog, I’d ask them to look at themselves in the mirror and to ask are they proud of themelves. If they have one bit of deceny in their body, they should go to the guards and tell them what they did.”
He added: “You have to wonder what goes through someone’s mind to go to the effort to go and do that to a poor dog.”
Cllr Ginty also told the Advertiser that there was also an incident in recent weeks involving a horse that led to a tragic outcome. “It’s the second thing like that in the past few weeks sadly, we had a case with a horse that was tied up and ended up either being driven into a ditch or running into a ditch and hanging itself and breaking its back. And then the council refused to move the body, we had to pay for it and this is a chartity that is trying to survive and rehome horses.”
Local Fine Gael TD Michelle Mulherin also condemed the incident, saying: “I want to condemn the brutality that was involved in killing that defenceless animal. It was an act of cowardice which has no place in our town. I really hope that anyone who knows anything about the dog or what happened comes forward to the gardai.”
She added: “I want to thank North West SPCA and the other voluntary animal welfare organisations in our area. They regularly rescue animals and encounter the mindset of a minority who think it's okay to have animals and neglect and abuse and dump them. This is not acceptable. Our society is diminished by it and we must all stand against it.”
