Fussy landlords should shoulder blame for Ireland's animal welfare problem
Living with pets can be a nuisance — take it from me.
Daily, there is enough hair to keep Donald Trump thatched for the rest of his life.
The carpet has more pee stains than a Superman suit without a trapdoor.
And not even an inferno of scented candles could ever truly neutralise the vague waft of a damp Jack Russell about the house.
Yet I wouldn't have it any other way.
So my heart breaks for the families across the country who have been forced to give up their best friend in order to keep a roof over their heads.
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Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th
Dublin's Dog Trust this week called for an end to blanket bans on dogs in rented homes after witnessing a 112 per cent increase in surrenders over the past five years due to the house crisis.
Almost 20,000 people — myself included — signed the charity's online petition calling on the government to clamp down on landlords banning pets in rental homes, leaving many pet owners with an impossible decision to make.
It should be far closer to 200,000 if the animal lovers bankrolling a booming pet industry involving everything from doggy day spas to cat cremation services put their computer mouse where their money is.
Ordinarily, it should be said, I have a minus-sympathy for anyone who offloads four-legged members of the family on rescue centres already creaking at the seams, from the rash of 'lockdown puppies' abandoned by bored work-from-homers after the world reopened to the faithful pitbulls forsaken by their 'fur mams' or 'dads' after a change in the law earlier this year placed a ban on XL Bully breeds without a certificate of exemption.
In this case, however, I'm laying the blame firmly at the rented door of inflexible landlords, many of whom probably already have human tenants who are less hygienic than a cockapoo who's just spent all day licking their crusty toe beans, among other bits.
As someone who, for now at least, doesn't have to panic about finding a new place to live, it'd be very easy to glibly say that I'd die before giving my two up, although given that one of them is 126 in human years (or 18 in canine ones) and the other 91 (13), it may be a moot point anyway.
Animal welfare has long since been upside-down in this country — why are we punishing those who adore their animals, while letting others, like the Carlow woman last week handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to eight charges of animal cruelty, away with what often feels like a slap on the wrist?
At least we're starting to see custodial sentences in these stomach-churning cases, with a Meath couple elsewhere on Friday jailed for two months each, as well as being given a lifetime ban on keeping animals, after one of their dogs starved to death in their back yard, and a second was rescued from the same fate.
If the Department of Health, meanwhile, is as serious as it claims to be about tackling Ireland's epidemic of loneliness, the Dogs Trust's admirable campaign presents lots of 'paws' for thought.
Constant fight against fur aside, nothing makes you feel more loved than the sight of a waggly tail or two when you walk in the door.
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39 minutes ago
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Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
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The Journal
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