Causeway Coast animal rescue charities call for support in face of escalating numbers and increasing vets costs

Causeway Coast Dog Rescue (CCDR) and North Coast Cat Rescue (NCCR) have warned that local rescue organisations are becoming overwhelmed by the number of dogs, puppies, cats and kittens requiring help, as increasing veterinary costs and serious welfare cases place unprecedented pressure on already limited charitable resources.

The warning comes against the backdrop of growing concern across the UK about pressure on animal rescue services, including recent reports highlighting the scale of large multi-animal cases and rescue centres struggling with capacity.

Both Causeway Coast charities say Northern Ireland is experiencing its own serious companion-animal welfare pressures, with small charities and their volunteers increasingly being left to manage the financial and practical consequences of abandonment, uncontrolled breeding, neglect and cases which have been allowed to escalate.

Causeway Coast Dog Rescue is currently experiencing a sustained increase in requests to take dogs and puppies into its care. With available spaces extremely limited, the charity is increasingly dependent upon foster carers to create emergency capacity while continuing to meet significant veterinary, kennelling, food and welfare costs.

CCDR is therefore urgently appealing for suitable foster carers, particularly people who can provide temporary homes for dogs and puppies while permanent homes are identified.

The charity is also concerned about an increase in the complexity of welfare cases being presented to rescue organisations, including dogs requiring significant veterinary treatment before they can safely be rehomed.

Tara Cunningham, Manager and Animal Welfare Lobbyist at Causeway Coast Dog Rescue, said: “We are reaching a point where the voluntary rescue sector simply cannot continue absorbing an ever-increasing animal welfare problem without addressing what is causing it.

“At Causeway Coast Dog Rescue we are receiving increasing numbers of requests to take unwanted dogs and puppies, while at the same time dealing with more complex welfare cases and substantial veterinary bills. When every available space is occupied, it effectively becomes one dog rehomed before another can come in.

“That is why foster carers have become so important. Every suitable foster home potentially creates another space for a dog that desperately needs our help.

“But rescue charities cannot be the answer to everything. We are at the end of the process. By the time an animal reaches us, the welfare problem has already happened and the financial responsibility for putting it right is very often transferred to a charity and its donors.

“We need to start intervening much earlier. That means responsible ownership and breeding, greater public reporting of welfare concerns, effective investigation and, where legislation has been breached, appropriate enforcement.”

The situation facing North Coast Cat Rescue is equally concerning.

Alison Hagan of North Coast Cat Rescue said: “We are completely overwhelmed. One case alone has resulted in us dealing with more than 75 cats and kittens and has already cost our small charity thousands of pounds, and the case is still ongoing, and will likely be for many months.

“Behind that number are individual animals; the feral cats require neutering and parasite treatment as a bare minimum, whilst the kittens we have been able to save so far have needed multiple veterinary visits, treatment, kitten food, parasite treatment, vaccinations, socialisation and, when eventually they are in suitable homes we will be covering their neutering costs in a few months time.

"That responsibility does not disappear simply because a rescue charity has run out of space or money, and unlike dogs there is no local council facility for stray or unowned cats.

“What is particularly frustrating is seeing situations escalate when earlier action could potentially have prevented dozens of cats and kittens being born into an already unsustainable situation.

“People also need to report concerns. If members of the community repeatedly see animals breeding uncontrolled, animals appearing sick or injured, or numbers increasing to a level which causes welfare concerns, please do not assume somebody else will deal with it. Report it to the appropriate authority.

“Small charities like ours cannot continually be expected to pick up the pieces once a situation has reached crisis point.”

CCDR and NCCR are calling for a more preventative approach to companion-animal welfare in Northern Ireland.

While charities will continue to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals wherever resources allow, they say charitable donations should not become a substitute for responsible ownership or effective statutory financial support and intervention.

The organisations are calling for:

* members of the public to report suspected animal neglect, cruelty and serious welfare concerns at the earliest opportunity to their local council;

* stronger awareness of where and how animal welfare concerns should be reported;

* timely investigation of reports and appropriate enforcement where offences are identified;

* earlier intervention where uncontrolled breeding or rapidly increasing animal numbers are creating potential welfare concerns;

* improved access to preventative measures, particularly neutering;

* stronger cooperation between councils, government, veterinary professionals, police and animal welfare charities;

* greater accountability and data collection to identify recurring animal welfare problems; and

* greater recognition of the financial burden currently being transferred to small independent rescue charities.

Both organisations are also appealing to the public for practical support. Causeway Coast Dog Rescue and North Coast Cat Rescue both say they urgently need support to meet the continuing costs associated with the dogs, pups, cats and kittens currently in their care.

For further information go to www.causewaycoastdogrescue.org or North Coast Cat Rescue Facebook page