Limerick man fined for multiple animal welfare offences

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A NEWCASTLE West man was fined €750 when he was convicted at the local court of four breaches of the Animal Health and Welfare Act.

Four dogs, removed by the ISPCA, were also forfeited and left where they had been rehomed. Before the court was Dermot Quilligan, of The Archways, Newcastle West who pleaded to the four charges of failing to secure the safety and welfare of four individual dogs.

An ISPCA inspector, an authorised officer under the Animal Welfare Act, went to Mr Quilligan’s home on June 25 last year and found seven dogs in a pen in his back yard.

The pen looked as if all the faeces and urine were pushed to one side, she said, and she described the condition of each of the four dogs she removed.

One, a Shitsu, had very sore eyes and skin, she said, and the ears were chronically infected. A King Charles spaniel had very sore eyes, an unhealthy coat and the teeth were very badly worn down.

This indicated the dog was trying to bite its way out of an environment over some time, the court heard. A Labrador pup was very underweight and had very sore feet.

A fourth dog had sore eyes, an ear infection and problems with its coat and nails. One of the dogs was pregnant and whelped soon after. The four dogs were removed, assessed by a vet and treated before being rehomed.

Pleading for her client, solicitor Kate Cussen said he had no similar previous convictions. The veterinary report said the dogs were bright and alert. She put the condition of the dogs down to lack of cleanliness and lack of veterinary care, but said her client was very fond of his dogs and had made attempts to clean the pen.

She pointed out that there was food and water in the pen. “He apologises for the condition but he had no intention they would suffer in anyway. My client accepts he was at fault,” she said.

But she pointed out that just four of the seven dogs were seized and removed. “There were no concerns about the other three,” she said. “The enclosure was too small and inappropriate for the number of dogs that were there.”

Her client now has just two dogs, she added.

Judge John King fined Mr Quilligan €250 on each of three charges but took the fourth into consideration.

He also ordered him to pay costs of €350.