***UPDATE - Please contact South Dublin County Council Enforcement & Licensing Section, Environment, Water & Climate Change Department, at cccounter@sdublincoco.ie or on their Twitter or Facebook feed and ask them the following:

Do they know what happened to the German Shepard that hung itself in Ashton pound desperately trying to escape - perhaps trying to get home? That could have been someones pet that got out....  We want to know who owned it. Do they know what happened to the dog at Ahstons poor not fit for purpose facilities..

Have they done an investigation on this?

This is time-sensitive and MUST be done within the next 21 days. Thank you for your cooperation. *****

 

Dublinlive.ie reported on the 31st of July the below:

"A Dublin pound is under investigation by gardai after a number of dogs were allegedly improperly administered a lethal drug by untrained staff members.

Two dogs, a Bichon Frise and an Akita, were allegedly given Dolethal, a controlled drug normally only used by trained vets, on Friday.

The Bichon Frise suffered a suspected overdose and was found dead the next day while it is alleged the Akita was left to suffer horribly for days until it was taken into the care of gardai."

Gript.ie published a similar report but with much more detail stating, "The dog that died had been administered a drug called Dolethal, a highly controlled substance normally only used by trained veterinarians. Dolethal is usually injected but in Ashtown it was given to dogs orally; mixed in with their food."

Gript.ie also claims they interviewed several vets in relation to this method, which advised the drug Dolethal must only be administered by a vet. Gript.ie has also produced images of dogs that where in incredible pain from animal cruelty and were left in the area of the pound where the public could not see. Apparently these dogs were left in dark dirty cages in pain until they were euthanized.

Many D15 councillors including Cllr John Walsh (LAB), Mary McCamely (LAB) Tania Doyle (Ind), Paul Donnelly (SF), Roderic O'Gorman (Greens) have been bringing up concerns to Fingal Co Council for years - but no changes have been implemented.

Tensions are high between animal activists and the pound!

To add to this information - Just 2 years ago a petition that got over 20K signatures and a protest was held, to shut down Ashtown pound for the inhumane conditions the dogs lived in, small cement cold kennels with uncleaned feces, which animal activists Chloe Hickey claimed promoted the dogs to be ill-tempered leading to their lives being cut short by euthanasia.

Fast-forward 2 years to today and there are now claims that untrained staff has been carrying out this euthanasia process themselves without veterinary assistance or making serious errors in judgment causing undue suffering to a dog. This is under investigation and are claims only at this stage - however, evidence has been produced via photographs of dead dogs in their kennels at Ashtown pound - apparently, these same dogs are the ones confiscated by Gardai such as the one in the main image above.

A quick Google and you will find Facebook posts, Tweets and articles from people pleading with Fingal and Dublin Co. Council to investigate.

A petition a few years ago claimed success into an independent investigation, however, the councillors that did this investigation outlined a number of issued that needed to be changed - It would appear Ashton Pound did NOT apply any changes.

In fact, the horror of what has gone on in the pound is now being reported in mainstream media.

Enough is enough - we want all councils involved to immediately re-tender the pound services. 

Regardless of the outcome of the Gardai investigation, we want the following to be implemented immediately into the pound 'must do' policies and structures.

1. A system where accountability for a dogs destruction must be clearly identified with a number of steps. It is not good enough for 1 untrained pound staff member to say a dog is dangerous which leads to its destruction. The normal process would be:

a. Staff notices dog is aggressive

b. Vet is called to check any physical conditions that could be causing aggression

c. Behaviourist is called to confirm if the dog is unchangeable and would be dangerous to a human if released.

2. A pound must have funds spent on the structure, such as painting, such as bedding, a facility to wash bedding and dry them. an area in the cement cells that covers the cold floor so they can sit without discomfort. 

3. All areas of the pound, including the 'death row' cells to be open to the public. Every dog shall get the opportunity to be seen and rehomed by the community.

4. Unannounced spot checks weekly by various bodies not affiliated with the council or the pound. Their reports must be made public and published on social media on all 3 Co. Council's social media platforms so it is easy for interested people to find and read how their taxes are being spent in relation to Dublin Dogs.

5. A system where every single dog is photographed and put up immediately on Facebook and a website with a date and reference number. The reference number should have attached information to when a vet checked the dog and information regarding this check. Any comments made by staff MUST be made public under the Freedom of Information Act.

We are respectfully requesting the above process to be implemented immediately into Ashton Pound and then to any new tender.