Published on
Coveney awards over €2m in funding to animal welfare organisations
Minister Coveney at the Irish Blue Cross to announce the funding
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney today announced funding of over €2 million for animal welfare organisations.
The funding was awarded to 140 organisations involved in safeguarding animal welfare throughout the country. The payments will be made with immediate effect.
Making the announcement at the Irish Blue Cross Clinic, Minister Coveney said:
Animal welfare organisations make a tremendous contribution to the welfare of animals, in particular, by educating the public on best practice, by making effective interventions where appropriate and providing facilities for at-risk animals. The increase in workload for animal welfare bodies due to new animal welfare legislation, including the new dog microchipping legislation, and the continuing albeit decreasing reporting of incidences of animal neglect to the Department’s animal welfare helpline clearly demonstrates a need to assist animal welfare organisations in their important work. I am pleased therefore to be in a position to increase funding to animal welfare organisations for the fifth consecutive year.
The Minister noted that some welfare organisations, such as the Irish Blue Cross had taken on an additional workload in recent years, particularly in dog welfare. In addition, staff in other organisations such as the ISPCA and the DSPCA had taken on roles as authorised officers under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, resulting in increased demands on their resources.
He made an appeal to the public to "exercise discretion when considering gifting animals as pets this Christmas time":
Owning pets involves extensive commitment and can be costly and there are clearly instances where such ‘gifts’, which may be well meaning, are often times abandoned by their new owners when the novelty wears off and it is left to the animal welfare charities to deal with the consequences of these abandonments which places unnecessary pressure on their resources’.
For more information read the press release here.