Owning a dog is a wonderful and rewarding privilege however, with this privilege comes an extensive list of responsibilities.
It is with this in mind that Donegal County Council is embarking on a new awareness raising campaign to promote responsible dog ownership in Donegal.
“Caring for a dog requires a continuous commitment of keeping them healthy and happy and this is something that any prospective dog owner should consider carefully before getting a dog” stated Donegal County Council Vet, Charles Kealey.
“Dogs are left in to our shelter for a number of reasons, for example the owner may no longer to able to care for the dog due to illness or old age or sometimes the dog may grow too big for the owner to care for. We recently had 7 pups left into the Dog Shelter as the owner could not take care of them any longer”.
“We are happy to receive dogs in the Dog Shelter as this is the responsible thing to do for any dog owner who can no longer cope with their dog. However, a lot of this grief could be avoided if people carefully considered whether or not they are in a position to care for a dog before they take on the responsibility” states Charles.
Veterinary Ireland has introduced 10 commandments for caring for your pet and the Council is recommending that anyone thinking of becoming a dog owner should consider these 10 simple commandments very carefully.
These 10 commandments are the cornerstone of the Councils new social media awareness raising campaign and include the following: An Annual Health Assessment is essential for your pet; Feed the Right Food; Neuter early; Pet Health Insurance is a‘must have’; Prevent Fleas and Worms; Train Your Pet Well; Microchip Identification; Dental Care is Vital; Keep Slim, Fit ‘n Mobile; and Have fun.
This new campaign will see the Council sharing posts on Facebook and Twitter over the next number of weeks and Charles Kealey is asking people to like, share and retweet these posts.
“We have so many animal lovers all over the county and we understand that when someone takes on a new pet it is with the best of intentions.
“However, keeping a pet and especially a dog requires a lot of work and expense and we are asking people to be responsible and take into account the needs of the dog from its early years right through to old age and make sure that you can commit to being a responsible owner”.
“We are asking people to like, share and retweet our posts so that we can get the message across that owning a dog is indeed a privilege and with that privilege comes a lot of responsibilities”.
Donegal County Councils Dog Shelter has been working hard over the last number of years to increase the number of dogs rehomed from it’s shelter and members of the public are welcome to call into the Dog Shelter, which is located at Glencar Scotch in Letterkenny, from 10.30am to 1.30pm Monday to Saturday or call 074 91 25159.
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