Gardaí seized a three-week-old puppy in Dublin 8 under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, earlier this week, which it is claimed was being traded for drugs.
Gardaí confirmed to Agriland that they seized the puppy at around 5:40p.m on Monday, March 4 and that the dog was then transferred to the care of My Lovely Horse Rescue animal welfare services.
Staff at My Lovely Horse Rescue have said that gardaí told them that the puppy was involved in a drug trade.
The lurcher received the name ‘Annabel’, as workers felt she deserved a “lovely name”.
One of the co-founders of the rescue told Agriland that they are disgusted, but not surprised, by how the animal was treated, and how “people could just use her for bartering like an object”.
They also said that Annabel is doing well and that she had a “good night last night” (Tuesday, 5 March), and that she is becoming “more lively”.
My Lovely Horse Rescue said that it is “onwards and upwards” for Annabel. An Garda Síochána has stated that investigations remain ongoing in this case.
Man charged in Northern Ireland
Meanwhile, a court in Northern Ireland has convicted and fined a man who was found to be transporting puppies which were unfit for travel.
Eugene Daly of Derryfubble Road in Dungannon was convicted at Laganside Court yesterday (Tuesday, March 5) of one charge of transporting a dog which was not fit for the journey.
The court heard that the official was of the opinion that some of the puppies were not eight-weeks-old.
The 41-year-old transporter pleaded guilty and was fined £400 plus £15 offender levy.
The case arose as part of DAERA’s ‘Paws for Thought’ campaign, which includes enhanced checks on the export of all puppies at ports in Northern Ireland.
The campaign, which launched in 2020, aims to combat puppy smuggling to Great Britain.