The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has been urged to intervene in a dispute over an animal charity in Co. Donegal.

Members of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) employed in the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) are calling for the minister's intervention in the proposed closure of the ISPCA's rehabilitation centre in Ballyare, Co. Donegal.

SIPTU claims that the "threatened" closure of ISPCA services, and associated forced redundancies, has been "deliberately orchestrated" to deny the workers effected their statutory employment protections.

SIPTU organiser, Peter O'Brien claimed: "The ISPCA has entered into talks with our members regarding redundancies but has consistently refused to provide the financial information needed to properly assess the situation."

O'Brien said that there is concern that these services, and the animals, will be moved to other parts of the country "without the necessary planning".

He said: “This is the behaviour of a rogue employer which is completely wrong, particularly when it is considered that it is largely funded by the Department of Agriculture and through charitable donations.

"The minister cannot allow an organisation in receipt of public funds to behave in this manner, which is a blatant attempt to deny those workers their basic rights and protections," O'Brien added.

SIPTU is calling on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to ensure the ISPCA "shows accountability" and proper engagement with staff representatives.

In response to SIPTU's claims, Agriland contacted the ISPCA for comment.

According to the ISPCA, there is a small number of dogs and cats, a couple of rabbits, and a couple of ponies in the care of the charity at the Co. Donegal centre.

It said that these animals will be transferred to the care of the National Animal Centre in Co. Longford, which is the main ISPCA animal rescue centre.

Following a merger of the ISPCA and the Boards of the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) at the end of the month (September 2025) to form a new single national animal welfare organisation, provisionally titled National SPCA Ireland, the national animal centre will be run by this new organisation.

The organisation said: "The ISPCA has faced a number of serious financial challenges over recent years due to the need to meet an overwhelming crisis in animal cruelty cases and the pressure on our facilities.

"Naturally, our operations needed to be tailored to meet with ongoing income and earlier this year we carried out a full review of all costs. The results of this review illustrated, unfortunately, that it was not financially viable to maintain the facility in Co. Donegal," it added.

The ISCPA said that it has put in place planned redundancies at the Donegal facility and it will observe all rules and entitlements to staff at this difficult time.