“Whoever did this and had this dog is cruel and doesn’t care.”
A dog and her seven puppies have been rescued after the animals were abandoned and left for dead last week.
An urgent callout was received by an animal charity in Cork after a landowner spotted the dogs on their property, left out in the heavy rain on Thursday night.
Newly-named Zelda was left chained to a gate and separated from her litter of three-week old pups who were dumped a short distance away from her.
The mother of the litter tugged so hard on her chain trying to reach her pups that she nearly strangled herself, accidentally wrapping the constraint around the metal bars she was tied to.
In a social media post, West Cork Animal Welfare Group (WCAWG) said: “Last night the rescue got a call from someone who came home to find this poor dog chained to the gate and seven little wet and cold puppies with her.
“She had jumped through the gate and could have hung herself as couldn’t even get to them. They were collected by the rescue and immediately fed and given warmth and a cosy bed.
“The mother is skin and bone, she isn’t chipped and we have no idea who did this. If we do find out it will be passed to the relevant authorities.
“Whoever did this and had this dog is cruel and doesn’t care, they got a dog, didn’t do the basics or neuter, let her have puppies and then dump her in the wet and cold.”
Dog rescued after being tied up and abandoned with seven puppies
The shelter provided a number of updates on the wellbeing of the dogs since their rescue, with initial photos of Zelda showing her deteriorated state and matted coat.
However, over the last week, the dog has been clearly improving, with her pups also doing well despite their traumatic experience.
A spokesperson for the charity told Cork Beo: “The next step now is to get all of their healthcare done, keep up their food and start with worming and vaccinations.
“It’ll be a bit longer before we can start that with Zelda, as she’s just too thin, she’ll have to put on some more weight first.”
The charity will then prepare to find loving forever homes for Zelda and her pups, although they’ll have to wait until they’re fully recovered before they can be put up for adoption.
While the pups are expected to be made available in the next few weeks, Zelda is expected to take a little longer as her poor condition means more treatment is needed.
WCAWG are accepting donations to the shelter here.
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