New cat sanctuary to open in two weeks
THE public have been urged to continue the fight against animal cruelty in Limerick, by reporting cases to relevant authorities.
One of the first members of Limerick Animal Welfare (LAW), Liam Morrissey, told the Limerick Post that there are procedures in place to deal with animal cruelty,
and that the public must not give up on trying to prevent it.
“The procedure is to first call the gardaí, who may involve a vet, and, if needs be, the animal is removed.
“The Department of Agriculture can also get involved in farm related incidents.
“There is help out there and it would be detrimental for people to think that nothing can be done”.
Meanwhile, LAW chairperson Marion Fitzgibbon, said that the charity is “bananas with cats and kittens” of late.
“Cats are having kittens at this time of year, so its important that people feed the mothers, because they can’t move far from their babies.
“There are cases lately where people have to leave houses suddenly and cats are left behind.
“We don’t want to say outright don’t feed them, in case they hang around.
“It’s more important that they survive”.
She said that milk with warm water will suffice if appropriate food is not available.
“There are no cat protection laws like there are for dogs and few organisations taking them in.
“In the area, there’s just ourselves and Second Chance Animal Rescue in Shannon”.
She added that cats make a wonderful pet and can suit people living in restricted spaces.
The new LAW cat sanctuary is to open in two weeks.
Ms Fitzgibbon added that new legislation is badly needed to protect all animals.
“There was a breeding and puppy farming act created up to seven years ago, that we thought we be enacted with the Greens, but is still on a shelf somewhere.
“The existing act is outdated and goes back to 1911.
“There is no exotic animal legislation, so you can have a tiger or an elephant in your back garden if you want to”.
She said that with Fine Gael planning to reinstate stag hunting, as outlined in their manifesto for government, animal welfare legislation was “moving backwards”.
However, she emphasised that there is hope there and that Limerick people are very generous in contributing to animal welfare.
“It’s not all bad news.
“Any animal organisation can get power of procedure.
“It’s not good to be too pessimistic, and the people of Limerick are still very generous with donations, despite the hard times”.
