PRESS RELEASE #1: THIS YEAR, SPAYWEEK IRELAND WILL TAKE PLACE BETWEEN SUNDAY 28TH MAY AND SAT 3RD JUNE 2006.

PRESS RELEASE #2: TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT PET LICENSING

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

They can’t add – but they can multiply

We might like to think of ourselves as a nation of pet lovers but the brutal truth is that in Ireland we destroy the vast majority of our unwanted cats and dogs.

The most recently available figures from the Department of the Environment speak for themselves. These show that 16,598 homeless dogs were destroyed in local authority dog pounds in 2004, equivalent to 45 per day. The statistics also reveal that 68% of all unwanted dogs are put down, a per capita destruction rate almost ten times that of our nearest neighbours in England and Wales.

While no official figures are available for felines, it estimated the number of stray and unwanted cats is even larger.

Spay Week Ireland 2006 aims to encourage more owners to neuter their pets with the twin message that this will both reduce the huge numbers of abandoned animals and significantly boost their pet’s health.

Taking place from Sunday May 28th until Saturday June 3rd next, this year’s campaign was launched today (Thursday 25th May) by TV3 news anchor Claire Byrne and television vet Pete Wedderburn.

“It’s time to tackle this appalling toll,” Pete says. “Pet owners need to be responsible and stop contributing to the crisis of unwanted litters of puppies and kittens in this country.

Early spaying and neutering is also the healthy choice for pets. Research shows that early neutering dramatically reduces an animal’s chances of developing common cancers and other diseases. It keeps pets healthy, helps control the over-population of stray cats and prevents the needless destruction of perfectly healthy animals in pounds.”

Although there was an encouraging 60% increase in the number of re-homed dogs between 2002-2004, the overall number of abandoned animals remained virtually static over the same period at just under 25,000.

“More unwanted dogs are destroyed in Ireland every year than the human population of a medium sized town such as Killarney or Athlone,” says Claire Byrne. “Animal welfare groups around the country are doing tremendous work finding new homes for unwanted animals, but the continuing scale of the problem urgently underlines the need for action. Pets can’t add but they can multiply.”

DOGS TRUST

Spay Week Ireland 2006 has been boosted by the support of international dog-welfare charity Dogs Trust. Following a successful pilot scheme in Cork, Dogs Trust is launching a nationwide subsidised neutering campaign which offers dog owners on means-tested social welfare benefits the opportunity to have their pets spayed or neutered for a nominal fee of €14. For further information on participating vets and eligibility please call Dogs Trust Neutering Hotline 1890 946 336.

BEST FOR YOUR PET

The cost of spaying/neutering is quite small compared with the cost of vaccinating, feeding and finding homes for an unwanted litter. Owners should contact their local vet for details.

The myth persists that female animals should have one litter, but according to television vet Pete Wedderburn, they don’t need that for their health or happiness. A few months after giving birth, female dogs and cats leave their offspring to fend for themselves, leading to difficulties finding good homes for unwanted puppies and kittens.

PAWS FOR THOUGHT

A bitch spayed before her first season is 2,000 times less likely than an intact bitch to develop mammary or breast cancer.

Neutering male dogs helps prevent testicular cancer and prostate disease

In Ireland 72% of stray and unwanted dogs are destroyed, 10 times the rate of both England and Wales.

Males neutered early in life are less aggressive towards other dogs and are not distracted by females in heat.

MIAOW OR NEVER

Neutering doubles the life expectancy of tom cats from seven to 14 years.

Spayed cats are seven times less likely to get mammary cancer than non-spayed cats. Spaying also prevents womb infections which can be life threatening.

There are thousands of stray cats in every county of Ireland today.

Trap, Neuter and Release’ schemes are the most effective way of controlling stray cat problems. Having already proved successful in other countries such as the UK, USA, Italy, Greece and Germany, these schemes involve trapping the cats and taking them to the vets to be neutered. One ear tip is then clipped for identification purposes, and returned to the area that they have made their home.

For more information about Spay Week Ireland 2006, visit: http://www.spayweekireland.ie

Press release ends

PRESS RELEASE #2: TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT PET LICENSING

Cash incentives in the form of lower licence fees for spayed or neutered pets linked to compulsory microchipping hold the key to reducing the huge toll of unwanted cats and dogs destroyed in Ireland every year.

That’s the message from Spay Week Ireland 2006, the annual nationwide awareness campaign that aims to end the appalling toll by persuading more owners to spay or neuter their cats and dogs. Spay Week organiser and television vet Pete Wedderburn says the most effective way to tackle this crisis is to follow the example set by the Australian state of New South Wales, where the introduction of compulsory microchip implants linked to a licence fee incentive dramatically reduced the number of unwanted pets. “Their scheme works by charging a fee of 100 dollars for a lifetime licence for an intact bitch or dog, but just 35 dollars for a spayed or neutered animal,” he says. “Owners are required by law to provide their pets with microchip implants, making it possible to effectively enforce licensing legislation.” “There’s no reason that a similar scheme cannot be introduced here. But to make it work we need to get serious about updating and enforcing our existing licensing legislation, which is currently a bit of joke. It’s estimated that we have over 500,000 dogs in Ireland, yet according to the most recent figures, fewer than 200,000 of these are licensed. As far as cats are concerned, there isn’t even a licensing scheme. Inexpensive microchip implants are widely available, so the technology is there to do it.” According to the most recent available figures, Ireland’s unwanted dog population stood at 24,715 in 2004 of which 16,598 (68%) were destroyed. While no official figures are available for cats, it is thought the number of unwanted felines is even higher.

THE CASE FOR MICROCHIPPING

Compulsory microchipping enables immediate on-the-spot identification of any cat or dog and if linked to a “licence for life” would be a simple way of dramatically reducing Ireland’s massive stray pet problem. Earlier this year, the Irish Kennel Club set a positive example by requiring microchipping of all pups from 1st January 2006. With a human population of 6.6 million and a land area similar to Ireland, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) dealt with its stray cat and dog problem by introducing compulsory microchiping linked to a licence fee incentive scheme in 1998. Following this success, a similar scheme is to be introduced by its sister state Victoria in 2007. The scheme is run by local government in NSW, where owners are required to licence their cats and dogs by the time they are six months of age. Microchipping is done before licensing, which allows an incentive for neutering or spaying to be built into the system. Dog and cat licensing involves a one-off payment for the life of the pet and animals can only be licensed if they are microchipped.

• Dogs and cats can be licensed for life for $35 if they are neutered
• If not neutered, the fee for a lifetime licence is $100
• Registered breeders only need to pay $35 for a lifetime licence for an unneutered dog
• If the pet is neutered and the owner is on a pension, the lifetime fee is $15
• Close to 100% of stray dogs in NSW now have a traceable microchip number, leading to a massive reduction in the number of healthy dogs destroyed in dog pounds