Dead dog left on road :(

Shazanne

I drove down the M7 from Portlaoise to Nenagh this day last week (Mon 10th Sept). Just before the border into Tipperary I saw a large dog that had been killed on the road The dog was lying against the dividing wall of the motorway. The poor animal was clearly beyond help and I was distraught. I couldn't help but wonder if it had been one of those awful cases I have read recently about unwanted dogs been thrown out into traffic on motorways. I cried the rest of the way to Nenagh.
This morning I made the very same journey - and I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the dog is still there!! It has obviously been struck by passing vehicles since, but no-one had moved its poor broken body off the road
He/she is too big for me to lift on my own and stopping on that stretch of road would be dangerous unless you had an authorised vehicle. But what should I do? I can't bear to think of this dog just being left there? No-one has checked for a tag or a microchip I would think as, if they had stopped, they would hardly leave the dog there. Who should I contact?

Turner

Call the local County Council.

They are responsible for removing dead animals off the road.

mikemac1

Shazanne wrote: »

I couldn't help but wonder if it had been one of those awful cases I have read recently about unwanted dogs been thrown out into traffic on motorways.

:eek:

I've never heard of this

For sure I've heard of dogs being dumped on rural roads.
We took in a few strays who wandered into our farm over the years
One even made a great working dog!

I've never ever heard of being thrown onto motorway


But yes, call the council

stop animal cruelty

Shazanne wrote: »

I drove down the M7 from Portlaoise to Nenagh this day last week (Mon 10th Sept). Just before the border into Tipperary I saw a large dog that had been killed on the road The dog was lying against the dividing wall of the motorway. The poor animal was clearly beyond help and I was distraught. I couldn't help but wonder if it had been one of those awful cases I have read recently about unwanted dogs been thrown out into traffic on motorways. I cried the rest of the way to Nenagh.
This morning I made the very same journey - and I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the dog is still there!! It has obviously been struck by passing vehicles since, but no-one had moved its poor broken body off the road
He/she is too big for me to lift on my own and stopping on that stretch of road would be dangerous unless you had an authorised vehicle. But what should I do? I can't bear to think of this dog just being left there? No-one has checked for a tag or a microchip I would think as, if they had stopped, they would hardly leave the dog there. Who should I contact?

thats awful, some people are sick the way they treat people.:(

Sigma Force

Dogs are thrown out of cars regularly enough sadly. Lot of dead cats on the roads in the past few weeks..so sad to see. People just let them roam no one seems to care especially the owners.

bbam

Shazanne wrote: »

I drove down the M7 from Portlaoise to Nenagh this day last week (Mon 10th Sept). Just before the border into Tipperary I saw a large dog that had been killed on the road The dog was lying against the dividing wall of the motorway. The poor animal was clearly beyond help and I was distraught. I couldn't help but wonder if it had been one of those awful cases I have read recently about unwanted dogs been thrown out into traffic on motorways. I cried the rest of the way to Nenagh.
This morning I made the very same journey - and I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the dog is still there!! It has obviously been struck by passing vehicles since, but no-one had moved its poor broken body off the road
He/she is too big for me to lift on my own and stopping on that stretch of road would be dangerous unless you had an authorised vehicle. But what should I do? I can't bear to think of this dog just being left there? No-one has checked for a tag or a microchip I would think as, if they had stopped, they would hardly leave the dog there. Who should I contact?

What's really sad is that you wrote that whole post in bold text. Seriously, regular font is just fine.

Only a lunatic would stop their car ad attempt to remove a dead dog from the centre of the motorway. Youd end up with a dead person too, even that wouldn't require bold text for a full post.

Call the council but never consider getting out on a motorway unless the traffic has been stopped by a professional.

XrayMike235

I passed this dog on Saturday afternoon, lying against the concrete median just to the right of the overtaking lane. I zipped by at 120 kph and only got a glance at it. It was really big and obviously dead. Think it could have been a great dane, massive anyways. Doubt anyone threw it from a car, that dog was too big for anyone to throw anywhere. Probably wandering around at night and got hit. Sad, but no sadder than all the badgers and foxes that can't cross the concrete barrier in the central median and get hit. NRA might be responsible for motorway maintenance, not LA?

DBB

bbam wrote: »

What's really sad is that you wrote that whole post in bold text. Seriously, regular font is just fine.

Mod note: bbam, there is absolutely no need to speak to the OP in that manner.
If you have a problem with a post, report it, rather than engaging in back-seat moderation which, as you'll know from reading the forum charter, is not allowed.
Please keep the tone more civil.
Do not reply to this post on-thread.
Thanks.
DBB.

Shazanne

Thanks DBB.
The reason that the post in in bold text is because I copied and pasted it, having prepared the post to circulate to a number of other people that I felt could advise me.
As it happens, a local Councillor has replied to me and is having the matter addressed.
Thank you to everyone for caring enough to reply - I was really upset over this. I hope to be able to drive that route again over this weekend if at all possible to see that this poor animal has been afforded the dignity of being removed from the roadside.:(:(

loveisdivine

Shazanne I know how you feel and its horrible. One morning we got up and in the square opposite ours there was a dead cat, lying right in the middle of the entrance to the square. We went shopping for a few hours and when we came back in the evening it was still there, I thought maybe if it was a pet the owner would have collected it.

I couldnt just leave it there, so after psyching ourselves up, the OH and I went over and picked him up and then buried him. Whilst we were collecting him, someone who lived right infront of it shouted at us "Its just a feral, covered in disease!" Of course I just rolled my eyes and carried on.

No animals deserves to be left in the road. Feral or pet.

Gingernuts31

It's so sad to see an animal meeting its demise on a rd. I was out running and I passed a spot near my house at 9.30, came back at 10.30 and there was a poor dead dog there . He was outside a farmers house so he brought him in and buried him. I've moved dead animals off the rd before cause its only right more so than leaving them there to get hit more and more. I've had to bury 4 cats cause i have 3 dogs . Ther're just not fast enough to get away in time.

Irish Stones

During my one of my holidays in your beautiful country I saw a dead cat on the road. The poor cat was killed by a car and was in a disgraceful condition. I stopped the car, there was a house right there and I rang there to see if it was their cat. The woman who opened the door shouted at me and she said that I had to go away and that only a crazy man could have worried about a cat killed on the road, that she had no cats, she never saw it around and that she didn't give a damn.
In another occasion I found a cat killed by a car, probably the one that was ahead of me. The people in the house next to the cat were the owner, but they showed no pity for the poor animal, the man was quite happy it happened and said to me that at last no cat would have digged around his flowers anymore.

dave1982

Well done to OP for dealing with this:)

carav10

I was driving to work one morning and in the other lane of traffic, there was what appeared to be a dead cat centre in the lane. Just as a lorry was driving over it and I passed by, the poor thing lifted it's head. I couldn't believe it was still alive! Rushhour traffic I was panicking thinking the poor thing couldn't be just left there waiting for a wheel to go over it! So I turned around, parked infront of the cat stopping traffic, put it in the car and brought it to a nearby vet. It looked like a feral and I don't know if it survived or not - I doubt it - but at least it would have been dealt with humanely. It must have been so frightened not being able to move and all these cars going over it avoiding the poor animal.

I do get annoyed at the drivers who knock down an animal and don't stop to check it.

Irish Stones

carav10 wrote: »

I do get annoyed at the drivers who knock down an animal and don't stop to check it.

The time I hit a cat I was devastated! The cat was still alive and still he is, but I felt so sorry and I rang the house where the cat lived, I picked him up (he was 6 months old) and the cat bit my hand so hard that I couldn't even speak. The owner was more worried about my hand than his cat. Anyway the cat was alright, not even the slightest injury, but I kept visiting the cat every day for two weeks to be sure he was still doing alright. Now the cat is 12 years old.

The only animal I killed so far while driving was a bird, a sparrow, that came out from a bush and hit the car. I stopped the car and checked its condition but it was dead...

Gingernuts31

It's a known fact now that Ireland has a very very poor record when it comes to animals. We don't really have protection laws. Some People just see an animal as a nuiscense most of the time and wouldn't dream of helping one in distress. Also peoples attitude towards pet care and safety is brutal in Ireland. Most of the animals we all see around have no collors, if they do there is seldom an identy tag on it. I'd say only a few are chipped when you look at how many animals are actually in this country. People need to wake up and realise it is not good practice to leave their dogs wandering the estates or streets, be it with a collar and tag or not. Although by law the animals is supposed to have a collar with identy tag to include owners phone no. Makes my blood boil when i see dogs n that wandering around with no collars. or the all time hate. Bringing the dog out for a walk on a lead then when it stops to have a sniff and maybe a widdle the owner pulls on the lead to move the dog on. Whats the point in bringing it for a walk if you won't let it go to the frigging toilet :mad::mad::mad:.

loveisdivine

carav10 wrote: »

I was driving to work one morning and in the other lane of traffic, there was what appeared to be a dead cat centre in the lane. Just as a lorry was driving over it and I passed by, the poor thing lifted it's head.

As I read that bit, for a minute my eyes teared up. I thought you meant the lorry ran over it, and you saw its head lift up just before it happened!
Thank god I carried on reading!

Irish Stones

Gingernuts31 wrote: »

It's a known fact now that Ireland has a very very poor record when it comes to animals. We don't really have protection laws. Some People just see an animal as a nuiscense most of the time and wouldn't dream of helping one in distress. Also peoples attitude towards pet care and safety is brutal in Ireland.

Sadly I noticed that during my trips. I've seen things that here couldn't even be thought, let alone done. I saw people having cats in their house and these poor animals were in distress or in need of urgent help and when I asked those people if they were thinking about taking the cat to the vet they answered me that they were just cats, no need to worry about. I don't know how things work in Ireland, but here if I see an animal in need of cure by a vet and its owner doesn't do anything, I can report the fact to the police and in a very short time they ring his door, take away the animal to the vet and the owner can be sent before a judge that can sentence him to a fine of up to 15,000 euro or up to 1 year in jail. There's a high awareness for animals wellness and rights over here. Probably people are less taken care of, but animals have great attention, especially in the northern regions.
Town councils are involved, by the law, in the protection and health for stray or feral cat colonies and for abandoned dogs. Part of the annual budget of a town or a city is to cover these expenses. Spaying and neutering of these animals is also at towns expenses.

I also noticed very few veterinary clinics in Ireland compared to how many clinics can be seen here. In a small town (15,000 people) there can be even 7 or 8 clinics. In Turin (Torino, the city next to my town) there are over 150 veterinary clinics for less than 900,000 people. A great number of these clinics are 24/7. Shops for pet food and accessories are all over. It's easier to find a pet food shop than a bakery. These facts, in my opinion, can be intended as a sign of a greater love for pets than in other places.

I really love your country, but when it comes to animals I can't tell that Ireland is a place for me. I hope these words don't offend you all.

jeanadamz

Really sad for the dog, so gross why people did not have the thinking to get the dog away from the street and dispose him properly.

meoklmrk91

Irish Stones wrote: »

Sadly I noticed that during my trips. I've seen things that here couldn't even be thought, let alone done. I saw people having cats in their house and these poor animals were in distress or in need of urgent help and when I asked those people if they were thinking about taking the cat to the vet they answered me that they were just cats, no need to worry about. I don't know how things work in Ireland, but here if I see an animal in need of cure by a vet and its owner doesn't do anything, I can report the fact to the police and in a very short time they ring his door, take away the animal to the vet and the owner can be sent before a judge that can sentence him to a fine of up to 15,000 euro or up to 1 year in jail. There's a high awareness for animals wellness and rights over here. Probably people are less taken care of, but animals have great attention, especially in the northern regions.
Town councils are involved, by the law, in the protection and health for stray or feral cat colonies and for abandoned dogs. Part of the annual budget of a town or a city is to cover these expenses. Spaying and neutering of these animals is also at towns expenses.

I also noticed very few veterinary clinics in Ireland compared to how many clinics can be seen here. In a small town (15,000 people) there can be even 7 or 8 clinics. In Turin (Torino, the city next to my town) there are over 150 veterinary clinics for less than 900,000 people. A great number of these clinics are 24/7. Shops for pet food and accessories are all over. It's easier to find a pet food shop than a bakery. These facts, in my opinion, can be intended as a sign of a greater love for pets than in other places.

I really love your country, but when it comes to animals I can't tell that Ireland is a place for me. I hope these words don't offend you all.

Im sorry that you had such a bad experience when it comes to animals in Ireland. What you have seen is all too common but there are many animal lovers in Ireland who are working to change that. Just take a look at some of the rescues and action groups that we have here that are striving against all the adversity that is being thrown at them in the last few years and are doing a spectacular job in the face of it all despite getting little to no government funding. For instance my local animal rescue which is amazing gets a government grant every year, but it doesn't even cover one month of their costs for the year. It is their supporters that keep it open and long may it continue. There are many of us working to change things here. We aren't all the same for instance as I type this my cat, who I found on the side of the road as a four week old kitten and brought to school with me for weeks so I could bottle feed her, is lying at my feet, if anyone knocked at my door to tell me something had happened to her I would be completely and utterly devastated, the same goes for my other cat and my dog. I'm sure that most posters in this forum would say the same.

Things are changing, albeit slowly but there is a large group of people completely dedicated to it be it by donating, volunteering or working in rescue.

Irish Stones

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Im sorry that you had such a bad experience when it comes to animals in Ireland. What you have seen is all too common but there are many animal lovers in Ireland who are working to change that.

I am absolutely positive and sure that not everybody is like I described, and I am sure that many Irish people love animals with all themselves.
The number of veterinary clinics is growing, slowly, but growing.
Personally I know people in Ireland that have rescued cats and dogs from awful situations, and I thank them from my heart. But the average attitude is still on the wrong side based on what I saw, and it's likely that I could have seen only the bad side of the story.
My heart smiles when I see a sign for a vet clinic in Ireland, because in the past years I almost saw none.
Glad to read that many volunteers and animal lovers are fighting hard to make things change. My biggest "thank you" is to everybody that does something for animals and in this case it's for you!

One of my cat was found in a yard with her eyes still closed because she was only 10 days old, I bottle fed her for three or four weeks. I love her more than myself and she loves me so much and trusts me blindly, she's 12 years old now. And I have two other cats, one female found stray on the road almost 11 years ago and a male cat who arrived in my yard one year ago already adult, probably 5 or 6 years of age.
I completely involved in animals wellness, it's my first interest.

Again, thank you so much for your effort and commitment!

carav10

Just heard a similar story last night about a very large dog crossing the motorway (different one to where the OP was...) & being killed by a car travelling at 120km/hour. And it's given me a different perspective on leaving a dead animal where it is.

The loose dog caused 3.5k in damage, car is almost certain to be written off. And lucky the people in it weren't killed. And you do not get back the cost of replacing a car when it's written off, only the value of the car itself, so it probably will end up costing the driver a lot of money to replace the car, not to mention the loss of an NCB, plus the real possibility that they could have been killed - and all because someone didn't have their dog contained. So I suppose on the other side of it, I can appreciate in one way, that a driver's main concern at that time will not have been 'the poor dog left at the side of the road', it would probably have been more of a ' that '%%%%% dog and its owners'.

Dog lover/owner and all, I know that would be my main reaction in such circumstances, so maybe we need to give some consideratation of the position that the dog's owners put those drivers into. In some circumstances, I'm sure drivers will do what they can to assist the animal, but in others, well I guess their first priority will be their passengers and not the animal, upsetting and all that it is.

Just food for thought having heard the very real serious side of it.

Shazanne

That's another matter entirely and, while I agree with what you are saying, that was not the reason for my original post.

Anyway, to give an update on the situation, a North Tipperary Councillor, Cllr. Seamie Morris, read about this situation on another site where I had also posted it and contacted me about it. He kindly undertook to contact the relevant people and have the matter sorted out.
I am extremely grateful to him for taking the time to follow this through and for caring enough to do so.

Sadly, this thread has brought forward a very sorry tale on animal welfare in this country and it has upset me great to read the comments by IrishStone above and to learn of his opinion of us when it comes to caring for animals.
I wish to assure him that most Irish people are, indeed, great animal lovers and it is just the few who have tarnished this.

Again, I thank everyone who took the time to comment on this thread and I hope its many a long day before I come across a situation like this again.

Irish Stones

Shazanne wrote: »

Sadly, this thread has brought forward a very sorry tale on animal welfare in this country and it has upset me great to read the comments by IrishStone above and to learn of his opinion of us when it comes to caring for animals.
I wish to assure him that most Irish people are, indeed, great animal lovers and it is just the few who have tarnished this.

I didn't want to offend anybody, it wasn't my intention.
What I wrote was my opinion based on what I saw and experienced during my 15 travels in your country.
I'm sure that what I saw can't be the unit of measure for judging a whole country. But I think that what I saw was enough to allow me to write that the situations of our two countries are different and that the some kind of things could never happen here.
As you can see from this photo, a goat has been chained with a big chain to a heavy steel wheel, The poor animal can't move, it's under the heavy rain and just off a busy road in co. Kerry between Castlemaine and Fossa. The goat was used as an attraction for visiting a pet farm of something of the kind. Photograph that I took in May 2006.
This is considered mistreating over here and couldn't be tolerated.

Timfy

Leaving aside the animal welfare argument for a while...

I worked for a while at the Automobile Association (AA) in the UK, specifically controlling call outs on motorways, dangerously positioned breakdowns and lone female calls. This was in the South East, monitoring some of the busiest roads in Europe.

Sadly, we would deal with several casualty's a day and the majority of these were people who had misguidedly stopped their vehicles on motorway carriageways... for dropped luggage, breakdowns and, yes, animal impacts.

It was a heartbreaking job to hear of people losing their lives after stopping for bird strikes, wild mammals, cats and dogs.

If you see anything on the motorway or on a dual carriageway, DO NOT STOP YOUR VEHICLE. Call the relevant highway authority when it is safe to do so, or if the object could be deemed as dangerous, call the Guards.

As an aside, should you break down on a motorway, get your vehicle as far off the road as possible and then you and your passengers should get as far away from the carriageway as is practical.

Sorry to post off topic... I realise that an injured animal will trigger very primal feelings within us, but please... safety first.

Shazanne

Your point is very valid Timfy and very well put and I agree 100% with what you have said.
What prompted me to post about this initially was the fact that this dog was left on the motorway for at least a week:( It's a large animal and I would have expected that the relevant authorities would have removed it.
The fact that it is at the wall alongside the "fast" lane would, in my opinion, be likely to cause someone to swerve instinctivly to avoid hitting it (again), and this could cause an accident in itself.
I am an animal lover and my heart broke to see this poor dog just lying there discarded on the roadside - but I also realise that it is a potential safety hazzard as well.
It baffles me to think that two local authorities had to contacted in order to try and get something done about this (and I am not sure if it has been done as yet) and yet the Gardai and Motorway Maintenance must have seen the dog on countless occasions and yet they did nothing. In fact, one of the local authorities has admitted that they were aware of the "large animal" on the road.
However, the matter is officially reported now and if anything were to happen I would hold the local authorities responsible.

Sapsorrow

carav10 wrote: »

I was driving to work one morning and in the other lane of traffic, there was what appeared to be a dead cat centre in the lane. Just as a lorry was driving over it and I passed by, the poor thing lifted it's head. I couldn't believe it was still alive! Rushhour traffic I was panicking thinking the poor thing couldn't be just left there waiting for a wheel to go over it! So I turned around, parked infront of the cat stopping traffic, put it in the car and brought it to a nearby vet. It looked like a feral and I don't know if it survived or not - I doubt it - but at least it would have been dealt with humanely. It must have been so frightened not being able to move and all these cars going over it avoiding the poor animal.

I do get annoyed at the drivers who knock down an animal and don't stop to check it.

Of my god, that is one of the most disturbing and sad stories I've ever heard I'm never going to be able to wipe that one from my memory. At least in it's last bit of time someone showed it some kindness and respect.

I rescued a little feral kitty in a similar fashion lately, I spotted a little ball of ginger fluff in the middle of a really fast main road in Cork, I screamed at my boyfriend to stop the car, jumped out before that car had even stopped moving and ran in front of the traffic flailing my arms like a mentalist just before it got hit, poor little thing didn't see me coming, just felt a big claw grab onto his spine from behind, so he latched onto my finger then in front of all the people gawking at me from their stopped cars as I desperately tried to wrench him off. Turns out he was completely blinded by scabs from cat flu and had gotten lost and wandered into the road some how. Now he lives on the side of a mountain in Kerry with my mum and is absolutely spoilt rotten, and happens to be the most beautifull cat I've ever known (see below) and has such a lovely temperment. At least some have a happy ending!

Blogger50

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Of my god, that is one of the most disturbing and sad stories I've ever heard I'm never going to be able to wipe that one from my memory. At least in it's last bit of time someone showed it some kindness and respect.

I rescued a little feral kitty in a similar fashion lately, I spotted a little ball of ginger fluff in the middle of a really fast main road in Cork, I screamed at my boyfriend to stop the car, jumped out before that car had even stopped moving and ran in front of the traffic flailing my arms like a mentalist just before it got hit, poor little thing didn't see me coming, just felt a big claw grab onto his spine from behind, so he latched onto my finger then in front of all the people gawking at me from their stopped cars as I desperately tried to wrench him off. Turns out he was completely blinded by scabs from cat flu and had gotten lost and wandered into the road some how. Now he lives on the side of a mountain in Kerry with my mum and is absolutely spoilt rotten, and happens to be the most beautifull cat I've ever known (see below) and has such a lovely temperment. At least some have a happy ending!

That was a lovely thing to do and he's a handsome fella!

Shazanne

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Of my god, that is one of the most disturbing and sad stories I've ever heard I'm never going to be able to wipe that one from my memory. At least in it's last bit of time someone showed it some kindness and respect.

I rescued a little feral kitty in a similar fashion lately, I spotted a little ball of ginger fluff in the middle of a really fast main road in Cork, I screamed at my boyfriend to stop the car, jumped out before that car had even stopped moving and ran in front of the traffic flailing my arms like a mentalist just before it got hit, poor little thing didn't see me coming, just felt a big claw grab onto his spine from behind, so he latched onto my finger then in front of all the people gawking at me from their stopped cars as I desperately tried to wrench him off. Turns out he was completely blinded by scabs from cat flu and had gotten lost and wandered into the road some how. Now he lives on the side of a mountain in Kerry with my mum and is absolutely spoilt rotten, and happens to be the most beautifull cat I've ever known (see below) and has such a lovely temperment. At least some have a happy ending!

Thank God for people like you! Well done - and Pumpkin is an absolute dote!! What a lucky little boy he is! :):):):):):)

Sapsorrow

Shazanne wrote: »

Thank God for people like you! Well done - and Pumpkin is an absolute dote!! What a lucky little boy he is! :):):):):):)

Thanks he is unbelievably lucky, my mum never stops telling me all about him on the phone whenever I ring, he's so loved. It really made me realise how many wonderful animals there are out there living as ferals, who if given half a chance would be the most loving and wonderful pets. I wish I could rescue all of them!

Sapsorrow

Blogger50 wrote: »

That was a lovely thing to do and he's a handsome fella!

Thanks, I don't think many people would have acted otherwise though to be honest. It was such a horifying scenario to come across. I didn't even think about what I was doing as I did it, my maternal instincts had definately taken over!