As a volunteer for the Rainbow Rehoming Centre, I have seen some terrible cases of neglect and animal cruelty over the years, but this case questioned my faith in the human race.
On Friday night, the 6th February, I got a call from a friend who had heard about a golden retriever dog wandering through the streets of Shantallow in Derry. I met her 10 minutes later, just moments after she found the dog. I could immediately see that she was in a horrific condition.
She was clearly an elderly dog. Her coat was extremely matted, absolutely filthy and soiled with her own dirt. In places the mats were the size of oranges, weighing her already frail body down. Her hip bones protruded through her smelly scraggy coat, her ribs were easy to touch under the huge mats. Her eyes were foggy and we thought she may have been partially blind. She was very weak, confused and nervous of us at first, reluctant to be touched. We got her into the car and drove straight to the centre, where she was fed, devouring the bowl of food. We gave her a cosy bed under a heat lamp, she curled up and you could see she was relieved to have some comfort.
Early the next morning she was taken to a dog groomer, where she was shaved so we could see the full extent of her pathetic body. When the matted coat was removed it revealed a body far worse than we could have initially imagined. She was immediately taken to the vet. Every vertebra on her spine was clearly visible, she had tumours on her back end, mouth and side and lumps were clearly visible all down her side. She was well on the way to being blind and deaf. The vet thought she may have suffered a stroke; she had a weak heart, failing kidneys and crackly lungs. She weighed only 20 kilos, 30 being the average weight for her breed. This poor girl had clearly suffered for a prolonged period and was obviously neglected.
On the vet’s advice she was put to sleep at once, it would have cruel to keep her alive for any longer. This was the last kind thing we could to do for her. She died in pain, confused, starved and without dignity. We called her Tally.
I am writing this to appeal to people reading this to give animals a voice. You don’t have to be an animal lover to speak up, help or show compassion. Please don’t let Tally’s death have been in vain. If you see an animal suffering or being neglected, I urge you to get in touch with your local rescue centre or take it to a vet. Although Tally was wandering the streets in Shantallow, she had not been seen by local dog walkers in that area before; she may have got out or let out from a yard where she was being kept. If you have an information regarding her possible owner or if you have any other information regarding this situation, please get in touch with the PSNI Strand Road or contact us at rainbowrehoming@gmail.com Tel: +44 (0)28 71812882
IN THE PRESS: Belfast Telegraph Article 9th Feb 2010
nearly blind
Huge mats over her body
emaciated and in pain
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