Animal welfare officer hospitalised following 'senseless' van attack

GARDAÍ YESTERDAY described as “sickening” and “deplorable” an attack on an animal welfare officer who was dragged from his van and subsequently hospitalised for injuries sustained in the assault.

Yesterday, Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) warden Frank Coote vowed to carry on his job after being the victim of what he called a “senseless attack” during the course of his work.

The Ennis man was driven off the road last Thursday and dragged out of his van by a man in his late 30s and assaulted.

He suffered bad bruising as a result of being headbutted, stabbed with his own keys and punched on the Western Relief Road of the Ennis bypass at 3.40pm on December 23rd.

Mr Coote – who has a weekly animal welfare slot on Clare FM – said: “I didn’t know what was going on. I had no chance. A white van drove me off the road and a man got out, came back to my van, opened the door, hit me and took the keys out.”

He said that the man then pulled him out of the van and proceeded to assault him.

Mr Coote, who is attached to Clare County council, said: “I got a bad beating. I was in shock. You don’t expect that during the course of your job. I have been obstructed before maybe, but never anything like this.”

He said that the attacker complained over a dog being taken by him eight months ago.

Mr Coote said: “I explained that I didn’t take the dog and pleaded with him, but he continued to assault me.”

He added: “I am not going to allow one person stop me in my job. This is all I know, all I do.”

The warden said the attacker just walked away after the assault.

“I’m okay now, thank God. I was lucky. Nothing is broken. I have a black eye and bruising around the mouth.”

Mr Coote was back at work on Christmas morning, braving sub-zero temperatures to make sure that horses in distress were fed and watered.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that gardaí were investigating the attack, which was being treated “very seriously”. “Effectively, a public official was forced to stop his van by another vehicle and was beaten firstly and then pulled out onto the road and belted again. It is a terrible incident of an official doing his work in mid-afternoon,” he said.

Clare’s mayor Christy Curtin (Ind) said yesterday: “Every public official is entitled to the full protection of the law and to carry out their duties unhindered.”

Mr Coote said he is “overwhelmed by the level of public support” he has received.