Madam, – My jaw dropped as I read Adam Brophy’s article entitled “Pups and Poo: ideal breeding ground for love” (Health Plus, September 7th).
Ireland’s dog overpopulation is out of control, with over 17,000 unwanted dogs put to sleep annually in Ireland’s pounds.
This shameful figure is fuelled in no small way by irresponsible owners allowing their unneutered dogs to roam free to have unwanted litters of unwanted pups.
The pups might be cute, Mr Brophy, but the fact is that the most common cause of death in young dogs in Ireland is euthanasia.
Most of these dogs are healthy, friendly, lovely dogs, but they committed the sin of being born as a result of an unplanned or unwanted mating, or ended up in a home that didn’t follow through into the adult dog’s life once his cute puppy stage was over.
I am a jaded rescuer of pedigree dogs.
I am sick to the back teeth of this irresponsible and reckless production of dogs for the sake of cuteness, in this case to tell an anthropomorphised tale of “love” in your newspaper.
Might I invite Mr Brophy to come to any of the pounds in Ireland on any day of the week, and anthropomorphise what he sees there: he’ll find it tough to make that scene sound cutesy.
Maybe then he’ll do the responsible thing, realise his dog is a pet dog and not a puppy-machine, and have her neutered. – Yours, etc,