“The council can’t keep them longer than five days, it’s part of the procedure,” the volunteer said. “It’s like this week in, week out.”

The nine dogs range in age from 16 weeks to eight years and have been described by a volunteer at Carrick Dog Shelter as “all very friendly”. All of the dogs are strays and were either brought to Monaghan Pound by a member of the public or by a dog warden.

A POUND IN Monaghan which has nine dogs, due to be put down on Thursday afternoon if they cannot be re-homed, is just one example of the dire situation with abandoned dogs across the country, a charity has said.

UPDATE: Carrick Dog Shelter has told us that all nine of these pooches have either been offered homes or rescue spaces and some have already been picked up.

These nine dogs have less than 48 hours to live if they can't be re-homed

A spokesperson for Dogs Trust told TheJournal.ie that this is a good example of what is happening in pounds all over the country and many dog welfare groups have said Christmas dumping of dogs has already started.

Kathrina Bentley, who is the charity’s head of marketing, said this is the reason Dogs Trust was established – to take in dogs from the pound who are effectively “on death row”.

Some 5,500 dogs are destroyed in Ireland each year – 15 dogs a day – which Bentley said is extremely high when compared to somewhere like Scotland where the number is just 500.

“It’s mostly careless owners and people still think of them as being disposable items,like a handbag,” she said. On just one day in early January, 22 people surrendered their dogs to the charity, which never destroys a healthy dog.

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Christmas

This year, Bentley said there was a shift in the trend with more people abandoning their dogs before Christmas than after. “Lots of people were getting rid of their one-year-old dog from the year before,” she explained.

The charity’s kennels have been overwhelmed in the last month and are now full to capacity.

“If we had the space, we’d certainly be helping them in Monaghan but we have a waiting list after Christmas from other pounds,” she said. “My heart bleeds when I see these things.”

Offers to take any – or all (we were tempted) – of these dogs can be made by calling 042 9664236/087 9634121 or by email to carrickdogshelter@hotmail.com. If a firm commitment is made to take them, they can be held until the weekend for collection.