A Dublin-based animal charity says it urgently needs more people to foster dogs.
Dogs Trust Ireland says there is a huge volume of unwanted dogs in the country at the moment.
The charity says surrender requests are at an all-time high, and are calling urgently for more foster homes.
Dogs Trust recently took in a three-year-old malnourished Lurcher, Rainbow, who had given birth to 10 puppies in someone's garden on St Patrick's Day.
They say she was dehydrated and completely exhausted.
When Rainbow arrived to us with her puppies, she was emaciated & exhausted. Clearly, she’d been straying for a while.
We fear cases like this are rising as Irish rescues & pounds run out of space.
If you could help by fostering a dog, please see: https://t.co/jISxlflHpJ pic.twitter.com/N6JhR0nbiA— Dogs Trust Ireland (@DogsTrust_IE) May 8, 2023
Niamh Curran-Kelly, Veterinary and Welfare Manager at Dogs Trust Ireland explains says not all of Rainbow's puppies were able to survive.
"[Rainbow] was severely malnourished, dehydrated, and completely exhausted and was unable to produce enough milk for her puppies. Despite our best efforts and round-the-clock bottle feeding, only four of her puppies survived.
"Rainbow’s body simply hadn’t been able to produce healthy puppies due to starvation. It’s a miracle any survived so, we are very happy and relieved that Rainbow and her four pups are now thriving and almost ready for their forever homes.”
