'We never could have predicted how bad things would be': Cork DAWG unable to take any more surrenders until further notice

CORK Dog Action Welfare Group (DAWG) have announced that they are unable to take any more surrenders at this time due to capacity issues. 

The animal welfare group took to social media to make the announcement, saying they "never could have predicted how bad things would be". 

"We won't be advertising or taking in any surrenders until further notice. It's impossible to home dogs properly when they don't come into our care. 

"There are very few surrenders without issue and they need to be assessed properly. 

"We have one or two to advertise and then unfortunately we have to put a stop to it until we have space to take dogs in. 

"We never could have predicted how bad things would be and the only beings suffering are the poor dogs being moved from pillar to post. 

"It's our responsibility now to do right by the dogs we are committed to and once we have space we can take more dogs in," the charity said. 

The announcement comes as last month the charity had warned it was "swamped with dogs", due to an "unsustainable" level of owner surrenders that has continued to snowball since the pandemic.

Speaking to The Echo at the time, volunteer at Cork Dog Action Welfare Group (DAWG), Máire O’Sullivan said that the charity is being inundated with surrenders and requests to take in dogs, at a far faster pace than they are able to rehome them.

“It genuinely is just an unsustainable situation. There are too many dogs coming in, and not enough dogs going out, basically,” she said.