rong>Thursday, 18 December 2008 - Mr Tony Killeen T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has announced the allocation of grants to three Clare-based animal welfare organisations.

Clare Animal Welfare Ltd in Clare SPCA in Newmarket-on-Fergus and Second Chance Animal Rescue Ltd. in Shannon have received EUR15k, EUR5k and EUR3k respectively to assist in their work during 2009.  The funding is part of an overall package of payments totalling EUR1,250,000 being made immediately to 110 animal welfare organisations throughout the country.

Minister Killeen said that the funding for animal welfare organisations was evidence of the Government’s commitment in the area of animal welfare and it gave him great satisfaction to be in a position to assist these organisations because of the nature of the services provided.

“I would like to pay tribute to Clare’s animal welfare organisations and their voluntary workers. These bodies do tremendous work in rescuing, rehabilitating and providing new homes to neglected and abused animals,” stated the Minister.

He added, “As the grants being announced do not cover the full costs of the increasing demands being placed upon organisations, these groups will require the ongoing generous financial support of the general public to enable them to fulfil their mission to promote animal welfare and relieve animal suffering in .”

Minister Killeen appealed to parents and others to think responsibly when considering giving a pet as a Christmas present.

“Taking ownership of a pet comes with a responsibility to the animal. Sadly the number of animals that are abandoned every year as soon as the Christmas novelty has worn off indicates that people are not giving due consideration to the commitment that is required in owning an animal. I urge people to heed the warnings and advice offered by the animal welfare organisations in this regard,” concluded Minister Killeen.

-ENDS-

Mark Dunphy
Dunphy Public Relations
dunphypr.com

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Media Releases, Agriculture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.