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RESIDENTS OF THE Richmond Road area of Dublin fear that cats are being killed by food laced with poison.
To date, seven cats have died and a further six are missing and presumed dead.
Claire Healey, who lives on the road, told TheJournal.ie that seven cats so far have died from suspected poisoning.
“The law around this is ridiculous,” said Healey, who fears someone tried to take the colony into their own hands and “make animals die in what is the most atrocious manner”.
“The people in the area are absolutely devastated,” said Healey. “I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard.”
Autopsy
She said that an autopsy on one of the cats confirmed that they had ingested a specific poison, while it was suspected a further two cats she brought in had also eaten the poison.
They had signs that their kidneys had shut down, which was consistent with a certain type of poisoning, she said.
Healey said that she called the DSPCA, who visited the area, but that unless residents know where the poison source is, or suspect a person in the neighbourhood of poisoning the cats, at this point there is little they can do.
No poisoned food has been found to date, although the locals have been searching for it, said Healey.
She plans on sending letters to local homes to ask if people have information on the situation.
Feral cats
The cats live in a colony, and the occupants of four homes on the street have been caring for them, said Healey.
She said that since she moved to the area over a year ago, she has been getting the cats neutered and also helping adopt out kittens.
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Rip to both. I think the port road is in Kilkenny, though. Really sad day so far. Best wishes to both families.
Will young men ever realise that they are not invincible? There is no reset button on lfe .
@Patrick MC Dermott: And also will we ever provide a transport infrastructure that can keep octogenarians from needing to drive.
@Thesaltyurchin: I’m referring to the unacceptable number of young men being killed almost daily on good straight stretches of road, where they collide with a tree or overturn into a ditch. Cars don’t normally decide to flip over. Octogenarians are less likely to be killed in the same manner.
@Patrick MC Dermott: The article doesn’t mention the circumstance (which allows us to create our own story based on whatever information we imagine)… No doubt they make up nearly a quarter of the current statistics but if you do the maths based on the latest RSA data you’ll see that while 30 people are 16–25 some 90 people are outside this demographic. The age groups of 45+ account for 45 of deaths for example, but there’s less visual association for us to attach our ‘vision’ too.
Every Saturday night, lads in their teens or 20’s, I wonder why?
@GVR: Because they are noticed. They enjoy the aesthetic, we spend all day in cars it’s become a massive part of our culture, but it’s still learned through experience, even now there are people in my extended family who spend all day in a car and know nothing about it. Don’t know how to put air in the tyre, or even drive properly on the Motorway. We should be learning about it in school.
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