We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
TWO MEN ALLEGEDLY baited a wild duck from a lake and then fed it live to a pitbull terrier according to a report.
The incident is claimed to have happened at the lakeside in Emo Court Gardens in Co Laois, an OPW operated public park.
In a letter to local paper the Leinster Express a woman claims to have witnessed the attack.
“I would like to make you aware of a horrific incident I witnessed on Wednesday, July 29 in Emo Court Gardens,” the letter says.
A bull terrier, not muzzled, was walked by two men to the lake. The men proceeded to take out a fishing hook, attach some bread, and throw it into the lake where a large number of ducks were swimming.
A duck became caught on the hook and the men then pulled it into the bank. An elderly lady passing asked the men to return the duck to the water and the men laughed and cursed at her.
They then brought the duck and dog further down the bank and fed the duck to their pit bull terrier. Obviously I have huge concerns about incidents such as this for a number of reasons.
It seems in recent times dogs have been allowed access to the Emo Court facilities from where they had previously been prohibited, something the writer of the letter to the Leinster Express describes as ‘regretful’.
Local councillor Tom Mulhall described the incident as “totally uncalled for”.
“For things like this to happen, large dogs running wild, it just can’t be allowed,” he told TheJournal.ie.
If the OPW have to provide security there that would certainly be an option.
People all over Laois use this wonderful facility. A lot of families experienced this horrible incident, I totally condemn it.
A request has been made to the OPW for comment regarding the incident.
A spokesperson for the ISPCA said that the society is aware of the incident and urged anyone with information on it to contact them on their emergency line 1890 515 515, or alternatively to email their chief inspector Conor Dowling at helpline@ispca.ie.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Given our wonderful legal system I’d bet my hat there’ll be a small fine and a slap on the wrist for that…savages.
They should have cooked if first you think?
Why can’t the “guards” actually do something for once?? They’re a joke
@Mark: I suppose maybe if the lady had called the Gardai at the time rather than writing a letter to the local paper 2 weeks later, they might have been able to do something. For all we know they might be making contact with the witnesses or looking at CCTV, we don’t know. Maybe you know something that we don’t, I don’t know.
Seems that every article on the Journal has to have at least 1 poster who has nothing more to add than ‘blame the guards’! Even when there is no mention of Gardai in the piece, it’s still their fault.
It’s depressing reading of such cruelty everyday. Makes me wonder about humanity.
Nothing to wonder, we’re no better than the other ‘inferior’ animals.
these “men” should be fed to a pitbull
The cruelty humans are capable of never ceases to amaze.
Sad thing is that, statistically, people who are cruel to animals are likely to commit murder.
Really? What’s statistics are they? Could you show me a link to those statistics. I don’t agree with what happened but have some small bit of cop on.
Did you just Google that or did you actually read it? People who have committed serious abuse and murders are likely to have abused animals. I’ll accept that somewhat even if from a biased source like peta. However the comment said that people who abuse animals are likely to commit murders. Totally different argument.
Sure, it’s their culture boss
For things like this to happen, large dogs running wild, it just can’t be allowed,” – nothing to do with the dog, its the owners. Just blame the dog, easy way out for the councilor as dogs cant vote or talk back.
Brainless moron’s with nothing better to be doing with there lives, whether ’tis in there culture or not boss!
Really horrible action. I feel bad for witnesses too, not a nice thing to see, Animals are animals but cruelty is still cruelty. No different than dog fighting. Can’t blame the dog, it’s our job to teach them, and dogs are very proficient at learning. Most have a brain capacity of a two year old human.
Every day.
Just so shocking
Its not civilised. Its also illegal to kill duck or wildlife in certain areas. Don’t know if that applies here.
I remember a couple of years ago at a golf club I was a member of, members of a certain community came in with nets and stole the ducks out of the pond. That actually counted a property theft.
Yes Mary and in this instance, 2 very nice men decided to give nature a helping hand and feed a stupid live duck,just swimming away and wasting everyone’s time, to a pitbull… Sure the duck was probably only going to drown anyway or something.
It’s a shame I can only red thumb ya once pal….
Its not the action of the animals thats barbaric, its the actions of the humans..if you could call them that!!
What..they fed a hungry dog? Get real people. Nature intends animals to prey on other animals. The duck would have died just as quick as if it had been slaughtered for human consumption.
If you eat meat, poultry, fish then animals are being killed every day to satisfy your diet.
If they had played with or tortured the duck then that would be cruelty. If they caught it and fed it to the dog then thats just how it goes.
Yeah, that’s great in practice and all that guff but the reality is that ducks and other wild birds carry a multitude of parasites (it’s one of the reasons why ducks poop like mad!) that can be carried to other animals if consumed raw… The likelihood is that if the dog catches roundworm or fluke off the bird it’ll probably make the dog very sick and possibly kill it… So it’s cruelty to the poor dumb dog as well. Although I’d say it’s been bred for fighting so it’s days may be numbered anyway…Not to mention that if the dog’s infected it’ll be s@itting all over the place so anyone who comes in contact with the dog will catch it… And you guessed it, ascaris and other worms can also infect humans… Though these knuckle draggers probably won’t cop on straight away…. Farmed ducks get wormed regularly so that lessens the chances of your duck dinner being too manky…
Stupid comparison Mary Lou.
Thing is MaryLou the two humans gained pleasure from baiting the duck with a fishing hook then gained extra pleasure as they watched their dog rip it to shreds, a slow death, this form of pleasure is called zoosadism.
Liz,you do realise I was being sarcastic there don’t you?
Sarcasm would imply some level of wit surely…..?
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence. Oscar Wilde.
I had a comment that simply asked;
“You all know that animals kill animals everyday”
And it got deleted? That’s crazy.
Why is anyone even surprised by this. Most people involved in dog fighting rings use cats, pups, dogs given away “free to good home”, rabbits in fact anything live they can get their grubby hands on as live bait to “blood” their dogs they are training for fighting or protection. Sick really but that’s the reality!
Culture.
I’m a fan of eating duck but this is horrible. wouldn’t you love to batter these c@#ts.
You eat Duck?! you utter monstrous b**tard you should be locked up.
wit a crepe, hoi sin and some spring onion is tastey after a night of liquor haha
James…how do they kill the ducks you eat or do they just die of old age.
i don’t know you clown, but I doubt they’re hooked out of a lake and tore apart by a dog first. If I gave an educated guess, then probably shot with an air rifle? can you enlighten me how they kill them?
Well if you don’t know then why do you eat them? They could very well be lured out and beaten over the head.
Btw I didn’t abuse you or call you names, but if it makes you happy to be childish then work away.
the kind of people that should not own potentially dangerous dogs like pitbulls
a jack Russell is potentially dangerous.
Still though its a lot easier to kill or pull off a small dog compared to a large breed.
People with certain criminal convictions should be banned from owning restricted breeds.
Of course that would be pointless and futile until you have the police numbers to enforce it.
Lets nail this nonsense. Ciaran Brennan me old son, the eye witness report says the dog was a bull terrier but your headline says it was a pit bull, why is that?
Is it because you and the journals sub editor are just tabloid hacks?
Let the bull breed bashing begin. They’re all vicious, dangerous beasts. They should be muzzled. Stupid law. A dog that has bitten in the past is not obliged to wear a muzzle because it’s not on a list where as a staffordshire bull terrier is.
No one is bull breed bashing most dogs or even cats for that matter would love to get a hold of a duck its nature only a fool would think any different.
People are more outraged by the fact that someone would enjoy catching a duck with a hook and then let a dog tear it up .
It’s not the dogs it’s the type of people that generally own them, that is the problem.
I agree. That luring a duck like that is barbaric. The journal.ie has taken it as fact that it was an APBT that did this. How are they or the woman who reported it sure? There are so many dogs that people claim are pitbulls that are not. It could have been a lab boxer cross.
Really. what kind of people are they?
People with psychopathic tendencies Stiofain, that get a kick out of watching defenceless animals suffer. The breed of dog is immaterial, they would have done the same thing even if they had a toy poodle and not a staffie.
I don’t agree with what the people did. its disgusting. The issue with one of the comments was that the person claimed that people who are cruel to animals are statistically LIKELY to commit murder. that is clearly misrepresentation of the facts.
@Stiofain I think u may be missing the point. I don’t think any reasonable person is blaming the dog, it’s the 2 dirty scrotes that were in control of it that are at fault. In the same way any vehicle can be lethal depending on how it’s driven, any dog can be dangerous depending on how it is reared. I walk around the lake in Emo regularly with my 2 year old daughter. To be honest, I’d be far more concerned about her safety from any vicious dog than that of a ducks.
Stiofain, I think Smiley was referring to the McDonald triad, animal cruelty, fire starting and bed-wetting past age 5, once considered to be a prerequisite of sociopathic and/or homicidal behaviour in adults, however, what Dr McDonald stated was that people who had all three traits in their past were more likely to threaten murder, rather than commit it. Kori Ryan’s thesis on this subject is an enlightening read.
Its sadly not… its a known FACT that those who perpetrate violence and abuse towards animals are also involved in other criminal activity and usually one of those activies being violence and abuse towards other humans, usually their spouse and/or kids. Plenty of studies done on this. Thats why its so important for the relevant authorities to pick up on these things. Where you find an abused dog you will find someone else in the family being abused.
File photo of a Dog that is not a Pitbull I mean how hard is it to Google a photo of a snarling Pitbull the Journal must be a stop gap for journalists that don’t give a f#ck either that or they are all jobsbridge
This is an act of outrageous thuggery and cruelty. A very malicious and evil act that deserves some form of draconian punishment.. I hope the perpetrators are brought to justice, but I doubt it somehow.. I just hope the poor harmless duck did not suffer………
Savages!
Duck with no Orange sauce.
Barbarians
prime example of negative media towards the dog, it’s not it’s fault it’s owners are stupid… the first photo should be taken down
Once again the human race shows it’s intellectually superiority with a disgusting display of barbarism.
Giving Emos a bad rap.
the sad thing is only the dog will get punished.
There needs to be more legislation and severe prosecution for abuse and torture of animals, this awful incident aside, what happend the dog in Waterford recently was the worst story ive read in a long time.
What has a Black Labrador got to do with this ?
not the dogs fault, only the cruel humams
To hang, draw, and quarter these thugs would not be good enough
Badger baiting and fox baiting is rife in the Midlands. These people act with impunity.
This is the way civilisation is going and I think computer games especially the violent ones creates this mentality. I find that a lot of those tough people with this types of dogs are bullies, they use the dog to give something to them that they do not have and that is balls. They act tough because they are pathetic at heart… Did mummy not hug them enough, that is what they get for playing violent games by brainless gits…
The men need to be arrested and the dog put into a good rescue where he can recover from his abuse by this losers. Dont blame the dog… its the idiots who make them do these things.
Give me a T
have your say