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AN ANIMAL CARCASS was left putrid by the Grand Canal for days, despite South Dublin City Council being made aware of it over the May bank holiday weekend.
The animal, thought to be a dog, was passed by families walking along a popular stretch of the canal in Lucan. The carcass had been placed in a barrel and dumped on the towpath on the opposite side of the canal to the Grange Castle Business Park.
The area has seen significant investment in recent years, with the Grand Canal Greenway now a popular walkway and cycleway. A new pedestrian bridge close to the business park links both sides of the canal.
South Dublin County Council were made aware of the rotting animal carcass as early as Sunday 3 May by telephone. However, the council replied by email on Tuesday that the Grand Canal was maintained by Waterways Ireland.
Waterways Ireland, in reply to emailed queries, stated that they would investigate the incident. The dead animal was almost skeletonised when viewed on Wednesday.
Lucan resident Kieron Lewis encountered the remains while cycling with his daughters last Sunday. “The remains were on the far side of the canal, but I could smell it from there,” he said.
“It was my 12-year-old daughter who spotted it first. She said ‘the smell is really bad here’,” Lewis told TheJournal.ie. “We have three dogs at home so [my daughters] were quite upset.”
After being contacted for comment, South Dublin County Council said that they would “arrange for the removal of the remains of the animal at this location”. A local resident reported that the remains were still there on Thursday afternoon.
Dublin City Council has reportedly seen a 25% increase in illegal dumping, as well as illegal burning, since the Covid-19 crisis began.
The Grand Canal is frequently being littered by plastic bottles, crisp wrappers and beer cans, with the canal surroundings being routinely cleaned to a good standard [in Lucan] and then littered again.
On-the-spot fines for littering under the Litter Pollution Act 1997 are €150. If the matter is brought before the District Count and the offender found guilty, the maximum fine can be up to €3,000.
Last May, the charity Voice published a 10-month investigation into how local authorities are managing Ireland’s public waste and litter. It found that on average only 8,300 fines for littering are issued each year in Ireland, and only 43% are paid.
The report recommended littering be made a criminal offense as it is in the UK and France, and spot penalties be increased. “People aren’t scared about littering because there is no enforcement,” said Mindy O’Brien at Voice. “The local authorities are under-resourced.”
Even when local authorities take offenders to court, judges may order them to pay penalties into charity boxes “It takes time and money and they don’t recoup those in pursuing those cases,” said O’Brien.
In February, a Conservative think tank recommended that the UK government raise the first time fine for littering to £500 (€571). It suggested following countries such as Singapore, which slaps $2,000 (€1,300) fines on first-time offenders
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They need to step it up, take this seriously …. slap a big hefty fine on the culprit !!!
Poor dog, frequently hear of animals including horses left for days, very upsetting to see
The frustrations around animal law and littering law is ridiculous in Ireland. Offaly county council have a dog warden who refuses to respond to any call about strays, fouling animals, all night barking etc. A job for life, with automatically generated promotions, literally doing not a thing to earn it. The Guards seem too scared to come to an estate to do anything about it either. Dogs and dog owners are apparently given a free pass by the offaly county council. Theres also a litter warden, same story. Fly tipping, neighbours careless about putting out their bins, dog dirt everywhere, not a thing ever done about it. As long as they are allowed to get away with wasting public resources, while keeping their own jobs cushy, they will. Councils and Gardai need to get their fingers out.
@Ed Dunne: Meath County Council have one of these too, a waste of space. Called him to discuss neighbours dog barking all night and he told me to try and sort it out myself!
@Jim Carolan: exactly the same Jim. Apparently it’s my job to apply to the court, serve notice personally to the offender, and go argue my case. An automated message could literally do the same job as this guy.
I am sure if you had a deceased animal your local vet could advise on disposal. They have facilities for animals they have to euthanize.
On the subject of animal welfare, I was shown a video of a group throwing a dog against a concrete wall and in to a pool in Dublin. If anyone knows who these evil beings are, REPORT THEM
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/thugs-throw-defenceless-pup-against-21975683
If you can actually stomach watching the videohttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8288519/Horrifying-moment-thugs-throw-puppy-against-brick-wall-dunking-paddling-pool.html
@Honeybee: the dog has been surrendered to the authorities, is being checked over by vets and is going out for fostering shortly. Think the My Lovely Horse Rescue have it up on their Facebook page.
@Maria: Delighted to hear this but I hope those who got so much enjoyment from abusing the poor animal are on the receiving end of justice, I cried for that little dog, how can people be so cruel?
Honest question – how do you dispose of a dead dog?
Bearing in mind burying isn’t an option for most, and cremation is hugely expensive and probably not allowed right now C19 time
@ConPhoto: Well, you dump it in a barrel and leave it by the canal.
@Thunder Snowman: You *don’t dump it
@ConPhoto: cremations are still going ahead, my dog died during the week, 70 euros through the vet.
@ConPhoto: bring the animal to the vet, who will ensure it’s cremated. €50-€70.
If you can’t afford that, don’t buy a pet.
Fly tipping and littering could be stopped overnight if the law was enforced
Scores of litter wardens patrolling, fines increased to €10,000 and a payment order put on offenders dole or wages
@Liam Ó hAodha: agree with that. I’d go as far as to say the same should apply to animal owners who fail to control the animal. Huge fine, named in the papers and a 10 year ban from owning an animal. Let the idiots explain why the kids can’t have a pet because of daddy’s failure to obey the law previously. It is about enforcement though. As long as we have a police force scared of their own shadow, and local government being criminally negligent with use of funds, nothing will ever change.
@dualtagh mc laughlin: sorry about your dog man.
@dualtagh mc laughlin: Sorry for the loss of your dog.
There is no point Fining Offenders unless there is a realistic chance of the Fine being paid. Simple Solutions – if Offender is present in Court: Tap & Pay at the end of proceedings or – link the Fine to a persons PPS number & either deduct the fine from their Pay or Social Welfare. No-one should be exempt from paying.
We buried our dog of 14 years with a concrete headstone in his honor.
No fear we will dig him up by mistake.
It’s a great place to go to reflect and have a chat to him like we did when we were kids .
We’ve buried ours. To be honest, if we put meat scraps in the bin, why not a dog carcass? It’ll get buried in the dump. I know it’s not a pleasant thought but neither is digging up your pet a few years later.
have your say