A LOCAL councillor has described the recent closure of the Donegal ISPCA Animal Rehabilitation Centre as a “serious setback for animal welfare”.

The Letterkenny rehabilitation centre, which cared for thousands of animals over the past seven years, closed its doors in early September.

At Monday’s Plenary Meeting of Donegal County Council, Cllr Noel Jordan urged the council to intervene and engage with the ISPCA and the Department for Agriculture.

He highlighted the growing pressures now being experienced by smaller pet rescue centres across the county and warned that every foster home, kennel space, and volunteer resource in Donegal is now at breaking point.

Addressing Monday’s meeting, he said the closure of this centre has now resulted in a “crisis situation”.

He referred to a recent case in which 14 dogs from Donegal had to be transported to Longford for care.

“There was an incident on September 19 where gardaí seized 14 dogs after finding them in shocking conditions,” Cllr Jordan said.

“The volunteer groups were contacted to provide overnight shelter for these dogs, but they ended up staying in vets due to the bad condition they were in.

“Those dogs should have gone straight to a rehabilitation centre, a centre built for these cases.

“That was in Letterkenny and it was closed.

“Instead, these dogs were put into crates and transported to Longford.”

He said this is “totally unacceptable”.

“It is putting a huge strain on the smaller centres throughout the county,” Cllr Jordan said.

“Therefore, we should be engaging with the minister to get this centre reopened.

“Otherwise, we have an animal crisis on our hands here.”

Seconding the motion, Cllr Gerry McMonagle praised the valuable work carried out by the centre.

“I am sure any of us who live around Letterkenny have been at it over the years to get help and support,” he said.

“Vets aren’t at every street corner.

“This ISPCA facility provided the ordinary man and woman access to veterinary care for their animals on a 24 hour basis.

“We take Donegal now, what have we got left?”