TV vet Elise O’Byrne White said she was in shock after a kitten was deliberately set on fire by kids in Dublin.
The veterinary expert, who represents Ireland in rugby union, encountered the disturbing scene at the DSPCA.
The eight-month-old kitten, named Phoenix, suffered severe injuries after being set alight in a Dublin suburb.
Having lost an eye and suffered terrible burns, Phoenix now receives daily care from the team at the shelter.
Elise said: “It’s hard to imagine somebody would do that to a defenceless kitten.
“She had severe burn wounds to her face and did require a lot of medical care.”
Elise said unfortunately the team is still seeing these incidents occur.
She said: “It would be great if we didn’t need to exist, but we’re a long way away from that.
“Coming into work you see the absolute need for the DSPCA because of the amount of animals coming in that need help through strays or cruelties or neglect or just owner surrenders.
“We are so busy and more often than not we’re full.”
Phoenix’s case is revealed in the new series of The Shelter: Animal SOS on RTE this week.
And Elise said she is glad to see stricter sentencing introduced for animal cruelty.
She said: “I think we’re starting to see stricter sentencing and it’s great to see.
“We’ve had quite a few prosecutions over the last year that are showing a lot more severe sentencing.
“Before Christmas we had a prosecution that resulted in jail time for an owner and so I think it sends out a message that it’s not acceptable and that there’s actual consequences for neglect.
“People sometimes think cruelty is active cruelty, but neglect can be just as bad and so it’s seeing that.
“I think there’s a good bit that could be looked within legislation — and hopefully over the next few months there can be discussions around what could be improved with the legislation.
“I’d love to see elements of cruelty cases looked at a little bit more and maybe examined to see if we can basically see we’re protecting the animals involved.”
LIFE THREATENING EMEGRENCY
The Dublin vet told how a nine month old puppy, Poppy, nearly lost her life after being hit by a car.
A DSPCA Inspector rushed the pup, who had all the signs of brain trauma, to the ER.
Elise said: “She came into us completely unconscious, basically in a coma due to a traumatic brain injury.
“It was one of those moments where I felt there was no hope for her.
“She wasn’t showing any signs of consciousness, none of her medical telltale signs.
‘SHOT IN THE DARK’
“But we gave her a bit of time and then very slowly she started to show very minimal signs like her pupils started to dilate again and very small things.
“So she was a real shot in the dark and in fairness, it was credit, it was a massive team effort here.
“I think it’s important to remember that we’re not a state-of-the-art hospital here, we’re just a veterinary clinic and she needed overnight care.
“We don’t have an ICU unit or anything like that so it’s using everything we had to try and keep her going.”
Overcrowding remains a “big issue” among shelters across the country.
SECOND CHANCE
With over 10,000 consultations a year and 4,000 surgeries a year in the DSPCA, the team strives to give animals a “second chance”.
Elise said: “We are a really, really busy clinic on site which is very unusual.
“There’s not many charities that have a veterinary clinic present at the site of the shelter.
“And our main job is to serve the shelter animals. So we get a wide variety of cases in like strays, neglect, cruelty cases.
“It’s unusual because we don’t have owners and a lot of vets work with owners and owners have a history and can tell you about the animal.
“Coming into work you see the absolute need for the DSPCA because of the amount of animals we do see come in that need help through strays or cruelties or neglect or even just owner surrenders as well. We are so busy and more often than not we’re full.”
Elise O’Byrne
“Whereas at the shelter, you have to figure out what’s gone on without any information.
“So it makes it more challenging but you know at the same time it’s a very rewarding job because they’re all you have you know.
“When they come in you’re the first step I suppose in making a decision to try to get them back to a place and rehabilitate them.”
SHOCKING ABUSE
Elise added: “Seeing what the capacity for cruelty is the shocking part.
“But then seeing the love and care and compassion that these animals are shown here, it balances it.
“It doesn’t validate it in any way but I think people would be shocked to see that.
“What can be done to animals and what that abuse can look like and how severe it can be.”
Animal SOS returns for a fifth season, going behind the scenes of Ireland’s oldest and largest animal welfare charity at the DSPCA.
- Watch The Shelter: Animal SOS on March 7 at 8:30pm on RTE One.
