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Card Of The Month
Click here to be taken to the Jacqui Lawson Ecard website. We feature her lovely eCards cards here for one reason alone: Many of her cards feature beautifully animated animals. Checkout her site, you truly cannot afford to miss it and why not sent that special person in your life these beautiful eCards? No, we do not get commission, we just love the cards.
The Animal Care Society (Cork), a registered charity, was formed in October 2000.
The aim of the Animal Care Society is stated in its name, to try and provide care to all
animals in Cork City and County that require it. We are almost entirely made up of volunteers who
give their time and effort to help animals.
Through our network of dedicated dog, cat and wildlife fosterers we have rehomed over 8000 animals since our foundation. We also operate a help line service dealing with animal welfare matters.
For 2010 our vets bills were almost €40,000, courtesy of our veterinary guided
non-euthanasia policy.
We need your support to continue our vital work.
Please support us by clicking on the donate online now button.
It will save a life.
We are pleased to announce the winner of the January 2012 Photo Competition. Elaine Walsh, with her photo “A Bucket of Suzie” wins a lovely sterling silver chain and horse pendant offered by one of our supporters (Thanks Jill!).
This month competition has already started and you could win two volume cat encyclopedia offered by Royal Canin (you can view it here).
Moreover, the winning photo will be displayed on our website, blog and Facebook page, as well as become the cover for the following issue of our booklet of creative writing, Furry Tales and Meowsings (note that we will ask you to sign a very simple form authorising us to do that), which you can buy from our online shop.
To enter the competition, it’s simple. You first need to buy a photo competition entry here.
Make sure that you write down the reference number that is given to you (it should also appear in the confirmation email).
The entry costs €3.50 and the money will exclusively be used for the welfare of animals.
Next, send your photo (it must be related to animals) along with your reference number and your details (name, address, email and phone number) to photos@animalcaresociety.ie.
You can send more than one photo, but make sure you have bought the necessary amount of entries as submissions without a valid reference number will be refused.
You can send your photos until the 25th of the month.
Photos will then be displayed in an album on Facebook, where people can vote for them by clicking “like”.
On the last day of the month, the five photos with the most votes will go to a judging panel, who will select the winning photo and announce it in the next few days.
Good luck to all participants!
Posted: February 2012
Mark your diaries!
Monday 27th of February 2012, 12pm, Carrigaline: ARAN Demonstration against fur farming in Ireland.
***URGENT DEMONSTRATION NOTICE***: A decision on the future of Irish fur farms will be made very soon.
ARAN has requested a meeting with the Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney, at his Cork constituency office but this was declined.
As all our supporters know, we’re running a smashing campaign to shut down Irish fur farms and we need to ensure we work up until the final hour when the decision is actually made.
TAKE ACTION: Don’t miss ARAN’s peaceful demonstration outside the Cork constituency office of, Minister Simon Coveney, on Monday, February 27, 2012 at 12noon sharp until 2.30pm.
At this stage we’ve done our best, but we’re not giving up, we need you to be there, not for us, but for the many tens of thousands of lives caged on cruel fur farms waiting to be gassed, painfully skinned and electrocuted.
If possible, please share this event notice and encourage family and friends to attend too, we’re going to ensure his office hears the animals’ plight loud and clear.
Please be sure to RSVP at arancampaigns@eircom.net or PM via Facebook. Thank you for all that you’re doing to help animals, ARAN.
Don’t forget to sign the petition to support this protest.
Posted: February 2012
Furry Tales and Meowsings: Looking for submissions!
Furry Tales and Meowsings is the name of the Cork Animal Care Society’s first booklet of creative writing. We are hoping to have the next issue out soon; however, for this to happen, we need your help!
We are looking for poems and short stories, either factual or fictional, that we would be able to publish in this amateur booklet. It will be nothing fancy at first, but who knows what it will become? The only guideline we have is that the piece must contain an animal, although it does not have to be a main character.
There is also one extremely important condition: the work must be yours! We will in fact ask you to fill a form certifying that it is your own work and that you authorise the ACS to use it for the booklet.
Furry Tales and Meowsings will then be put up for sale on our website and some local outlets. All the proceeds will go towards the welfare of animals. The only thing it will cost you is a stamp to send the form back.
You’ve always wondered how you could help us when you do not have much money to keep going in these difficult times? Here is the answer! So, pick up your pen and paper and email your piece to emilie@animalcaresociety.ie. It could be your claim to fame!
Remember that you can buy previous issues from our online shop. You can read more about the past issues here.
Winners of the October, November and December 2011 photo competitions
We are very late announcing the winners of the past three photo competitions.
In October, Valda Mossop won a family pass to Waterfall Alpaca Farm with her photo “Sonas”.
In November, Cormac Walsh won a gorgeous Christmas hamper offered by supporter Liz McGroarty with his photo “Lose yourself in my eyes”.
In December, Orla Twomey won a tile painting from Jane’s House of Furniture in Cobh with her photo “Twinkle”.
Thank you to all the participants who shared their wonderful photos with us, but most importantly helped the animals in our care by doing so.
We’d also like to thank the public on Facebook, as well as our jury who had the difficult task to choose only one out of the beautiful pictures shortlisted.
Finally, thank you to Emma at Waterfall Alpaca Farm, Liz McGroarty and Mary Perry of Jane’s House of Furniture for their support.
This month competition has already started and you could win a sterling silver chain and horse pendant offered by one of our supporters (you can view it here).
Moreover, the winning photo will be displayed on our website, blog and Facebook page,
as well as become the cover for the following issue of our booklet of creative writing, Furry Tales and Meowsings (note that we will ask you to sign a very simple form authorising us to do that), which you can buy from our online shop.
To enter the competition, it’s simple. You first need to buy a photo competition entry here.
Make sure that you write down the reference number that is given to you (it should also appear in the confirmation email).
The entry costs €3.50 and the money will exclusively be used for the welfare of animals.
Next, send your photo (it must be related to animals) along with your reference number and your details (name, address, email and phone number) to photos@animalcaresociety.ie. You can send more than one photo, but make sure you have bought the necessary amount of entries as submissions without a valid reference number will be refused.
You can send your photos until the 25th of the month. Photos will then be displayed in an album on Facebook, where people can vote for them by clicking “like”.
On the last day of the month, the five photos with the most votes will go to a judging panel, who will select the winning photo and announce it in the next few days.
We are most grateful to Jill for sponsoring this month’s competition.
Good luck to all participants!
To all our supporters and friends
Thank you all for your support, donations and help in any way or form given to us. We could not exist without you, you are the dividing line between success and failure. Your help stands between life or death, hunger or food, comfort or misery.
From all of us and our furry friends: Thank you so much and Happy New Year!
Christmas Party 2011
Our Christmas party will take place at the Clarion Hotel on the 18th of December at 6pm.
We will meet up in the bar for a bit of music and socialising before having a three-course meal in a gorgeous room overlooking the river.
After dinner, there will be more live music, our raffle draw and a small auction with some vintage items.
It should be an entertaining night and a nice way to get to know each everybody, while helping the animals at the same time.
Tickets are €42 (25% of the price will go directly towards the welfare of animals) and can be bought via our
online shop or by contacting Emilie 0894578655.
Note that we need to get back to the Clarion by the 4th of December to confirm numbers.
Posted: November 2011
ARAN’s Rally, 29th of October 2011, 1.30pm sharp, Grand Parade Plaza, Cork City
Our friends at ARAN who, like the ACS, have been tirelessly campaigning for better and more humane animal welfare legislation are asking for our help. They have issued a call to Arms to ALL people who truly care about the shocking state of animal welfare in our country. They NEED YOU.
Please, come along to their event and show that YOU care. An hour or two of your time can make all the difference! Help us to build a world in which there are no more "Harry's". Harry would be subject to the 1986 "Control of Dogs" Act. In essence, what this Act says is this: If your dog gets into my field and I think he has annoyed my livestock I can put a bullet in his head and there is nothing YOU can do about it.
The 1986 (and 1911) Acts say nothing about the "Duty of Care" to an animal. Neither do they talk about the need for owners to provide proper food, fresh water, and shelter and/or care for the animal. But...it provides for the ability to legally kill the dog by a pound after 5 days if he cannot be identified.
Want to know another Irish shame? Last year the then Minister for the Environment got the Dog Breeding Establishments Act through the Dail (Parliament for those outside Ireland), against considerable opposition. Wonderful I hear you say. No, not really, the act was never signed into a law. Another example of the way animals are viewed by our government. Even this very watered down Act would be better than what we have now, which is exactly nothing!
A quick search on the internet will show you that all genuine shelters are bursting at the seams and are unable to cope with the horrendous influx of animals. And if you think the situation for dogs is bad, think again, for cats there is nothing at all ! No five days, no grace, no nothing ! Oops, not true.. there is always DEATH.
Simple provisions in decent legislation could alter all that. Mandatory microchipping would allow a lost pet to be rapidly re-united with its owners and would save the councils a huge amount of money in not having to provide places for the found dogs. And that is just one small example.
"The coming days and weeks are vital for the new legislation currently in draft. It's vital that we get this legislation discussed and enacted into LAW. This is why we desperately need you to set aside just a couple of hours to join caring ARAN supporters for a special, peaceful vigil in Cork City Centre, to remind our leaders that we, the people of Ireland are watching and fed up with the unending stream of excuses why we still have the 1911 Act on our statute book. The lively vigil will be led by a giant 'dog', banners and signs will be provided, so just bring yourself and anyone you can recruit to join you. "
And, please, join us for this most important rally.
Posted: October 2011
And the winner is…
We are delighted to announce the winner of our September photo competition. Raquel Carvalho wins a family pass to Fota Wildlife Park.
Thank you to all the participants who shared their wonderful photos with us, but most importantly helped the animals in our care by doing so. We’d also like to thank the public on Facebook, as well as our jury who had the difficult task to choose only one out of the five beautiful pictures shortlisted. Finally, thank you to Fota for their support.
This month competition has already started and you could win a family pass to Waterfall Alpaca Farm, where you could walk in lovely surroundings amongst alpacas and other animals. Moreover, the winning photo will be displayed on our website, blog and Facebook page, as well as become the cover for the following issue of our booklet of creative writing, Furry Tales and Meowsings (note that we will ask you to sign a very simple form authorising us to do that).
To enter the competition, it’s simple. You first need to buy a photo competition entry here. Make sure that you write down the reference number that is given to you (it should also appear in the confirmation email). The entry costs €3.50 and the money will exclusively be used for the welfare of animals. Next, send your photo (it must be related to animals) along with your reference number and your details (name, address, email and phone number) to photos@animalcaresociety.ie. You can send more than one photo, but make sure you have bought the necessary amount of entries as submissions without a valid reference number will be refused.
You can send your photos until the 20th of the month. Photos will then be displayed in an album on Facebook, where people can vote for them by clicking “like”. On the last day of the month, the five photos with the most votes will go to a judging panel who will select the winning photo and announce it in the next few days.
We are most grateful to Emma from Waterfall Alpaca Farm for her much appreciated support.
Good luck to all participants!
Posted: October 2011
Photo Competition September 2011
We are delighted to announce our new photo competition. Every month we will offer a different prize to the winner. Moreover, the winning photo will be displayed on our website, blog and Facebook page, as well as become the cover for the following issue of our booklet of creative writing, Furry Tales and Meowsings (note that we will ask you to sign a very simple form authorising us to do that).
To enter the competition, it’s simple. You first need to buy a photo competition entry here. Make sure that you write down the reference number that is given to you (it should also appear in the confirmation email). The entry costs €3.50 and the money will exclusively be used for the welfare of animals. Next, send your photo (it must be related to animals) along with your reference number and your details (name, address, email and phone number) to photos@animalcaresociety.ie. You can send more than one photo, but make sure you have bought the necessary amount of entries as submissions without a valid reference number will be refused.
You can send your photos as soon as we announce the competition and until the 20th of the month. Photos will then be displayed in an album on Facebook, where people can vote for them by clicking “like”. On the last day of the month, the five photos with the most votes will go to a judging panel who will select the winning photo and announce it in the next few days.
This month, we are really pleased to offer a family pass to Fota Wildlife Park (for 2 adults and 2 children) to the winner of the competition. What are you waiting for? Grab your camera and send us a photo! We look forward to seeing them…
Many thanks to Fota for their much appreciated support.
Posted: August 2011
Furry Tales and Meowsings: Call for Submissions
Furry Tales and Meowsings is the name of the Cork Animal Care Society's first booklet of creative writing. We are hoping to have the first issue out this September; however, for this to happen, we need your help!
We are looking for poems and short stories, either factual or fictional, that we would be able to publish in this amateur booklet. It will be nothing fancy at first, but who knows what it will become? The only guideline we have is that the piece must contain an animal, although it does not have to be a main character.
There is also one extremely important condition: the work must be yours! We will in fact ask you to fill a form certifying that it is your own work and that you authorise the ACS to use it for the booklet.
Furry Tales and Meowsings will then be put up for sale on our website and some local outlets. All the proceeds will go towards the welfare of animals. The only thing it will cost you is a stamp to send the form back.
You've always wondered how you could help us when you do not have much money to keep going in these difficult times? Here is the answer! So, pick up your pen and paper and email your piece to emilie@animalcaresociety.ie. It could be your claim to fame!
Posted: August 2011
Interested in Wildlife? Here is your chance!
Irish Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference early bird special – 8 days left!
Just a reminder that the Irish Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference early bird special expires on 30th July. That’s only 10 days away!
To take advantage of the early bird special:
Go to www.irishwildlifematters.ie/conference and click on the “Registration & Payment” button on the top of the page.
We look forward to meeting you at the conference!
IRISH WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CONFERENCE 2011
The Irish Wildlife Rehabilitation Trust is pleased to announce details of its second Irish Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference, to be held on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of September.
This is an opportunity for anyone with an interest in wildlife welfare and/or conservation to learn more about treating wildlife casualties; the ethical and moral issues surrounding their treatment and rehabilitation; wildlife conservation; post release monitoring; and the serious issue of wildlife crime.
Saturday will be an open attendance day and we will again be welcoming a mixture of conservationists, rehabilitators, students, SPCA’s, NPWS personnel, Gardaí and interested members of the public.
Sunday is for vets and veterinary nurses and is a continuing professional development event that is registered for 5.5 CVE credits.
This year we will be running two streams providing both basic and advanced training (the latter of particular interest to those who worked on the basics at the 2010 conference). We will have advanced avian sessions and an additional marine mammal presentation and practical session.
This year we’ve even more stalls, a selection of superb raffle prizes, and lively evening entertainment.
Bravery knows no bounds
This article is taken from the ARAN Website. While trying to deal with an endless stream of misery, cruelty and neglect of animals calls, this is a heart-warming story, So, read on: (Note: Some of the links in the article appear to be broken so be aware).
"This story seemed to genuinely touch the nation and it was lovely to see the Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) handing him (Mr. John Byrne) a thoroughly well deserved award for his bravery and concern for animals" — Ian O'Doherty, Irish Independent
If there was ever a memorable moment in ARAN’s sixteen year history, and there’s been a few!, it was on July 12 on Dublin’s O’ Connell Bridge where we presented a homeless Dublin man, Mr. John Byrne, with our ‘Compassionate Citizen Award’ for risking his life to saving his companion rabbit, Barney, who was tossed into the River Liffey by an 18year-old passerby. Mr. Byrne risked his life by jumping into the freezing cold river to save the rabbit and waited for up to forty-five minutes for emergency services to rescue them both. Click here for footage of the daring rescue and to see a story that was to have touched our nation’s hearts. After the rescue, media reports talked about the heroic act of bravery and kindness by Mr. Byrne. That same week, ARAN announced we were to honour Mr. Byrne with our award in recognition for his compassion and fast on the ball thinking that saved the life of his rabbit. We also used this opportunity to get word out to our nation about how animals in our society are so vulnerable, and the need forstronger laws to protect them, our award ended up grabbing the nations headlines, read on!
Click here for a great Irish Times report. Click here for TV3 5.30pm news footage, and click here for RTE One 6pm news footage. Click here for great commentary and footage of the press photo call.
Kicking off the news of our award were national newspapers The Irish Star, Irish Sun, Metro Heraldand Evening Herald, all running stories of our upcoming award. Castlebar fm, Limerick’s Live 95fm, RTE Radio One also did great interviews with Mr. Byrne and interviews with us at ARAN about our planned award. During the interviews we spoke about our offer to spay & neuter Mr. Byrne’s animals, the need for people in general to always spay and neuter, we spoke of Ireland’s outdated 1911 animal welfare bill and our work to bring in new meaningful legislation that will make life harder for those who get sick kicks out of hurting and being cruel to animals, we spoke about cruelty to animals and the 18 year-old facing charges, and, we spoke about why our schools should have a kindness course included in their curriculum in the upcoming school term. Other media outlets that covered our planned award were Utv radio, FM104, Dublin’s 98fm, Q102fm, Today fm, Newstalk,UTV News, RTE.IE, TV3.IE, Limerick Leader, and many more.
On Tuesday, July 12 a media scrum began building up for the awards presentation on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. With a throng of reporters, journalists, two TV crews and about a dozen photographers, along with passersby, members of the public and two Gardaí who attended especially for the event to honour Mr. Byrne and some ARAN volunteers and supporters. During the press conference on the bridge, we awarded Mr. Byrne our ‘Compassionate Citizen Award’, amid a barrage of media journalists recording the event and flashing camera bulbs. The media coverage that was to follow was chaotic, our phones were ringing off the hook with radio stations wanting us on air, we had callers ringing up with offers of help, we had people calling up wanting more information on our campaigns and how they can get active, and, we had offers of a home for Mr. Byrne too. We had a call from as far afield as a Brazilian media agency. The media coverage that followed included TV3 News, RTE One 6pm and 9pm News, BBC News, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Irish Times, Evening Herald, Metro Herald, Irish Sun, Irish Star, Irish Mirror, Broadsheet, The Journal, Irish World, USA Today, Ballyfermot Echo, Dublin’s 98fm, FM104, Q102fm, Newstalk, Todayfm, RTE Radio One, 4fm, 2fm, Spin, Radio Na Life, Tipperary fm, and many more. We’d like to thank Second Chance Animal Rescue (SCAR) in Shannon, Co. Clare for their generous donation to help care for Mr. Byrne’s animals and to Focus Ireland, the homeless charity who featured our award on their Facebook page that has over 60,000 ‘friends’, leading to a deluge of requests, kind notes of well wishes, new supporters and offers of help.
Remember, just like the rabbit Barney, all animals are vulnerable and can’t fight back, please re-double your commitment to stand by us and help all of us to fight animal abuse, because together we are making a positive difference. Photo copyright by the Evening Herald, use gratefully acknowledged. The ARAN website is www.aran.ie
You are in for a treat
As many of our regular readers know, we have a vast photo archive of animals rescued or those who crossed our path in one way or the other. We’ve put together a slide show, going back to photo’s which are in some cases over 10 years old and date back to our very beginning. Many of these have never been seen before. Do note: we used whatever camera was to hand, from Tesco throwaway single use camera’s to whatever we could lay our hands on.
Please remember, we are a welfare organisation and not a photo shop so please don’t be too critical? The show is set to music so you might wish to ensure your speakers are on.
To watch it, after “unzipping” it, just click on the Dog and you will be transported to a different world! ENJOY.
Please
note:THIS IS A LARGE FILE and should only be downloaded by visitors
who have a broadband connection, file size is in the 40 megabyte
region. The "zipped" version will run full screen
(maximise your browser window) if you so choose. The web show version
is a little smaller and will run in its own pop-up window. Note
that you must "unzip" this file after you have downloaded it. Use
Winzip or a similar utility, Microsoft Outlook will not allow you
to open a downloaded .EXE file so we had to "ZIP" it.
Also please note: when you get a warning about "blocked content" click on
the "Allow Blocked content" entry in your browser
(Internet Explorer for most of you).
In Memory of Fluffy
Yet again a small cat broke our heart. This lovely girl was found by a kind woman who could not keep her. One of our wonderful volunteers took her in and the next morning brought her to Clare at the Cat Hospital. The news was desperate. Advanced Feline Leukaemia, a womb with dead kittens inside and other things were wrong. The dead kitten, which had infected her womb, Clare could have dealt with, this condition known as pyometra , see http://www.couttsvets.co.uk/ is fatal if not treated, but immediate surgery can usually save the cat. But the advanced stage of Feline Leukaemia cannot be treated and it was clear that this poor cat was in pain and was suffering. Clare the Vet recommended that the only humane cause of action open to us was to let her go on the Journey across the Rainbow Bridge.
So with the hands of our volunteer holding her, she was left to travel to a new life, a life without neglect, misery and pain. Our volunteer cried, those of you who had to make similar decisions will understand. Fluffy, Rest in Peace.
Even healthy cats are now no longer safe in the UK
Once upon a time, we could count on help from our friends in the UK. Organisations like The Blue Cross, Woodgreen Animal sanctuaries and others were always prepared to lend us a helping hand help with our efforts to find homes for the many unwanted Irish cats and kittens.
But that situation has changed, and changed for the worse. See this article in the Telegraph Newspaper: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
This is dreadful news and foretells a very bleak future for the tens of thousands of homeless and unwanted cats and kittens. Where in God’s name will it end ? When, oh when will people learn to be responsible and neuter their animals so this dreadful problem can be tackled at source? That, and only that, will stop the relentless flow of unwanted animals.
Yet again a small cat broke our heart. This lovely girl was found by a kind woman who could not keep her. One of our wonderful volunteers took her in and the next morning brought her to Clare at the Cat Hospital. The news was desperate. Advanced Feline Leukaemia, a womb with dead kittens inside and other things were wrong. The dead kitten, which had infected her womb, Clare could have dealt with, this condition known as pyometra , see