Reporting cruelty
In the event that you have witnessed someone being cruel (inflicting undue pain that causes the animal to suffer unnecessarily) to an animal, you need to go to the Garda Station in the locality and make a written statement. This requires you to state what you saw, who you saw and when you saw the act taking place. The Garda will then act on the evidence you have presented them with. You do need to stand behind your statement and go to court of required as a witness.
We recognise that this can be off-putting for the witness, and it takes a lot of courage to do this. However, without hard evidence the authorities are unable to act. If they were to act on hearsay, then innocent people would also fall foul of allegations.
If you suspect that an animal(s) are being kept in cruel conditions and are suffering unnecessarily you can contact the ISPCA using any of the three options below. Please bear in mind that due to limited resources there is only one person manning the confidential help line for the whole of the country.
Lo-call helpline: 1890 515 515
Confidential online complaint form: www.ispca.ie/cruelty_complaint/
Email: helpline@ispca.ie
Always report cruelty to animals – never forget that we are their voice.
