Judge Hughes in the dog house!

Despite having to administer some ruff justice, Athlone District Court Judge Seamus Hughes didn’t expect to end up in the dog house.

Yet, three years after the Mayo native began working in this area, he has had a kennel named after him by Moate and Midlands Dog Rescue!

In a paw-erful gesture of appreciation, Maria Drinan decided to create the 'Judge Hughes Kennel’ after the judge recently donated a €1,000 court poor box contribution to the dog rescue fund.

Ms Drinan, who started Moate and Midlands Dog Rescue in 2009, said the €1,000 donation would help to give the charity a new leash on life.

“It’s probably the biggest single donation we received, and we weren’t expecting it,” said Maria. “So I wrote to the judge and sent him a certificate to say we’re going to put his name on one of the kennels.

“We also told him that he has to call out to walk the dogs with us, but I haven’t heard back from him yet!”

At last Wednesday’s sitting of Athlone District Court, Judge Hughes referred to the letter from Moate and Midlands Dog Rescue. “They’ve named a kennel after me!” he smiled.  

His court gave the charity another reason to be cheerful last week when a €500 charity contribution was donated to the dog rescue fund on Wednesday.

Moate and Midlands Dog Rescue is planning to open a brand new dog rescue centre in the coming months. Ms Drinan said businesses and organisations which sponsored the charity would have their names inscribed on plaques at the kennels in the new centre.