"Overwhelming" response to puppy appeal

The ASCPA has hailed the "overwhelming" response to their heartrending appeal in this paper last week of the plight of seven innocent puppies who faced being put down because of a lack of funds to vaccinate them. Unfortunately, however the story doesn't have a full happy ending as three of the puppies got sick and died on Friday and Monday from Parvo, a disease common in young dogs before they could be vaccinated. The mixed breed puppies, thought be only around six weeks old, were abandoned in a box outside the ASPCA gates on Thursday and Friday of last week. "The remaining four puppies are doing extremely well. They are vaccinated now. We've had the world and his mother out to see them since last week's paper," Paul McCormack said from the ASPCA base at The Pigeons yesterday (Tuesday). "A lot of people were upset they couldn't take them away that day," Mr McCormack added. "However, our policy is not rehome dogs until they are fully vaccinated and microchipped. They'll be ready to rehome in three weeks," he said confident that all the dogs will go to new owners over the intervening period. He paid tribute to the "overwhelming support" of the people of Athlone and surrounding areas for funding to keep the shelter going since their appeal was launched last week. It costs the ASPCA roughly €45 to vaccinate each dog, but it faced the very real prospect of being forced to send the dogs to the pound last week because of lack of funding to complete the vaccinations. "Last Monday we had less than €100 in our account and it is now over €1,000. I'd like to thank everybody who contributed to the ASPCA. I'm seriously overwhelmed," Paul McCormack stated, adding that it now means that the ASPCA can meet their vet and dog food bills and keep the facility open for the next few months. "It's the best response we've ever had," he concluded.