We received a very distressing call to our sanctuary from a member of the council who was at a site near Portumna, just a couple of kms away. We were told that there were 4/5 dogs attacking a goat and in the background we could hear the agonising screams of the victim. Two of our kennel staff quickly arrived and, at first, they thought the dogs were just lying on top of black rubbish bags until they realised rthat it was the distressed goat and the dogs were gnawing on him as he lay there helpless.
Quickly diffusing the attack the GSPCA staff could see that this boy was in trouble though he still managed to scramble to his feet to try to escape. Another smaller female goat appeared (thankfully unharmed). Securing the injured goat didn't take too long (long enough when all you want to do is get him to safety) but his friend was having none of it and we knew she couldn't be left behind in case she became the next victim. 40 mins later and both goats were on our van and we were ready to leave. It was at this point our two staff looked at one another and asked the same question. What were we going to do with 2 goats once we got back to our busy dog sanctuary but they also knew that as a team we would work through this problem... we had no choice but to.
We used a small dog paddock the furthest away from our kennels where we felt the goats would not be intimidated or scared by our dogs (our sanctuary had to keep running as normal) and we finally managed to get both goats in and they seemed to realise that they were in a much better place. With our vet already en-route for dog healthchecks we promised the injured goat he would soon be treated and cared for. What lay beneath his hair once shaved showed us the full extent of his injuries. It was as though the dogs had been just eating away at him as he lay motionless on the ground, too weak, too scared to fight back. He received antibiotics, pain relief and a tetanus jab. He is not out of the woods by a long shot. His tissue and nerves may well have been damaged and may/can start to rot, causing toxns in his system. He is obviously in shock too so the next 24/48 hours are crucial. Thanks to the kindness of our neighbour Oliver, of Flowerhill Equestrian Centre, who supplied us with straw and hay these two little goats are in an old kennel tucked up warm, dry and, hopefully, feeling safe. We are all hoping for a positive outcome for our brave but traumatised boy and we will take each day as it comes.
His wounds will need daily washing, cleaning, drying and have cream applied, he will also need antibiotic injections every couple of days. While we may not be well equipped or the most goat savvy of folk, what we do have is the passion, desire and work ethic to ensure we will do everything and more to give this boy every chance possible to survive. Of course, as usual, nobody 'owns' these goats and we cannot prove who owns them. We cannot prove who owns the dogs (we have already been told nobody owns the collie that was there) and nobody was around to answer our questions, even the dogs had disappeared.
Another problem that people may not know or understand is where could these dogs even go if authorities wanted to remove them? There isn't a pound or a rescue in the country with free space at the moment and this is a heartbreaking situation that we are all doing our best to juggle every day of the year. Sadly that means every dog/animal in need isn't saved as we would like. Once again, as a rescue as people who want to see justice done, we reach a dead end and once again we are left to care for and financially support yet more cruelty because they are nobody elses responsibility. Now they became ours. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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