Since our station is very rural, our nearest neighbors are farmers. Agriculture is widespread in Ireland and there are so-called farm dogs on almost every farm.
These are mostly sheepdogs or purebred border collies that are purchased to drive and herd the farm animals for hours.
The lives of these thoroughly friendly and loving dogs are beyond sad.
Their sleeping place is often just an old wooden pallet in the yard or in the stable.
Some farmers also use old barrels that are tipped over as “prescribed” shelter.
The highlight of the day for the dogs is being allowed off the chain and doing their job; Driving cattle to another pasture or herding sheep.
All of this lasts at most the morning and then “life” on the chain is announced again.
Over the years, farm dogs from the neighborhood have repeatedly shown up at our house and we have repeatedly reported massive animal welfare violations involving these great dogs. Because of this, some of these dogs were then well adopted. Unfortunately, many farmers immediately buy new animals.
In the pictures, you can see Bruce. He's wearing what's called a 'hobble' (which translates as 'to limp'). This is nothing more than a massive wooden board attached to the dog with a chain to make it limp, preventing it from running away. As you can see from Bruce, this doesn't always work: He managed to get to us despite the hobble. We now have three cases of hobble, and of course, we immediately reported all of them, because its use is prohibited throughout Ireland.
This procedure is also used with horses in Ireland to prevent them from running away. The life of farm dogs is a very dark chapter in dealing with dogs in Ireland and there needs to be a lot more awareness that these dogs even exist. Their attitude is accepted as “normal” (“We have always done it this way”), where the dogs do not receive any medical care throughout their lives and are usually used for breeding because good money can be made with their puppies.
There are requirements for keeping them, but these are rarely implemented and hardly anyone reports violations. We will therefore never stop advocating for dogs like Bruce and would like to give them a voice today.
