A desire to help animals has turned into a full-time job for Helena and Remi Le Mahieu, who rescue some 700 animals each year and, as Linda Daly discovers, have seen some truly horrific things

Being surrounded by seven dogs in a living room with a fox sitting in the corner would be a bizarre situation for anyone, but it’s exactly where this city girl found herself in October at the home of Helena and Remi Le Mahieu, owners of ASH Animal Rescue.

ASH is located off the beaten track in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, is well worth a visit and is open to the public every day except Friday.

Elton at Ash Animal Rescue

A warm welcome

I was ushered into Helena’s home with a warm smile and a hearty handshake and immediately greeted by two of the largest dogs you’re likely to meet: a gorgeous black Newfoundland and a St Bernard. Both are elderly dogs, so there was no fussing, just a little welcome for the stranger and then back to their own business.

Helena brought me into the sitting room where the seven barking residents and an excited fox quickly settled down and were soon snoring away.

Helena and Remi

For the next hour-and-a-half, I heard the fascinating tale of Helena and Remi. The couple moved from the Netherlands 20 years ago, have three grown children, two of whom live in Ireland, and also have grandchildren.

They always intended to rescue animals but what started out as a small operation turned into a massive rescue mission, which now sees them save up to 700 animals each year.

When I visit them, they have over 100 dogs, 80 cats, four foxes, a horse, a donkey, two pigs, a couple of rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks and hens on their six acres of land and a recently rescued ferret living in their bathroom.

Helena and Remi are hyper-sensitive about cleanliness. All trays, cages and runs are cleaned out once a day and the huge pile of beds for the animals means that they put on at least four washes in their industrial-size washing machine each day.

Feeding bowls at Ash Animal Rescue

Horribly sad tales

Unsurprisingly, Helena has way too many sad tales and I soon find myself welling up.

There’s the story of Elvis, a little Shih Tzu, who was brought in by a woman who spotted him around her workplace. His eye had become so infected it looked like a golf ball sticking from the socket and he was immediately brought for emergency surgery.

Before the vet could even remove the eye, he had to clip away the worst of Elvis’s matted coat so foul was the smell. But Elvis retained eyesight in his other eye and, under the care of ASH, began to thrive. His, thankfully, is a happy ending as he was recently adopted by a well-known Irish television presenter.

Cuddles and Hardy

Then there’s Cuddles, an eight-year old Westie who was cast out into her owner’s back garden after being knocked down by a car and having ‘accidents’ in the house. Four years later, the owner’s friend called ASH and asked them to take the utterly neglected dog.

She hadn’t been vaccinated since she was a pup; she was emaciated, she had open wounds on her body and her collar was so tight it wounded her neck.

While these stories are bad, there are also some truly horrific events, like the time a neighbour found a dog which had half his face blown off with a shotgun. Hardy, as he became known, had wandered around for three to four months before being found. So horrific were his wounds that you could see the bones in his skull. By some miracle, he survived and has since been re-homed.

Helena says the physical injuries are easier to mend than the mental ones and this is something I see first-hand as Remi shows me around.

A few of the dogs are truly terrified when they see a human approach. There are no tails wagging and they wince away from any human touch. It’s soul destroying.

Growing numbers abandoned

You’ll find every type of breed imaginable at ASH, from Jack Russells and Shih Tzus, to Labradors, Labradoodles, a Great Dane and an American Akita.

“We have definitely seen a deterioration in the state of animal welfare in recent years,” says Helena. “The recession means that more pure-breeds are being abandoned.”

The struggle for funding

Outside are numerous runs for the dogs, some old and some newly built thanks to donations and bequeaths. There’s also a brand new heated cat enclosure. But the money has dried up and there are older areas that are in much need of renovation.

“In the past we used to re-mortgage the house, which we did twice,” explains Remi, “but with the recession we can no longer do that.”
Every time I visit animal rescuers, I can’t help but notice how incredibly under-funded they are.

Helena and Remi received just €12,000 from the Department of Agriculture last year. They have two full-time staff, a couple of part-time workers and have to feed 200 animals, heat, clean and pay vet bills.

ASH is supported by fundraisers and after a hard day’s work Helena or Remi attend table quizzes or sell cards. Their latest idea is a perpetual calendar which Helena hopes people will put in their bathrooms similar to the Dutch tradition.

Respecting animal rescuers

Despite all their work, they still have dogs dumped in their car park – and on their doorstep – regularly. People even scold them when they are unable to take their pets.

I leave ASH full of respect and awe for these two people yet, I feel angry that they have been put in this position by an Irish tradition of treating animals badly.

When Remi tells me they get, at most, three days a year holiday, I ask him if it’s worth it.

“It’s a very rewarding job,” he says, “and we really love doing it.”

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Gill Brady, who started her own dog rescue centre eight years, has plenty of harrowing tales to tell of animal cruelty and neglect. However, some at least have happy endings, writes Linda Daly

Second up on our rescue centre travels is Celtic Animal Life Line, a Kildare-based rescue centre that is run by another remarkable woman, Gill Brady.

Abandoned in the snow: Elric

It was one of those rare sunny September days when my daughter Rachel and I headed to meet Gill in the village of Kill, Co Kildare. Our meeting point was the Dew Drop Inn, which was littered with a handful of patrons on that early Saturday afternoon.

Kennel costs

Gill’s operation is different to Tipp-Off’s (which we visited previously) in that, while she keeps sick dogs and pups at home, she houses the majority in kennels, paying €1,000 a month for accommodation alone. There’s no gasp of shock from me (although there really should be) when she tells me it comes out of her own pocket – it seems to be the way with these animal rescue workers.

Her funding comes from donations from fundraisers, including All For Animals calendar sales. She also arranges other fundraising projects to support her rescue’s costs, as well as receiving through funding her own work and from adopters’ donations. She also has a great relationship with her vet, who showed her how to vaccinate.

Gill became heavily involved in animal rescue around the late 1990s after coming across Irish Animals, which was the primary pet resource website in Ireland at the time.

Foster care

She started visiting the South Dublin County Council dog pound, taking photos of dogs that needed to be re-homed and putting them on the website. It wasn’t long before she adopted one of those animals herself, a German Shepherd who had bone cancer and died three months later.

“What happens is, you do something like that and start to foster, and then you start to foster more, and you get sucked into it. I always say rescuing is like the mafia, once you start you can’t get out,” she jokes.

Celtic Animal Life Line officially came into being in 2003 and became a registered charity in 2004. Since then, Celtic Animal Life Line has rescued and rehomed thousands of dogs.

We spend the next hour talking while Rachel flicks through the beautifully photographed All for Animals calendar – I know it’s early but consider putting this on your Christmas gift list. Gill tells me some harrowing and moving stories.

Disturbing tales

The worst scenario she ever encountered was a few years ago. Children, all under the age of 10, had hammered 40 nails into a dog’s body. She was found bleeding and close to death but miraculously, after months of treatment and much care, survived.

On another occasion, Gill was asked to assist a flea-invested dog who had been surrendered into the pound. The shaggy-haired creature’s coat was so matted that the pound workers didn’t even notice what lay underneath. When Gill went in, she lifted up his hair and saw that the dog’s eye was literally hanging out of the socket, the result of a full-force kick. Unfortunately, the vets couldn’t save his eye but they did save his life.

Gill explains that animal abuse transcends all economic borders, and can happen in all classes and areas.

Providing care

“I don’t judge a home physically. It’s about the owners and their ability to give the dogs a good life, to walk them, exercise them, bring them to a vet when needed, provide companionship and care for the animal. And that can happen in a small house.”

This year has been the worst year in Gill’s memory for people abandoning dogs and she says many other rescue centres have reported the same.

Getting the message out

Ultimately, says Gill, we need to change the system to educate people about pets. She hopes to start visiting schools to educate the children.

It’s worth pointing out that not all rescue dogs have been badly treated. On one occasion, Gill was asked to take in two much-loved dogs by their owner who was going in to St Luke’s hospice to never return home.

Worming and neutering

Gill is the second animal rescue operator who advocates and actively encourages the neutering of dogs. In fact, she says it’s cruel not to have your dog neutered.

“If you neuter your dog, he or she will be a happier, healthier dog. Males will be less territorial and will suffer from less stress due to the reduction in testosterone. Females will also be healthier, less inclined to roam, or suffer from certain cancers.”

Worms can also be a huge problem and Gill pleads with owners to ensure their new pups have been wormed.

“Once a friend of mine came to me with her pup but didn’t have a worming card. I wormed him and, for two days, worms came out of that pup’s nose, mouth and backside,” she says. “A bad case of worms can kill a pup.”

The lucky ones

After our hour-long chat, we head for one of the kennels where Gill homes dogs. Located in Kildare on 400 acres of lush countryside, the kennels provide the dogs with plenty of space and freedom to run around during playtime.

There, I meet two young boxers, Clara and Bandit, who had been left into a vet to be destroyed after their owners’ marriage broke up. The vet refused to do it and called Gill.

I also meet a one-year-old Labrador-Boxer cross, who arrived here with a completely matted coat. After six months of good treatment and nutritious food, I’m struck at how beautiful Raphi’s coat is. It’s gleaming.

Gill takes in a mixture of big and small dogs and we meet Elric, a Jack Russell who was found abandoned in the snow.

All are very excited to see their rescuer and the stranger who accompanies her, with all traces of their former mistreatment having disappeared.

When I meet her, Gill has 13 dogs in her care between the kennels and her home.

She says life would be a lot easier if there were foster homes for the dogs. It’s not a bad idea.

As part of her new blog for Petaware.ie, Linda Daly heads to the Tipperary-Offaly border to meet with Tipp-Off Animal Rescue owner Christine Plunkett. And she soon discovers that caring for animals is more than a job to Christine – it’s a lifelong labour of love.

Fiva, after the operation

Tipp-Off Animal Rescue is the first of our rescue centre visits. It’s so called after its location; in a village straddled on the border of Tipperary and Offaly.

We arrive at a bungalow at the entrance to the village on a blustery, grey August day with all signsof summer having disappeared. What we encounter is far from grey, however, as we are greeted by owner Christine Plunkett and six inquisitive kittens.

Tipp-Off Rescue is a one-woman show. Christine is an animal lover, who has owned more than one animal for as long as she remembers. She started the centre in earnest over a decade ago.

In recent times, her services and dedication to rescuing stray, injured or abandoned animals have grown enormously. On the day we visit her, she has 16 dogs, 11 kittens and five adult cats in her home. She takes them from dog pounds and privately, when people cannot keep them anymore.

To the left of the house is an under-construction large cat enclosure. When completed, it will be kitted out with climbing frames and enough space for the cats to sprawl out on warm summer days.

To the right and back of the house are a number of runs for the dogs, as well as space to play.

Christine immediately takes us to meet the larger dogs. There are a number of German Shepherds, a couple of black and white Collies and a shaggy fella.

Next, she leads us into a shed with four kittens, two who were found in the middle of nowhere and two who were taken to the vet to be put to sleep.

One of the abandoned kittens is deaf and pure white, with one blue and one yellow eye. He comes forward for a rub but is wary of strangers and quickly backs away when Rachel and I approach unaware of his nervousness.

A lifelong vocation

On entering the house, I immediately realise that Christine dedicates her life to these animals. Apart from three bedrooms, her home is open to her four-legged guests.

What’s immediately striking when we enter is the type of dogs who come to greet us – two Cavalier King Charles, a Bichon Frise Shih-Tzu cross, a Westie and a cross-breed. I’d naively imagined rescue-home dogs to be large, cross bred or not traditionally attractive. I certainly didn’t expect so many pure breeds.

Christine explains that she got the two female Cavalier King Charles, who she calls the Teletubbies, from a puppy farm. Both had been used as breeding machines for five years. They were treated like cattle. As a result, they have holes pierced into their ears for tagging. The ginger-haired one, Ruby, continued giving birth despite needing operations on both legs.

Jemima, the black and brown King Charles, is a placid five-year-old who looks up at me, tail wagging,waiting for a rub. I oblige for the next hour until Frankie, the Bichon Frise cross, jumps on my lap and grabs my attention before falling soundly asleep.

Some of the stories of how these animals were found are heartbreaking.

One of the German Shephers was found tied up, weighing just 19 kilos. “Another 24 hours and he would have died,” recalls Christine.

“My vet said if it hadn’t been invented, he would have made the phrase skin and bone because that’s exactly what he was. He had no flesh at all. I cried for about three days with him. He couldn’t walk. I was feeding him six times a day.”

Fiva the cat was found on the side of the road with his leg snapped at the knee joint. He had to have an operation costing €400.

“There’s a lot of rehabilitation with rescue dogs and cats,” says Christine.

“I don’t do conveyer-belt rescuing. It’s not the case of taking them in, sorting them out and finding a home. They’re with me as long as they need to be. Then I find them not only a good home but the right home.”

Christine stresses that over-breeding is a major contributing factor to the number of unwanted dogs. “Over 45,000 unwanted dogs were killed in the dog pounds in the last five years. Accidental litters could also be so easily stopped by neutering or spaying of people’s pets. Microchipping your dog or cat would help in returning lost pets to their rightful owners but people need to make sure that the microchips are registered.”

Our conversation eventually turns to the topic of money, and how Christine funds the centre. To feed the cats costs €60 a week alone, with costs for operations, neutering, vet visits and general licensing on top of that.

She receives an ex-gratia grant from the Department of Agriculture each year (the maximum so far has been €3,000), but there is no financial support set in stone.

“We are lucky if there is any money dedicated to animal welfare and normally the larger organisations get the bulk of it,” she says.

Her remaining funds come from an annual bag pack at Tesco in Birr, Co Offaly, the loose change box from the local shop, donations when animals are adopted, and sales of calendars provided by All For Animals, the National Animal Rescue Support Group. And her savings.

“I, as well as every other rescue centre, am constantly desperate for donations,” says Christine.

An incredible commitment

The animal lover shows incredible commitment and you can’t help but respect a woman who dedicates so much of her life to helping creatures who can’t help themselves.

After a couple of hours, we leave Christine to get on with her Trojan work. Despite Rachel’s pleas to ask for Jemima, I just about resist. Just about.

Please feel free to contact Christine through the Tipp-Off Animal Rescue Facebook page

Linda & Buddie

When Labrador Buddie came into Linda’s life, he tested her pet peeves. Now she wouldn’t be without him, bad habits and all.

Over the next few months Linda will travel around Ireland and learn about animal rescue centres across the country.

She will share her learning and experiences here on the DoneDeal blog. The first rescue centre blog post comes tomorrow. Until then, read about Linda below.

By Linda Daly

I wouldn’t be what you’d call a dog lover. Now, my six-year-old daughter Rachel, she’s a dog lover. She especially loves our Labrador, Buddie. My love for him has been slow-burning. It’s not that I don’t get his unending loyalty or willingness to give you a nudge when you’re having a bad day; and I completely hate animal cruelty. It’s just the hairs and smell in my home can be overbearing. And getting a Labrador for my first pet has been a baptism of fire.

Part of the furniture

Buddie is just 10-months-old and having him has been a learning curve. I often say to people, I don’t own a dog; I share my house with one. My sister and her son who has autism live with me, and Buddie is technically theirs. Though Rachel insists she’s his mother.

We got him last December in between the big snows, and he arrived all cute and Andrex-ad type cuddly. Within weeks, he’d grown to three times his size, and then the chewing started. First it was the skirting boards, then the blinds, then the kitchen lino. It came to boiling point one night when I asked my sister to get rid of the dog.

The next day, she began to make enquiries about re-homing him, and I immediately felt remorse. Despite all his bad habits, I couldn’t imagine Buddie going off to live somewhere else or worse.

That was seven months ago, and we’ve had our ups and downs but Buddie is now part of the furniture he so likes to chew, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Learning more about animals

So when I was asked to do the blog for Petaware.ie and to visit animal rescue centres, I jumped at the opportunity. Rachel and I will be visiting centres around the country and I’m looking forward to learning about animals and appreciating them a little bit more.