Mullinahone.net

Almost 16,000 greyhounds were destroyed in Ireland last year, but some of the doomed animals are finding new homes overseas thanks to a mother and daughter duo from Co Tipperary.

With the help of a dog lover from Prague, Deirdre and Gina Hetherington from Mullinahone are finding the dogs loving families in the Czech Republic.

Gina says one of the causes of the problem is the fact that only a small number of the greyhounds produced in Ireland every year make the grade for the track.

She volunteers to take in the unwanted dogs and get them neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped and get them homes.Once a dog leaves here, there's no more kennels. They go straight into a couch or a sitting room,' says Gina, the Manager of the PAWS Animal Rescue Charity (left).

She says her charity is forced to look overseas because 'in Europe they see greyhounds as a novelty. They're very pretty, very elegant animals. Whereas in Ireland they see them racing around the track after a little hare with a muzzle on them. So it's a whole different attitude.'

'PAWS should be commended on this,' says local vet Alan Ahearne. 'Logistically it's a big ask. Bringing all these dogs from Ireland and having all the documentation for the EU pet passports. It's great that 27 dogs are going to Europe that otherwise would've been put down.'

The dogs are met in Prague by Lucie Miric (below), the owner of the Yorkieland Dog Salon in the Czech capital and the owner of 10 dogs. 'When I heard about it I was really terrified. And I would like to help,' she said.

Czech people love dogs. In Prague, there's a statistic that we have five and a half dogs for every one person. For example in Czech parks you can see more dogs than kids! I get so nervous, but my husband tells me to relax, it's just dogs. But it's not just dogs for me. After the transport I feel like a hero.'

The transportation is overseen by Deirdre Hetherington, the President of PAWS: 'It's absolutely thrilling. They treat these dogs like we treat poodles at home. We have so many of them that we have to keep them in kennels in Mullinahone, but once they arrive here they no longer know what a kennel is. They no longer know any kind of abuse because they are pets.'

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