A STARVED dog was left abandoned on the side of the road to die in absolute agony, in a shocking act of cruelty revealed to The Nationalist this week.

The lurcher pup, whose flesh was savaged by mange and crawling with fleas, was saved from certain death by the kind actions of Killeshin man Padraic Brennan, who luckily saw the dog lying in pain along the roadside at Maganey.

Padraic was driving from Carlow to Athy with his partner Amanda O’Brien, when they spotted the dog lying in the ditch, close to the site of the former Three Counties Pub in Maganey.

“I saw the dog and stopped. He looked like he was covered in blood, so I just assumed he had been knocked down, but when I walked back along the road towards him I could see he was in a really bad state. I knew it was mange, about 90% of his hair was gone with it and his skin was so red raw it looked like blood,” said Padraic.

Animal lover Padraic was disgusted by the condition of the dog and contacted Carlow Garda Station. “They gave us three numbers for the ISPCA, the dog warden and the DSPCA, but it was a Sunday and the ISPCA only operated Monday to Friday and just had an answer machine; the local dog warden was on leave and there was no relief; and the DSPCA said they had no-one in this area,” explained Padraic.

“It was getting hopeless at this stage so I went home and got on the internet and got a number for PAWS, who thankfully sent someone out,” he added. The fantastic charity organisation PAWS Animal Rescue came to the aid of the neglected and starved dog and he is now under their loving care at the shelter in Mullinahone, Tipperary.

“He is about six months’ old and I can’t help but wonder where the rest of them are – a dog doesn’t just have one pup,” said PAWS owner/manager Gina Hetherington.

“This is just absolutely horrendous. He was so physically and mentally exhausted, he couldn’t even stand up. He was starving and the fleas were crawling up and down his skin,” she added.

“He’s a dote of a dog, so sweet, and we’ve called him Amour, French for love,” said Gina, a name which is in stark contrast to the ill-treatment he received from his owners.

Amour has been treated extensively for his cuts and vicious skin condition and is on an extensive range of antibiotics and pain killers. In order to build him back up, he’s also getting small, regular feeds. “Eventually, we will try to rehome him, but it will be at least four or five months before he’s recovered,” said Gina.

“I just can’t understand why people get animals and then neglect them, especially a dog. It’s like having a child in the house. That dog would have died a slow, terrible death,” said Padraic.

PAWS depends entirely on voluntary donations to help save dogs like Amour and requires the support of the public to help it in its tremendous work.