PAWS was founded in February 1997 by Deirdre Hetherington in Sallins Co Kildare. The original concept was to rehome unwanted pets from their current homes and take in dogs from Kildare Dog pound to save them from destruction. At the time, there were 35,000 dogs being killed in Irish Dog Pounds every year, with Kildare being among the top ten and we felt this was no longer acceptable. Soon, word about PAWS spread via the media and our weekly appearances on TV3 and we were assisting animals from the 26 counties and beyond.
By 2000, PAWS was taking every dog available from South Dublin Dog Pound in Saggart and Greyhounds from Ashton Pound in Nth Dublin, as a result of which, the destruction rate greatly dropped in those pounds.
In 2004, we realised that we no longer had the space to hold the number of dogs that desperately needed our help, so we approached Kildare Co Council and asked them to donate a site and we would raise funds to build an animal shelter, unfortunately, this was not an option.
At that point we realised that we must look further afield. Our founders, daughter, Gina & her late husband Tom Molloy, approached the ACC bank and secured a mortgage. We scoured the auctioneers for several months and then a suitable location arose in Co Tipperary. In 2006, PAWS moved to Mullinahone County Tipperary, 12 miles from Kilkenny City.
Since 1997 PAWS, has rescued, vaccinated, neutered and rehomed thousands of dogs and as 70% of these were adults, our neutering programme has prevented millions of unwanted puppies being born and consequently dumped in ditches, dustbins and dog pounds. Sometimes we feel like giving up and giving in but then somebody says a kind word or calls to visit, with a happy, healthy adored pet, which when it originally came in to our care was a quivering, ravenous, petrified mess. Days like those give you the strength to carry on that extra mile.
As you may know, we at PAWS depend totally on the public to help us to keep our doors open to abandoned and abused animals. The Dept of Agriculture very kindly give us a grant each December, sadly, however, this only covers a small portion of the running costs, which run to an average of 450,000 euro a year. The rest is made up from flag days, fundraisers and donations.
We, at PAWS now find ourselves under serious pressure. Our biggest expenses being veterinary fees.Usually 140,000 to 150,000 per year. We never seem to reduce the debt because of the vast volume of dogs coming through our doors, for a rescue our size to handle an average of ten dogs a week for vaccination, worming, neutering and microchipping is extremely difficult financially.
Check out our recent appearance on Nationwide from Jan 2022, on our YouTube channel
If you can help in any way. Fundraise, adopt, foster, lobby, please get in touch. We leave you with this thought:
Every day of our lives, each one of us gets out of bed, puts our feet on the floor and drearily face the working day.
Since we started PAWS that has changed.
We know we are making a difference.. against the odds..
It has been a long and bumpy road and we have hit many potholes along the way.
I still thank God each day; for the people like us all over this island, who make a difference,
For our Vets Southview Clinic in Clonmel & Beaufield Veterinary in Celbridge, who have unbelievable patience,
I thank God for our underpaid and overworked team who give their time and compassion to try to ease the burden,
But most of all we thank God for YOU, our supporters, because without you, we would not be here today and we would be unable to keep our doors open to those in need. Believe me, together, we have made a Difference
There is no going back now, for if we stop tomorrow.. What will happen to those unheard voices ?
We MUST go on, despite lack of Government support,
We MUST go on despite lack of funds,
We MUST go on because we have to..
Because somebody has to..