Two stay XL Bullys were captured by two members of An Garda Síochána and The Dog Warden in North Kilkenny yesterday.
The restricted breed has been implicated in a number of deaths and injuries in recent months leading to owners facing extra controls.
Garda Andy Neill was involved in the early morning capture of the animals and told KCLR News; “We were assisted by the county dog warden and emergency cover, indeed a chap travelled from Dún Laoghaire, and we picked up two strays in the Castlecomer Policing District, both were believed to be XL Bullys, they were extremely placid but the dog in particular was extremely large and extremely heavy, it took the best efforts of three guys to get it into a garda vehicle”.
It’s as such pets are being discovered abandoned across the country.
Garda Neill says it’s not yet known if that’s what happened in this instance, or if the pair escaped from their home somehow, noting; “We can’t establish in this case, it’s indeed a possibility, but nationally this is a trend, we can’t say we’re certain they were dumped, but we can say this is ongoing, it’s very serious”.