A Dublin woman has described the anger and disgust of seeing her dog return from a pound after nine months reduced down to "skin and bone" and smelling of "poo".
Shauna Clancy from Coolock explained that her dog Roxie - a Presa Canario from the bull mastiff type family - had been taken from her following an altercation with another dog in the area and what followed was a gruelling nine months of endless battles to try and get the pet back.
She was delighted to have "finally won the battle and got her baby home" on Wednesday, but sadly Roxie returned a different dog to the one that left in September.
Posting on Facebook, Shauna said that Roxie came back from the Castleknock pound "skin and bone with her rib cage and spine showing".
"Her paws were full of poo and the smell from her cannot even be described."
"When we brought her into the house, she polished off two bowls of food, not a bother on her.
"It's going to take a long few weeks to get Roxie back to the dog she was in the first picture but she's worth it."
Speaking to Dublin Live, Shauna said that her family's life had changed since the initial incident which took place in August.
"Dad was out in the garden at around 6:30am. The porch door was opened slightly and Roxie managed to edge her way out.
"She made her way down to the neighbours' house. She was in heat and the neighbours' dog could sense that, so he tried to mount her.
"Roxie didn't take to this too kindly and attacked the other dog and injured her."
The neighbours' dog was taken to the vet and costs of €300 were paid for by Shauna and her family.
But the attack had already been reported to the gardai and before long, Roxie was taken away.
She continued: "Ten gardai came to the house along with four dog wardens to take Roxie to the pound.
"We were told by Ashton that we had to pay €56 a week while she was in the pound.
"They said that if we missed a payment, they'd just assume that we didn't care for the welfare of the dog and that they'd put her down."
Shauna alleged that the pound told her that they couldn't even visit Roxie as she was part of an ongoing garda investigation.
She continued: "They said that a file was being sent to the DPP and that we couldn't see Roxie while the investigation was ongoing.
"But, we rang the gardai and they said that the investigation should not affect us seeing her.
"The pound said that visiting her would mess up her 'routine'. They kept saying for nine months that Roxie was in 'great form', that she was 'perfect'.
"But just as she was about to come home, they told me that Roxie might be a 'little bit skinnier' than when she first went in.
"We kept asking the gardai and the pound when we could take her home. Eventually the guards told us that the charges had been dropped and that we could go and collect her."
Ashton told Shauna that the dramatic weight loss was a result of "stress from being in kennels".
Shauna added: "She also looked to have a chunk missing from her tail, as if she had been bitten.
"And when we went to collect her they didn’t even ask my partner Keith for ID to prove who he was."
In total, Roxie had cost Shauna €2,184 but she feels that Roxie had been completely mistreated while in their care.
Roxie was brought to the vet on Thursday night where some startling discoveries were made.
"The vet said that she's 'very badly malnourished' and she has an infection in a cut on her tail. They said the damage wound to her tail was 'fresh' too.
"As well as this, her weight has gone from 42.8kg from this time last year to 32kg now.
Shauna said it's almost impossible to get in touch with the pound since Roxie came home.
"If I could, I would ask them what they spent our money on when it clearly wasn’t for the welfare of our dog or to feed her properly."
"I would ask them do they think it’s OK to have a dog in the state she is in and how they felt so comfortable telling us she was fine for so long when she most definitely isn’t.
"I would like to know are they actually a bit delusional that they think Roxie is actually ok and lost just a 'little' weight when she is skin and bone and why my dog has marks all over her."
She added: "And most importantly what happens to the dogs with no one fighting their corner who are trying to get their babies home.
"Honestly I think the place should be closed and all the dogs re-homed or sent to a place that will actually look after them.
"The grounds alone up there are filthy. There should definitely be an investigation into the place."
This isn't the first allegation of mistreatment of animals at the pound in north Dublin.
There are currently several petitions online that are looking to investigate the pound and even trying to get it shut down.
The petitions allege that owners are "told false information", that animals often live in "desperate" conditions with "no bedding or heat" and that dogs are left "ungroomed" and 'lying in their own "faeces".
They add that the problem has been "going on for years" and that animals are "petrified" while in their care.
Dublin Live has contacted Ashton Pound for a comment.
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