NI golfer offers home to abandoned pup named after him
They have been nursed back to health and named after golfers who are playing in The Open this week.
The six crossbreed pooches were found in a carrier bag in the Broughshane area after a local dog walker spotted one of the abandoned pups who escaped.
The Dogs Trust in Ballymena was called and took the pups to their rehoming centre, where they found all of them to be underfed.
Following weeks of care, staff at the dog welfare charity have brought the puppies back to full health and named them after top golfers at The Open tournament in Portrush.
One of the collie-crossbreeds, Rory, named after Rory McIlroy, has already found a home while Padraig (after Padraig Harrington), Shane (after Shane Lowry), Tom (after McKibbin) and Justin (after Justin Rose) are still looking for a permanent place.
After learning about the puppies' plight, McKibbin reached out to Dogs Trust.
He told UTV: "My girlfriend and mum were sitting watching and they were listening and seen the Dogs Trust and thought it would be cool to give a dog a home..."
And if Tom walks away from Portrush with both the Claret Jug and a new pup, he said 'that would be pretty special, it would certainly be a week to remember anyway'.
The Open: International visitors share views on Portrush
Sarah Park, assistant manager at Dogs Trust Ballymena, said: "We honestly never saw this coming when we named them this way, we are overjoyed and we can't wait for Tom to go to his new home with Tom."
She added: 'It is truly shocking that these beautiful boys were discarded in a bag like rubbish.
'Thank goodness they were found when they were, or the outcome could have been very different.
'They are now a healthy weight and sweet, playful puppies that are increasing in confidence every day.
'With golf fever hitting Northern Ireland this week with The Open in Portrush, we thought it would be lovely to give them inspiring names as we know they will go on to achieve great things in life.'
The dogs can be found for adoption at Dogs Trust Ballymena's website at www.dogstrust.org.uk/ballymena.
The charity is the UK's largest dog support service caring for over 11,000 dogs every year between their 21 rehoming centres across the UK as well as Dublin.
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