
Litter of 13 puppies found in Galway City reunited with mother ‘through the power of community'
The puppies were found by chance by a teenager and it was unclear whether there were abandoned of if their mother was a stray.
Since in the expert hands of MADRA, an appeal was launched to find the mother as concerns grew for her and the puppies' wellbeing.
Today, Monday August 11, four days after the desperate appeal was launched, MADRA has announced the heart-warming update the community was hoping for: the puppies have finally been reunited with their mother.
In a statement, MADRA said: 'While the pups had been receiving round the clock care from dedicated foster carers, nothing compares to the nourishment and comfort of their own mother. This reunion represents the best possible outcome for both the puppies and their mum.'
The Galway charity thanked all those who shared the appeal as they confirmed the puppies had not been abandoned.
The mother, MADRA explained, had been frightened, gotten lost, and given birth alone. Her owners, who are not active on social media, were unaware the pups had been found until the appeal reached them.
The family is now reunited and the puppies will be available for adoption through MADRA once they are old enough.
MADRA added: 'MADRA dogs, the organisation will support them and their mother every step of the way. In keeping with its commitment to responsible animal care, the mother will be spayed once she has fully recovered, ensuring she can enjoy the rest of her life without the strain of further litters.
'MADRA extended heartfelt thanks to everyone who shared its appeal, to the news outlets who amplified the message, and to volunteers for their tireless efforts. This reunion was made possible through the power of community — a shining example of how sharing, caring, and working together can change lives.
'The charity's focus now is on providing ongoing support to the puppies, their mother, and their owners, to ensure the best possible future for them all. Updates on their progress will be shared on MADRA's platforms in the weeks ahead.'
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Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Litter of 13 puppies found in Galway City reunited with mother ‘through the power of community'
On Friday, August 8, the Galway-based rescue organisation shared the story of 13 newborn puppies discovered in a remote area off the N59 in Galway, with no sign of their mother. The puppies were found by chance by a teenager and it was unclear whether there were abandoned of if their mother was a stray. Since in the expert hands of MADRA, an appeal was launched to find the mother as concerns grew for her and the puppies' wellbeing. Today, Monday August 11, four days after the desperate appeal was launched, MADRA has announced the heart-warming update the community was hoping for: the puppies have finally been reunited with their mother. In a statement, MADRA said: 'While the pups had been receiving round the clock care from dedicated foster carers, nothing compares to the nourishment and comfort of their own mother. This reunion represents the best possible outcome for both the puppies and their mum.' The Galway charity thanked all those who shared the appeal as they confirmed the puppies had not been abandoned. The mother, MADRA explained, had been frightened, gotten lost, and given birth alone. Her owners, who are not active on social media, were unaware the pups had been found until the appeal reached them. The family is now reunited and the puppies will be available for adoption through MADRA once they are old enough. MADRA added: 'MADRA dogs, the organisation will support them and their mother every step of the way. In keeping with its commitment to responsible animal care, the mother will be spayed once she has fully recovered, ensuring she can enjoy the rest of her life without the strain of further litters. 'MADRA extended heartfelt thanks to everyone who shared its appeal, to the news outlets who amplified the message, and to volunteers for their tireless efforts. This reunion was made possible through the power of community — a shining example of how sharing, caring, and working together can change lives. 'The charity's focus now is on providing ongoing support to the puppies, their mother, and their owners, to ensure the best possible future for them all. Updates on their progress will be shared on MADRA's platforms in the weeks ahead.'


Agriland
5 days ago
- Agriland
West Cork farmers fundraise by bringing Leap into bloom
Farmers in west Co. Cork have been raising money for Cancer Connect and Kilmacabea GAA club through growing sunflowers for a fundraiser event titled 'Leap in Bloom'. Denis O'Donovan, a dairy farmer from west Co. Cork began participating in fundraising for Kilmacabea GAA club three years ago when the Leap and Glandore-based club was seeking financial aid for a new astroturf pitch. The first fundraiser for the club titled 'Leap Dyno Day' measured the horsepower of local farmers' tractors, testing over 100 tractors on the day. The second fundraiser involved a 24hr tractor rebuild of an old unused David Brown tractor. This year the club wanted to do something different, so they decided to grow sunflowers to raise money for the local GAA club as well as Cancer Connect, a Co. Cork-based charity. O'Donovan, along with farmers Timmy McCarthy, Jerry and Diarmuid O'Donovan, and James and Diarmuid French grew small pockets of sunflowers on their land. Over the August bank holiday weekend, members from Kilmacabea GAA club held a "bucket collection" where by volunteers accepted donations from road users travelling through Leap village over the three days. Anyone who gave money then received a bouquet of sunflowers. O'Donovan spoke to Agriland to highlight the success of the event. He said: "We brought a full community with us when we ploughed the field first, we had help from young and old with u12's right up to the senior members, picking stones and helping with fencing. Karl McCarthy and Rita Ryan. Source: Denis O'Donovan "We also approached the Leap Fun Flowery Club who grew more flowers for us in blue barrels. The dairy farmers had plenty of blue barrels lying around so we just cut them in half and painted them. "One issue we had was the dry weather in May and the sunflowers were slow to grow. So, of course the crows were having a field day because they weren't growing quick enough. "So we got onto the Leap Scarecrow Festival Committee and they gave us four or five scarecrows to put in the sunflower fields, and that got rid of the crows." O'Donovan explained that there is still 0.4ac left of sunflowers, which will be delivered to local hospitals, nursing homes, churches, hotels, and whoever wants to take them. The remaining sunflower field, located just outside Leap village, is still open to the public to pick their own flowers, with an honesty box left there for donations.


Irish Times
6 days ago
- Irish Times
A Dutchman in Clare: ‘It feels very satisfying to walk through your own forest'
When I met Julius Brummelman in the woods of Slieve Aughty, Co Galway, he grasped my hand with an iron grip. I knew then that he was a man who was used to hard work. With his cousin Dylan van Leeuwen, Brummelman built a medieval roundhouse in a beautiful woodland setting in Co Galway during the Covid pandemic. Surrounded by oak trees and bluebells and next to a bubbling stream, it looks exactly like the sort of place an ancient Irish family might have chosen to settle in. Brummelman was born in the Netherlands but has lived in Ireland for many years, having followed his aunt and his cousins here. 'I was three years old when my parents moved to a house within a woodland in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands,' he says. READ MORE 'As a child, I was out in the woods every day. This gave me a strong connection with nature, and later combined with the environmental interests that my parents gave me.' Brummelman has been interested in bushcraft since he was a child. He has taken on a range of challenges, living in the woodlands with only basic tools such as a knife and an axe. The roundhouse made by Julius Brummelman and Dylan van Leeuwen. Photograph: Richard Nairn I watch him lighting a campfire with just a flint to ignite the kindling that he has collected in the woods. He has also become a self-taught film-maker and his YouTube channel, Smooth Gefixt , has an international audience. 'Over the years I have tried to teach myself a variety of woodworking skills,' he says. 'Wood is such a beautiful and easy material to work with. Trees are so useful for everything from making fires to building houses. I am not against cutting trees at all but we should try to do it in a sustainable, balanced way.' [ Ireland's nature lovers on their favourite trees: 'I felt I could talk to it, like going to a good therapist' Opens in new window ] In his practical approach to life, Brummelman says he is 'always happy' to use firewood to heat his house. If demand was higher for timber, he believes that could be a driver for creating more forest cover. With his family, Brummelman has recently bought an area of woodland near Lough Rainey, Co Clare. This is a conventional conifer plantation, but it is beside an ancient woodland with mostly native tree species. 'I saw this as an ideal place to start a conversion from a monoculture plantation to a more mixed woodland,' he says. He will do this conversion in gradual stages, first thinning out the spruce trees and planting native trees in their place. 'The existing conifers will provide cover for the native trees to mature and eventually replace them. With this type of continuous cover forestry, both economic and biodiversity values of the forest grow hand in hand.' Brummelman's late father was a vet and he grew up visiting many farms with him. 'In Ireland I have been talking to many farmers about woodland,' he says. 'I want to encourage farmers to incorporate trees into their farming enterprises. 'Because we don't really have a forest culture any more, most farmers don't think of trees as a useful part of their farming. However, with continuous-cover forestry, the focus can be on individual trees. 'Farmers could go into a forest, manage it carefully and add value to individual trees. In that way they would connect more to their woodland. It feels very satisfying to walk through your own forest which is maturing around you.' [ Most farmers could earn more money by planting trees - why don't they? Opens in new window ] At the Slieve Aughty Centre, he has been planting an agroforestry plot with a variety of native and non-native trees such as sweet chestnut. He has a few favourite tree species. He planted a lime tree in memory of his father, who clearly had a big influence on his son's life. 'I like eating lime leaves as a salad,' he says. 'For forest development in Ireland, I think oak is the most interesting as it can grow rapidly in good soils with very specific management. Although he is passionate about trees, he is also a practical person who knows the benefits that trees and woodland offer. He is very familiar with a variety of European woodlands as he studied Forest and Nature Conservation at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Now Brummelman has qualified as a registered forester and is training in the methods of continuous-cover forestry. Learning new skills and methods keeps him fresh and inspires him to achieve more in reforesting Ireland. Richard Nairn is an ecologist and author