CSPCA moves to halt online ‘vendetta’

The Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CSPCA) at Mahon has taken legal action against a former employee who has organised an online campaign alleging that the Society’s committee and employees have no interest in animal welfare.

A CSPCA spokesman claimed that the campaign, run by Glanmire woman, Mary McCarthy, has “given a bad name” to the Society, through posts and comments hosted on a Facebook page, and via an online petition calling for the CSPCA’s committee to disband.

The petition had attracted 1,000 signatures by yesterday afternoon, almost 100 more than 24 hours earlier.

Now, solicitors for the CSPCA at Mahon have warned Ms McCarthy by letter that if the social media page is not removed by January 22nd, they will apply to the Circuit Court for its removal, for an order prohibiting further publication of “defamatory” material, and for costs.

Society PRO Chris Connolly insisted that the organisation—whose committee and staff had found the online campaign “really upsetting”— was the victim of a “vendetta” by Ms McCarthy.

“We have been getting a lot of flak over this. She has gone rightly out of her way. It’s a vendetta,” he said.

Ms McCarthy was an employee of the CSPCA up until last autumn, and claims she left her job over a disagreement with a committee member over a number of dogs, which she felt should not have been euthanised.

Mr Connolly confirmed that there had been such a disagreement, but that the dogs in question had been brought to the centre in Mahon by their owner, who requested that they be put to sleep.

Such a request was not unusual, he said: “You might have a situation after a tragedy or a death, where a family ends up with a dog owned by the person who passed away. And they come here and make a donation, and ask that the animal be put to sleep.”

“We don’t put perfectly healthy animals to sleep,” said Mr Connolly.

“I have absolutely no problem in talking to any one of those people who have signed that petition, and going through what we do at the centre,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Facebook page administered by Ms McCarthy which had its first post recorded last November 18th, continues to attract a steady stream of visitors and comments on a daily basis, inviting signatures to the petition, and suggesting that a peaceful protest be held in the near future.