In July 2009, Lynne, Vanessa and Chris funded a trip to Ireland to see the animal rescue situation there first-hand, visiting two rescue centres: ASH Animal Rescue in the East near Dublin and Galway SPCA in the West. In 2008, more than 14,000 abandoned dogs, mostly healthy, were put down by dog pounds in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This compares to just 3,000 in mainland UK, despite the fact there are 10 times more people. The recession is expected to cause a surge in abandoned pet numbers for 2009.

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It's a dog's life in Northern Ireland

Struggling shelters forced to put down 10,000 dogs last year