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Vet urges farmers and dog owners to work together
DOG DEATHS: Vet Danny O'Sullivan from All Care Veterinary Hospital, pictured with Aine Considine, says three dogs have died in the Killarney area due to poisoning. Photo: Michelle Crean
By Sean Moriarty
A Killarney vet is calling on farmers and dog owners to work together and fully understand each other’s needs during the current lambing season - after a recent state of dog deaths.
Danny O’Sullivan, who owns the All Care Veterinary Hospital on Park Road, is making the call following the death of three pet dogs - two of which were in the Fossa area in recent weeks.
Farmers use a legally obtainable drug called Nitroxynil, commonly used for treating fluke in cattle, to poison lands where newborn lambs are grazing with their ewes.
They do this by lacing a carcass of a dead animal with the drug in an effort to keep wild foxes away from their flocks.
However, domestic dogs often eat from the carcass too and results in a painful death for much-loved family pets, he explained.
“Farmers often get bad press, but they are working with animals every day and have a degree of empathy towards domestic animal owners,” Danny said. “Dog owners must keep their dogs on leads at all times too.”
He explained that the drug is available to farmers to treat fluke but questioned the legality of using it for land-poisoning purposes. He added the wild animals, like foxes, could eat the carcass and later die as a result, where other wild animals could in turn eat that carcass further spreading the poison.
“There are two sides to this,” he added. “Dogs will hunt if given the chance, it is in their nature. Sheep will become stressed if they are chased by dogs and often the mother won’t even know her own lamb. That is why the farmers do it. I am not sure if using Nitroxynil this way is the right thing as it spreads via wild animals. I am calling on dog owners to take responsibility and keep dogs on a lead or within their own property, but also ask farmers to re-consider their way of doing things.”
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Fassbender ready for second Le Mans appearance
Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The iconic endurance race is celebrating its […]

Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The iconic endurance race is celebrating its 100th edition next weekend.
The Fossa star has already arrived in the famous French twon where he is involved in a week-long series of engagements including drivers’ parades, autograph sessions and more serious appointments like car safety checks, practice and qualifying.
Like last year, when he finished 16th in the LMGTE Am class, Fassbender has been entered in to the event by the German Proton Competition team with Estonian Martin Rump and the Austrian Richard Lietz.
Fassbender dreams of following the trajectory of fellow Hollywood actors Patrick Dempsey who was second in LMGTE Am class in 2016 and Paul Newman who finished second overall in 1979.
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Ireland’s oldest citizen has Killarney connections
Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week. Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections. The previous record […]

Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week.
Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections.
The previous record was held by 107-year-old Nancy Stewart who died on September 10 2021.
Although born in Belfast, Máirín went to school in the Mercy Convent. Her father was a customs and excise officer and the family moved around a lot eventually coming to Killarney after spells in County Down and Dublin.
Her mother came from the Rathmore area and her father was from Newmarket in County Cork.
She attended the Mercy Convent and has, in previous interviews, recalled growing up on the shores of Lough Lein.
“Neighbours who had three children were given the job of taking me to school,” she said. “They were annoyed because the children were going to school for two or three years but I was put in to the same class as them – my mother had taught me.”
In 2021 she featured in the book ‘Independence Memories: A People’s Portrait of the Early Days of the Irish Nation’, sharing stories of being kept in school in Killarney during an attack on the RIC barracks down the road.
In 1924 she started a degree in science and a diploma in education at University College Cork, before working in the pathology lab in University College Cork’s Department of Medicine for 16 years.
last year she recalled her story on the podcast: ‘Living History – Irish Life and Lore’.
During the broadcast she talked about her parents’ membership of the Gaelic League in 1910; the Spanish Flu in Ireland in 1918; The Black and Tans in Killarney in 1921; the early days of the new Free State; Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932, visiting the Basket Islands in 1929; and working in the UCC medical laboratory from 1932 until 1948.
This week President Michael D. Higgins hosted an afternoon tea event to celebrate the important role that a variety of people have and can play in different communities and Máirín was among the guests of honour.