But there has been an outpouring of anger online after the little dog was thrown into the river on Sunday afternoon. Seeing what was happening, a passing local man confronted the dog’s owner and warned them to get the dog out of the water. 

 

Speaking to the Herald the man, who did not want to be named, said he came across the incident at around 12pm on Sunday. He said the dog owner had thrown the adult Jack Russell-type terrier in the river he believed he was leaving it to drown while his partner looked on, and he only took the dog from the water after he confronted him. 

 

Earlier the local man posted on Facebook: “This disgusting tramp threw his dog in the Kesh river and was leaving it to drown until he seen people coming whilst his partner watched on. They were camped overnight in Kesh marina and were begging for money overnight. Tag and shame them. Don’t need these people in our village.”

 

He later told the Herald: “The dog was thrown from the top of the marina carpark into the river, which is around a 20 or 30 foot drop,” he said. “I saw it happening so I went down to the man and told him to get the dog out of the water. Where it happened there was no chance of it getting out by itself. Other places there might be a banking or somewhere for it to climb out, but there was nothing there.”

 

He said the dog was later believed found in Killadeas where the man said it was allegedly “kicked out” of a car.  The dog warden was contacted and is understood a local family had since taken the dog in.  

 

The Kesh man who confronted the dog owner also photographed him and his car, which had a Southern registration. The photos were shared over 2,500 times on Facebook, with many people expressing their anger at the owner, branding them “scum.” Many also reported seeing the car near caravans at Stewart’s car park in Enniskillen later on Sunday. 

 

Many of the angry Facebook users said the man responsible – who appeared to be wearing shorts and a T-shirt – should have been thrown into the river. Many of the comments were unprintable.

 

The local man who confronted the dog owner said he was happy with the massive response to his post, stating that “at least it highlights who the person was.”

 

Such incidents of dog abandonment are not unusual in Fermanagh, according to Mike Schieffer from Bright Eyes Animal Sanctuary 

 

“This is a common scenario, unfortunately,” he said. “Incidents like this happen on a regular basis, and we don’t always find out about them. There are occasions it even happens outside here, where a dog is dumped or tied up. 

 

“It’s very hard to ascertain why people do this. We never know why someone dumps a dog.” 

 

Mr Schieffer said anyone who found an abandoned dog should contact the dog warden via Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, explaining Bright Eyes took dogs from the pound “as a matter of course.” 

 

Currently, Bright Eyes’ 40-kennel facility is filled to capacity, such is the demand for their services. Mike urged people to still get in touch if they needed to surrender a dog, however, stating there was a waiting list and the sanctuary was always willing to offer advice to dog owners.