Maybe there were charities in the history of the state which polarised opinion like the Animal Heaven Animal Rescue (AHAR) seems to nowadays.
But they would have been few and far between and not heard of near as much as the Crag West, Castleisland facility has been over the past couple of years.
What’s incredible and incomprehensible to a majority of neutral observers is the vehemence in the arguments and stances of both sides.
There’s No Middle Ground
And there are only two sides in this ongoing war of words.There’s no middle ground or no grey areas here. It’s black or white. It seems you have to be on one side or another.
Why is it that a group, which was set up to rescue and care for mis-treated animals, has managed to get under the skin of so many people in the handful of years of its existence ?
Is there a power struggle of some kind at the core of the issue and, if so, what’s the struggle about ?
What money, power or structure does AHAR have that those opposed to it might want ?
Fling in its Face
What, if any wrongdoing, can those who oppose AHAR fling in its face that hasn’t already been flung and found to be not sticking ?
In March of this year, and in the wake of TV and radio investigatory programmes, the charities regulator found that, on the basis of another inspection, it decided not to bring proceedings against the trustees of AHAR under the charities act of 2009.
If the current structure at AHAR was to be dismantled and overthrown what would the dismantlers do to take up the slack of the suffering animals throughout the country and would the animals be any better off.
Liveline Debate
Not for the first time, Joe Duffy’s RTÉ Radio One Liveline carried a lively debate by a representative of both sides this afternoon.
And it concentrated again on the governance of the facility and the modus operandi of the people there and their attitudes to criticism. It also zoned in on the issue of a minor from Northern Ireland who innocently got involved in a Facebook transaction with AHAR.
Welfare of the Animals
The many neutral observers or innocent bystanders would love to know why people on both sides of this gulf of opinion go at each other like dogs at every given opportunity ? What’s behind it and how is it effecting the welfare of the animals?
You can listen to Liveline ‘debate’ from this afternoon with a click on the link here. http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=b9_21190038_53_19-06-2017_
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