Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Dublin homeless man honoured for pet rabbit river rescue

A homeless man who rescued his pet rabbit from the River Liffey has been presented with a 'compassionate citizen award', by the animal charity Aran.



John Byrne (38) who has spent the last 22 years living on the Dublin's streets, said he had been sitting on O'Connell Bridge about ten days ago when a youth came along and grabbed rabbit Barney by the ears, flinging the animal into the river.

Mr Byrne said he had been told a farmer from Tipperary had already offered him a job working with animals and it offered the possibility of gaining his own home. He said he would be happy to consider the offer even though he had a girlfriend and three children living in Ballyfermot and "Tipperary is a bit far".


YouTube link.

Mr Byrne who said he had become homeless after domestic issues when he was a young man said being homeless was getting more difficult in recent years due to the weather and a shortage of hostel beds. The Garda said a youth had been charged with cruelty to animals in connection with the incident and would appear in court later this month.

3 comments:

cath said...

It's a long, long way to Tipperary. Or so I've heard.

Anonymous said...

"...when a youth came along and grabbed rabbit Barney by the ears, flinging the animal into the river."

This is a broken human being. It can't be repaired or rehabilitated. It has no inherent value to society. Simply incinerate it and sterilize those who spawned it.

Insolitus said...

"This is a broken human being. It can't be repaired or rehabilitated. It has no inherent value to society. Simply incinerate it and sterilize those who spawned it."

This is a broken human being. It can't be repaired or rehabilitated. It has no inherent value to society. Simply incinerate it and sterilize those who spawned it.