Brutal dog death being treated as rumour

The death of a dog in Ballincollig is currently being investigated by Ballincollig Garda Station after it was reported on social media sites that the dog was strangled with its own collar by two youths.

Sergeant Brian Murphy told the Cork Independent that the true circumstances which led to the dog's death are not known and the cause of death has yet to be established. 

On 5 July two young children were playing with Robbie, a Yorkshire Terrier in Classis Lake Estate, Ballincollig, between 4-6pm. 

It was reported that two teenagers approached the children and took the dog from them. They then began to strangle the dog with his own collar and although the dog put up a struggle, the teenagers continued to strangle him. After an amount of time the dog was killed and it was then further reported that the dog was dumped in a wooded area of the estate.

Sergeant Murphy says that for now, this story is being treated as a rumour.

"The Gardaí take accusations of animal cruelty very seriously. A dog has died so that much is certainly true but the circumstances at how the dog came to its death aren't yet established. Investigations in to the incident are currently being carried out and if there was evidence to suggest that such a crime took place then we would deal with it very robustly.

"As far as we can establish there was nothing untoward about the dog's death but investigations are still being carried out."

Anyone who was in the area at the time and who may have witnessed anything suspicious can contact Ballincollig Garda Station on 021-4871222.