The first hospital capable of caring for animals of all kinds, sizes and needs

Irish pub turns into a veterinary clinic thanks to "Covid-19"

With the dramatic increase in the number of people spending more time in the wild, the percentage of finding injured and abandoned animals taken for treatment has increased.

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Since the closure measures were first imposed in March 2020, Irish pub "Tara na Ri" has closed its doors and has not spilled a drop of drinks, but it has succeeded in attracting a different group of customers, after it turned into the first veterinary clinic for wildlife in the country.

This pub in Naveen, in the north-east of Ireland, has closed its curtains and emptied its machines of the drink, and no longer receives any customers in its main lounge.

But the other rooms in the pub function like a beehive.

On one, a staff member feeds Liam, a two-week-old wild Irish goat head found at the foot of a mountain.

Here, too, three swans nest in old stables, a fearful fox settles in a barn, and a volunteer takes care of a hawk with two big eyes.

"We are used to a certain way of life," said James McCarthy, whose family has owned the bar for more than a decade.

When he took us, we were left with a void.

It takes some time before you start replacing it with other things that you did not previously imagine might be possible.

McCarthy modified the bar with the government-backed organization Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland, making it the first veterinary clinic in the country to care for all kinds of animals.

These facilities, which opened on Friday, are the first animal hospital in Ireland capable of caring for animals of all types, sizes and medical needs.

"We are preparing for orphan season, which is the busiest time of the year," said animal officer Dan Donohear, as he calmed a restless pigeon bird on the examination table.

"We will have a lot of birds, small foxes and other kinds of animals, and we'll stay occupied for the next six months," he said.

According to WHO Education Officer Eva McBartlin, the new veterinary clinic has replaced the bar in the hearts of some customers who volunteered to repair adjacent rooms.

"We hugged them and now they are embracing us," she said of the locals who put in the time and effort to repair the facilities.

While the Republic managed to relatively escape from two previous waves of the "Covid-19" epidemic, the situation worsened greatly after the restrictions were eased before Christmas.

Since the beginning of the new year, all shops, bars, restaurants, gyms and cinemas have been closed, and citizens have been asked to stay at home and not move unless necessary.

But Macbartlin saw this as a positive.

With the dramatic increase in the number of people spending more time in the wild, so has the number of found injured and abandoned animals taken for treatment.

She said, "I think that nature has saved a lot of people during this epidemic ... They have become more aware of wildlife and its existence."

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