Animal welfare organisations have received €6,434,803 under the 2025 Animal Welfare Grants Programme.

The funding was announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon.

Ninety-four animal welfare organisations covering all types of animal rescue and rehabilitation support will be funded under the programme which sees a small increase in funding from last year.

In 2024, funding of €6 million was allocated to 101 animal welfare organisations.

The Animal Welfare Grants Programme provides grants to support the operational activities of registered Animal Welfare Charities, to support them in the delivery of their animal care and animal welfare services.

Animal welfare organisations have welcomed the funding. However, they said the financial support for their work falls short of what is allocated to the Irish horse and greyhound industries on an annual basis.

Budget 25 Funding
Budget 26 allocated €99.1million more of Irish taxpayers’ money to horse and greyhound racing -€79,280,000 for Horse Racing Ireland and €19,820,000 for Greyhound Racing Ireland.

Under the Animal Welfare Grants Programme 2025, this is the list of animal welfare organisations that have received funding:

County: Carlow
Irish Horse Rehoming Programme-€20,000

County: Cavan
Cavan SPCA-€32,252
Kitten Cottage Animal Sanctuary-€13,900
Royal Dog Rescue-€12,025

County: Clare
Burren Animal Rescue-€20,475
Irish Whale & Dolphin Group-€10,000
Second Change Animal Rescue-€31,475

County: Cork
Community Cats Network-€26,000
Cork Animal Care Society-€13,500
Cork Cat Action Trust-€30,000
Cork Dog Action Welfare Group Limited (Cork DAWG) – €69,975
Cork SPCA-€156,950
Homeless Animal Rescue Team – HART-€18,000
Munster Lost & Found Pet Helpline CLG-€30,000
Pauline’s Rescue-€46,050
Rehoming Cork Pets-€13,050
Rural Animal Welfare Resources (RAWR)-€7,000
The Donkey Sanctuary-€320,000
West Cork Animal Welfare Group-€40,725
Wildlife Rescue Cork-€12,000

County: Donegal
Animals in Need CLG- €64,250

County: Dublin
Animal Trust Fund-€14,000
Cats Aid-€21,625
Clondalkin Animal Aid-€14,050
Dog Angels -€8,000
Dogs Aid Animal Sanctuary-€30,000
Fingal SPCA-€16,200
National SPCA-€2,606,825
North County Dublin SPCA-€50,000
North Dublin Cat Rescue -€6,000
St Francis Dispensary for Sick & Injured Animals-€40,000
The Cat & Dog Protection Association of Irl-€46,075
The Irish Blue Cross-€500,000
TNR West Dublin-€15,000

County: Galway
Fellenberg Foundation Ireland Ltd -€14,000
Forgotten Horses Ireland-€18,000
Galway & Claddagh Swan Rescue-€14,800
Galway Cat Rescue-€19,000
Galway SPCA-€96,750
MADRA-€40,000
Pro Animale Ireland CLG-€29,000
Renvyle Cat & Dog Rescue-€18,250

County: Kerry
Animal Help Net Kerry-€30,000
Homes for Unwanted Greyhounds-€15,000
Kerry SPCA-€20,188
KLAWS Kenmare Locality Animal Welfare Society-€20,000

County: Kildare
Kildare & West Wicklow SPCA-€80,000
My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue-€90,000

County: Kilkenny
A Dogs Life-€5,000
Kilkenny SPCA-€24,650

County: Laois
Laois SPCA-€41,250

County: Leitrim
Leitrim Animal Welfare-€35,000

County: Limerick
Deel Sighthound Rescue-€25,000
Limerick Animal Welfare-€120,000
Limerick Feral Cats-€19,000
Molly Moo’s Westie Rescue Ireland-€4,000
Star Rescue CLG-€34,000

County: Longford
Hungry Horse Outside-€100,000
Longford SPCA-€4,000

County: Louth
Drogheda Animal Rescue-€51,563
Dundalk Dog Rescue-€32,000
Louth SPCA-€50,350

County: Mayo
Ainmhithe Animal Rescue-€36,050
Mayo SPCA-€36,375
North West SPCA-€55,800

County: Meath
Back into Daylight Animal Sanctuary-€4,000
Dogs In Distress Ltd-€39,325
Last Hope Animal Charity-€18,000
Leinster Horse & Pony Rescue-€22,150
Meath SPCA-€4,000
Mollie’s Animal Rescue-€14,125

County: Offaly
Offaly SPCA-€44,000

County: Roscommon
Animal Haven Ireland -€4,000
Fairyglen Community Animal Sanctuary-€19,750
Roscommon SPCA-€48,875
TNR South Roscommon-€13,000

County: Sligo
Sathya Sai Sanctuary Trust-€46,000

County: Tipperary
Cappanagarrane Horse Rescue-€11,175
Great Hounds in Need-€12,000
Mo Chara Animal Rescue-€38,000
PAWS-€10,000
Roscrea SPCA-€37,650
The Haven Rescue-€25,000

County: Waterford
Waterford Animal Welfare-€32,000

County: Wexford
Chippers Sanctuary -€6,175
North Wexford SPCA-€53,000
Seal Rescue Ireland CLG-€36,000
Ten Lives Cat Rescue CLG-€8,000
Wexford SPCA-€110,000

County: Wicklow
ASH Animal Rescue-€64,250
Arklow Cat Rescue-€10,000
Irish Horse Welfare Trust-€136,900
Milo’s Mission Rescue-€13,000

Total: €6,434,803

Get in Touch
If you have a tip for an animal welfare issue, an animal news article, a press release, or just want to just reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you. John Tierney, Animal News Ireland/Editor