ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS have urged members of the public not to be taken in by any more social media trends regarding animals as they said they are still caring for animals surrendered during the last one. 

The DSPCA said that it is still caring for 15 ducks which were surrendered to it during the height of Covid lockdown last year. 

It emerged last year that farmers were selling ducklings wholesale to people who were then selling them on the street. For example, a farmer might sell 100 ducklings to someone who will then sell them for €5 each.

One farmer was believed to have supplied hundreds of ducklings in the greater Dublin area, according to the animal rights charity.

The DSPCA described incidents of young people buying the ducklings for as little as €3. 

The trend started on social media site TikTok. 

However, Gillian Bird, head of education at the DSPCA, has pleaded with the public to not be taken in by the “inevitable next trend”.

“We still have around 15 ducks here that were surrendered. We took in over 150 ducklings and they’re the ones that stayed with us – they do require care. What we want to say to people is that they do require specialist care.

“Please don’t do anything stupid this year and be conscious about social media trends. Don’t be taken in by them. It means that these animals will come to us for care. As you can see, they are still being taken care of now. 

“Next time, there’s something going viral, just think.”