Well it looks like there are some questions to answer.
First of all we all had Farms with the result we all had Cattle and some had Sheep and Cattle so everyone had a Dog to handle the Cattle and Sheep. Therefore there was no such thing as adoption.
You need to know the culture of the Country and how it works.
There was one Vet in the town and he had to take care of a very large area. The only thing that I ever knew of him doing was Geld Horses.
Hmmmm, I grew up on a farm, in farm country with cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs and cats. We had one vet to serve our large agricultural area. He spayed and neutered dogs and cats. In fact, growing up I had several dogs as a child/teen. Each one was “fixed”. We also had cats. The housecats we “fixed”, but the barn cats were allowed to progate. They seemed pretty important to keep the mouse population down in the grain and hay storage areas. Every so often, a cat would disappear - I suppose a fox or a hawk would get one now and then. But we NEVER drowned them. Cats were most welcome on our farm and at all our neighbors’ places.
The way we did it was very humane. We took them as soon as they were born. Put them in a Burlap Bag with a small rock. Put it in a Pool of Water and in thirty seconds they were gone because there Lungs were still very tiny.
You can sugar-coat it all you want. It is not at all humane. It is cruel.
Somebody said something about it setting a bad example to the next generation and that maybe it would lead to them hurting or killing people. This has been handed down for hundreds of years in Ireland and there were very few if any murders in Ireland. THe only thing the Cops had to worry about was to see if you had a Licence for your Dog and when you wenrt into the Town at night you had a Light on your Bicycile. At least where I came from.
There was no Crime.
But they see nothing wrong with drowning puppies or kittens…

That is NOT normal.
IT was not done to be mean or cruel. It was done as a necesity. Keep telling yourself that. There were/are better ways.
Everybody knows everybody for miles around. The reason there are no Zip Codes in Ireland. The Mailman knows everyone. And this what to do with the price of tea? Drowning is still a cruel and inhumane way to die. It is backwards.
Antrim