RTÉ Liveline listeners in stitches over viral Valentine's 'Neuter Your Ex' charity stunt

An Irish animal charity's cheeky Valentine's Day fundraiser has gone viral after its organisers had to spell out on live RTÉ radio that they are "only neutering cats" and "don't neuter people".

Galway SPCA sparked a huge reaction online after launching its 'Neuter Your Ex' campaign, offering people the chance to symbolically "cut their ex" out of their lives while helping fund real-life neutering of feral cats.

The tongue-in-cheek post exploded on social media, racking up thousands of interactions in a matter of days, with people sharing the campaign and jokingly tagging friends.

The charity's Facebook post has already picked up around 3,000 likes, more than 1,000 shares and almost 300 comments, as people reacted to the playful fundraising idea.

Many commenters praised the campaign for striking the right balance between humour and helping animals in need, with users describing it as "hilarious", "genius" and "the best Valentine's idea yet".

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Appearing on RTÉ Radio One's Liveline on Tuesday, Galway SPCA's Tara Croke explained the idea to host Kieran Cuddihy, telling him: "So we're offering a neuter your ex campaign."

A baffled Cuddihy replied: "Sorry, Tara? A what?"

"A neuter your ex," Ms Croke repeated. "So you can symbolically cut your ex or anybody you want out of your life. And the money then goes towards neutering real life cats and preventing suffering and overpopulation."

Cuddihy quickly clarified for listeners: "Okay, so I really want to emphasise this is a symbolic neutering of your ex. You're not actually offering to neuter anyone's ex?"

"No, we are only neutering cats. We don't neuter people," Ms Croke replied.

As the presenter joked that it sounded like "a business idea", Ms Croke laughed: "I'll stick with the cats, thank you."

"The response we've had to it, we genuinely weren't expecting it to take off the way it did."

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She added that people are not just submitting ex-partners.

"People are using it, they're submitting their ex-friends, their bosses – anyone, basically, they want just to symbolically remove from their life. We're getting the names sent in."

Explaining how the campaign works, she said: "So when you donate your €30, you give us the name of the person you want, and as we're neutering cats throughout the year, we will be posting pictures of these cats with their new names."

For those who want a gentler option, Ms Croke said the charity is also offering a cheaper alternative.

"And then for those who don't have €30, or don't want to spend the €30, we do offer a €5 parasite treatment, again just to put a little bit of a barrier between those and those they don't want to have around anymore."

When Cuddihy joked about whether anyone might object to seeing their name attached to a feral cat online, Ms Croke replied: "Well, we haven't started the actual neutering yet."

The charity says all funds raised through the viral Valentine's campaign will go towards its Trap, Neuter and Release programme, helping to reduce feral cat overpopulation and improve the welfare of cats across Galway.