(If
you read the article online ... scroll down to see many interesting comments)
Greyhound
tracks are closing and the industry isn't doing enough to care for the thousands
of dogs who face an uncertain fate
Michele Hanson Guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 March 2010 13.59 GMT
Portsmouth
greyhound track may soon be closing down. The owner denies it, and says
he in negotiations, but dog racing is in
decline. Walthamstow and Reading stadiums have recently closed, and if
Portsmouth goes too, 220 greyhounds will be in trouble
and need rescuing. That's on top of the other 10,000 a year that are unfit
to race – too old, injured or not up to scratch – and so
thrown on the scrapheap.
Owners
and trainers are meant to pay £200 for the care of each retired
dog, but they're not always keen to do that, even though the
industry is making squillions (bookmakers make about £2.34bn gross
annual profit), and may try a cheaper disposal method. A couple
of years ago, a rather unsavoury fellow in Durham had shot thousands of
greyhounds in the head for £10 a pop, for licensed trainers,
but he was an exception. We hope.
People
working in the industry say that the dogs are happy, don't need much of
a walkie, take no drugs, are well fed and looked after
because they need to be healthy to race. There are good and bad owners
and trainers, but as soon as you put humans, animals and
money into an equation, you're going to have problems, and it's difficult
to warm to an industry that dumps 10,000 dogs a year.
Campaigners
for greyhound welfare suggest that the dogs are not happy cooped up in
a smallish pen with another dog, and are busting
to run by the time they race. They're stuffed with drugs and thrown away
when their short racing life is over, aged between three and five
years old. On top of that, about 15,000 puppies seem to disappear annually,
because they weren't much good at racing and never even
made the race track.
The
lucky ones get to a regulated track (the industry regulates itself), which
has its own attached re-homing centre, some good, some
not. Unregulated "flapping" tracks are usually grimmer –
more crowded, worse conditions, and the redundant dogs are off in a lorry
to God knows where. Horrible stories abound. One independent rescue centre
in the north of England has a wall of shame, listing the
situations and conditions in which the hundreds of abandoned dogs were
found. When I was a child in the 50s, half an Alsatian was
found in the freezer of a local restaurant. Uproar. The story hit the
local headlines. That was half a dog. Now we have tens of thousands
of dogs disappearing and hardly anyone bats an eyelid.
Perhaps
we don't want to think about it. You need a strong stomach and a will
of iron to plunge into the world of greyhound rescue.
The website pictures of dead and injured dogs stick in your head, along
with the knowledge that people really are that cruel and greedy.
Greyhound owners can be identified by tattoos in the dogs' ears. But ears
can be, and are, cut off.
In
Spain, the greyhound (galgo) problem is even more harrowing and massive.
Galgos are used to hunt hares; they're for chasing, not racing.
They're often poorly fed and kept in hovels. The season lasts from September
to February and dogs are usually kept for only one season. Too
stingy to keep them until the next one, the owners get rid of them in
various grisly ways: hanging them from trees, throwing them down wells,
mutilating and abandoning them – about 50,000 annually, so life
for our greyhounds is a comparative breeze.
Luckily
our refuges find homes for a few rescued galgos, and for about 5,000 of
our own 10,000 surplus greyhounds a year. So why not rescue
one? Go on. They make fabulous pets. They're very relaxed, almost lazy,
elegant, beautiful, sensitive, serene, gentle with children, hardly bark
and don't need constant attention. They may mistake a Jack Russell for
a rabbit in the early days, before you've had time to retrain them, they
may not be keen to come back when called. Otherwise I cannot fault them.
But I can fault the owners and bookies. They need to spend a lot
more on the dogs that have made them their fortunes.
The
killing tracks of Britain 02/02/10 Greyhound Watch
The
killing tracks of Britain
2
February 2010
Clive Ellis
It's
the penultimate race of the mid-day meeting on 13 January at Hall Green
greyhound track,
Birmingham. As the dogs hurtle down the back straight a stomach-churning
crack is heard across the
stadium and Gulleen Star quickly pulls up. According to the dog's trainer
Alan Bodell, the black
male had "smashed his hock (left) completely in half." The trainer
further ads: "You just have to
put them out of their misery as quick as possible. I've been in it (greyhound
racing) long enough
now to know what happens, it's just not nice."
The
average age for a greyhound to retire from racing is about 3 ½
years after competing in
approximately 50 races. Length of career, however, varies greatly and
is frequently brought to an
abrupt and sometimes horrific end through injury.
It
is thought as many as 1,000 greyhounds are put-to-sleep annually following
injuries sustained in
races and trials on British tracks. And to put that into context, the
figure is more than 10 per
cent of new registrations in 2009 for greyhounds to compete on tracks
regulated by the Greyhound
Board of Great Britain (GBGB).
Bodell
justifies the death of Gulleen Star by saying greyhounds are for racing
and the dog was doing
what he enjoyed. It's a line repeated by trainers over and over again
who further justify the
exploitation and abuse of greyhounds by referencing horse racing - a sport
that in the state of
Victoria, Australia, will see a ban on jump racing at the end of the 2010
season following the death
of 'just' 20 horses over a two year period.
The
extreme and unusual weather seen across much of Britain in January saw
many greyhound meetings
cancelled but where racing was not interrupted it was business as usual
with an ever increasing
number of greyhounds getting 'smashed-up'.
For
Loughmore Boy race eight at Peterborough on 2 January was to be his last.
The beautiful black
male collided with Kangaroo Brice on the back straight putting Loughmore
Boy into the fence and
shattering his left foreleg. Trainer Bryn Ford said the dog was in "such
distress, frothing at the
mouth. it looked like he was dying of shock." The track vet quickly
ended the animal's suffering out
of sight of spectators watching from the restaurant and bars.
At
Oxford the following day Kilkeedy Blue was PTS after breaking his right
hock whilst negotiating
turn one and a week later Ardera Express broke his neck after he was bumped
and knocked over on the
Kinsley track, again whilst negotiating turn one.
Incidents
such as the two above bring into question the configuration of tracks
that essentially
comprise long straights leading into tight bends. Put six greyhounds into
the mix and it's a recipe
for disaster with numerous incidents occurring as the dogs hurtle into
turn one (109 dogs recorded
falling/brought down in turn one in January alone against dogs not finishing/finishing
at distance
(with the true figure likely many more)).
Malbay
Katie survived the first corner but sadly not the second when running
at Doncaster on 22
January. The steward's comment read as follows: Blk1, Ck2 (baulked 1,
checked 2). In reality the
blue female was brought down and her right hind leg was "ripped-off"
from above the hock, according
to trainer Keith Davis, who further added: "Every dog went into the
corner together and she was the
meat in the sandwich."
Davis,
who described the accident as both "horrendous" and "freak,"
sounded genuinely upset when
talking about the loss of Malbay Katie but was philosophical also: "Once
the dogs leave the trap
unfortunately they are on their own and you have to take what comes."
Many
greyhounds are rightly PTS following injury but a large number are also
destroyed solely on
economic grounds. Indeed the GBGB conveniently provide a box for owners
to tick on the 'retirement'
form for precisely such an occasion (not applicable to national champions
that are worth their
weight in gold as breeding machines).
Another
greyhound to break a hock at Hall Green in January was Glenske Sky. This
dog, however, was
to possibly escape the veterinarian's needle. Trainer Gerry Ballentine
had the greyhound examined
the following day but apparently the injury was a "big job"
with "no guarantee there's going to be
any results at the end of it." The small detail of which hock it
was Ballentine couldn't remember
and the black female was PTS on 12 January.
Hock
fractures are one of the most common career ending injuries and invariably
result in the animal
being euthanased. Skywalker Brenda was no exception when her right hock
gave way whilst competing at
Poole on 15 January. The black female was just 24 months old.
And
snapping a foreleg at Perry Barr, Birmingham on 24 January saw Fida Cascada
join the tally of
greyhounds to lose their life in the first month of racing this year,
all in the name of sport, all
soon forgotten. There is little room for being sentimental in greyhound
racing and dogs can be
replaced for a relatively modest sum of money.
In
January stewards recorded greyhounds not finishing/finishing at distance
346 times - a figure
covering 344 dogs. A further 93 dogs were recorded lame or 'brokedown'.
How many are to race again
remains to be seen. How many were PTS is impossible to say - the industry
makes sure of that.
Injuries to greyhounds (believed a five figure total annually) and greyhounds
PTS following injury
is the most sensitive and guarded subject within racing.
What
the GBGB will tell you is in excess of quarter of a million pounds has
been spent on track
safety improvement projects in recent years but if feedback from trainers
is anything to go by, it
has had at best only a marginal impact on the frequency and nature of
injuries greyhounds sustain.
Who
would have thought that in Britain we have animal welfare law intended
to protect animals from
pain, suffering and injury.
GA
Comment : Greyhound Action has issued press releases to the relevant local
media about all the fatal injuries mentioned above,
in the hope that this will persuade even more people not to attend or
bet on greyhound racing and to try to make sure that these poor
dogs have not suffered and died in vain.
A
considerable amount of publicity has been obtained, which will, hopefully,
hasten the demise of commercial greyhound racing, and
bring the day closer when no more dogs fall victim to this evil industry.
Birkenhead
greyhound trainer Ian Street admits animal cruelty charges Liverpool
Echo Jan 22 2010
A
GREYHOUND racing trainer faces jail after inflicting “terrible suffering”
on nearly 30 dogs.
Ian
Street, 49, had 29 greyhounds confiscated when his premises were raided
last April.
Of
those, eleven were in such a state that animal welfare charges were brought
against him by Wirral Council.
Street,
of Bedford Avenue, Birkenhead, leant on the dock at Wirral Magistrate’s
Court as the animals’ misery was detailed yesterday.
Kenneth
Abraham, prosecuting, described the scene at Hillcroft Farm, Frankby Road,
Frankby, where the dogs were kept.
He
told the court: “A greyhound called Dancer had gingivitis and scabs
on her feet.
“Tex
had complete hair loss on his back half and scabs on his ears.
“Sal
had thinning hair and redness to her skin.
“The
vet who examined the dogs confirmed these were all illnesses that would
have been spotted by a responsible dog owner who would have sought appropriate
advice.”
After
Street admitted failing to protect the animals from pain, suffering, injury
and disease, chairwoman of the bench Linda Tragen warned him: “It
is up to you to co-operate with the probation service on a pre-sentence
report which may include a community penalty or indeed custody.”
He
was also ordered not to give away any animals he was keeping at other
properties and to make them available for inspection.
Ann
Downey, enforcement officer with Wirral Council environmental health team,
said: "This was a particularly difficult case to investigate because
of the number of animals involved and the level of suffering we witnessed.
"We
are pleased that the hard work that had gone into preparing and presenting
the evidence has paid off with the guilty plea.
"The
conditions in which these greyhounds were kept were simply not acceptable
and it's clear that a number of them suffered terribly as a result of
his neglect.
"Mercifully
all of the dogs have now fully recovered and have all found new homes
as a result of the efforts of Greyhound Rescue West of England, whose
hard work and assistance has been invaluable throughout."
Street’s
sentencing was adjourned until February 15.
RAY Winstone and footballers David Beckham and Teddy Sheringham are
campaigning to save Walthamstow Dog Track.
The legendary track and its nightclub Charlie Chan's are a London landmark
and were even featured in Guy Ritchie's film Snatch. Sheringham said at
a
rally on Saturday he hoped the stadium would not be demolished but would
become "bigger and better than even before".
The rally was held to oppose plans by developer London & Quadrant, who
will
be submitting a planning application to Waltham Forest council later this
month. The plans went on show for the first time on Saturday, and the locals
were horrified by them.
Save Our Stow spokesman Rick Holloway tells me: "The council's planning
brief specified 200 homes in buildings no higher than three storeys and
a
requirement that the listed parts of the stadium - the front facade and
the
kennel block - must remain visible from most parts of the site.
"L&Q proposed 490 homes in seven-storey blocks, totally blocking
the views.
The audacity and arrogance of L&Q are unbelievable. Almost 25,000 people
have already signed our petition against this shocking plan. On Saturday
dozens of locals came up to me asking for us to keep fighting.
Teddy
Sheringham: Save Walthamstow Greyhound Stadium
Former
England footballer Teddy Sheringham has joined a campaign against a
development on the site of Walthamstow Greyhound Stadium
The stadium closed in August 2008 but the campaign - Save Our Stow - has
been launched to save the track from demolition. Supporters include
Sheringham, actor Ray Winstone and West Ham co-owner David Sullivan, who
wants to bring greyhound racing back to the arena.
Sheringham said: "I want to wish good luck to the campaign. It's
an
important part of the area."
Site owner London and Quadrant, which wants to build a housing estate,
says
it is not for sale.
GA
note: Walthamstow is currently closed ... click
here for more infoabout
the closure and here
for more info about the fate of the dogs
HUGE
LOSSES FOR BRITAIN'S LARGEST GREYHOUND STADIUM OPERATOR ... various sources
According
to a recent article in the Daily Telegraph, the GRA (formerly known as the
Greyhound
Racing Association), which operates 5 of Britain's 27 major dog tracks (more
than any other
company), suffered an 11% fall in revenue last year, together with a 41%
drop in operating profits.
The
GRA lost £1.6m in 2007 and this would
have increased to over £2m last year,
had the company not
sold off its Portmouth track (which is now being run by a local business,
but is earmarked for
demolition in the near future as part of a development scheme).
The
GRA's 2008 annual report stated that attendances
fell by a further 2% at its tracks, which
"experienced a shortfall in corporate bookings for both entertaining
clients and Christmas parties".
Punters
were obviously spending less too, with restaurant diners down 16,000 from
2007.
The
Racing Post has since reported that the GRA intends to close the main
stand at its Wimbledon
greyhound stadium and scrap Tuesday night meetings there from January
1st, in a desperate attempt to
keep the track alive.
This
very encouraging news has, to a considerable extent, been brought about
by local Greyhound
Action supporters, who have been staging regular demonstrations and leafletting
outside three of the
GRA's five dog tracks, to encourage the public not to attend greyhound
racing.
Weekly
demos/leafletting at Belle Vue (Manchester), Hall Green (Birmingham) and
Wimbledon (see pics
at http://tinyurl.com/GRA-Demos)
have helped drive down attendances and force these tracks to the
brink of closure.
Now
is the time to finally drive them over the edge by giving support to these
campaigns. Contact us
at info@greyhoundaction.org.uk
or on 01562 700 043, if you'd like to take part or go to www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/donations.html
to make a contibution towards the cost of the many
thousands of leaflets (plus posters and banners) needed to bring about
success.
Revealing
interview with Oxford greyhound trainer Michael Peterson by GreyhoundWatch
Ruby
for sale due to new stock arriving
8 October 2009
Clive Ellis
In a fanciful article (courtesy of Our Dogs, 15 August 2008), Greyhound
Star editor, Floyd Amphlett, conjured up a romantic image of greyhound
racing that had little in common with reality. “You build a
kennel” writes Amphlett, “buy a greyhound, pay for its
registrations, inoculations and the rest, apply for a licence and
then race at your closest track. It is a hobby not so different to
those of you readers of Our Dogs who enjoy agility training, fly-ball,
or other assorted fun activities with dogs.”
Amphlett’s very evident fertile imagination is surely wasted
as editor of a minority ‘news’ paper. The survival of
racing is increasingly dependent on professional trainers such as
Michael Peterson and indeed survival for the trainer is dependent
on running a large number of dogs. Peterson’s kennel strength
stood recently at 96 and he was to remark: “You need that many
to pay the bills.”
Peterson, attached to Oxford , freely admits the ‘sport’
of greyhound racing is in turmoil, and in a series of forthright conversations
was to provide an insight into the difficulties facing trainers and
the dog’s welfare.
It was dialogue instigated through yet another report of a greyhound
found abandoned; a greyhound on this occasion that was raced and retired
under Peterson. The white and black male called Chapelane Tom was
picked up in the Croydon area mid July and taken to a dog pound. Luckily
he was found a foster home and now has a secure future but who last
owned Chapelane Tom had yet to be established.
The industries regulatory body should receive a completed form detailing
the fate of all greyhounds retired but no such form for Chapelane
Tom was ever received. Not to worry, Peterson keeps a record of his
dogs. Unfortunately the book in question (for greyhounds retired in
2006) could not be found. The trainer, however, believed Chapelane
Tom was adopted through the Watford branch of the National Animal
Welfare Trust and had no doubt the dog was not homed independently.
Just four greyhounds have been adopted through the above branch in
recent years and Chapelane Tom was not one of them. The search, however,
for the 2006 book would continue or so the person making the inquiry
was told.
Peterson has been training greyhounds for the last 7 years and took
over from his father who has 45 years experience as a trainer. He
is a major player at Oxford and a serious contender in this year’s
Trainers Championship that is based on the number of winners.
It might seem a glamorous life but Peterson is running a business
and the retirement of greyhounds is an additional drain on resources:
“It’s hard to home racing greyhounds. The finances in
this sport are piss poor. A lot of trainers are basically just covering
their cost which to be honest with you I am. I am not making bundles
of money, I’ve got a young family and I have eight to nine dogs
here that need homing.”
Practical and ultimately financial considerations have seen an ever
increasing number of trainers off-loading greyhounds independently.
Peterson works with a number of rescues but keeps his options open:
“I’m not being funny, anywhere possible to home a racing
greyhound, ye know, anywhere.”
The trainer speaks favourably about Greyhounds 4 U (G4U) - a rescue
that interestingly does not agree with yearly vaccinations, conventional
wormer or flea treatment. Peterson’s dogs available for adoption
through G4U are on occasion still running. Tragically that was the
case for Aintsheapeach. The beautiful blue brindle female had been
seeking a home through the rescue since May 2009 but was never to
enjoy retirement. On 4 September 2009 Aintsheapeach was put-to-sleep
after breaking her right hock in a BAGS meeting at Oxford .
Asked how many dogs he has lost at the track this year Peterson replied:
“This year, probably four.” It was a question put to him
in September and so whatever the actually figure might be, expect
it to be higher come the end of December.
Aintsheapeach is one of a staggering 129 dogs to run on licensed tracks
under Peterson during 2008. 69 greyhounds ceased running under Peterson
during the same year of which 31 are not subsequently recorded racing
(under a different trainer). Only 6 greyhounds from the latter figure
are listed on greyhound-data.com either available for adoption or
adopted.
Above figures highlight a movement of greyhounds that may surprise
many outside the business of racing. Murtz Keano ran in Ireland before
running on licensed British tracks under trainers S A Cahill, E Hall
and M Daniels. The greyhound subsequently ran just 4 races under Peterson
at Oxford and is now running in Denmark .
A new race owner is now sought for black female Reisk Ruby. The Peterson
dog, born July 2007, is offered for sale “due to new stock arriving.”
The terminology he uses is of course highly appropriate for a ‘sport’
in which the greyhound is just a commodity - essentially a betting
medium - that official’s record in ‘units’. Ruby
commands the relatively modest sum of £800 o.n.o.
The financial difficulties facing trainers are further compounded
by the ‘elusive’ owner, as Peterson explains: “Say
an owner gets himself into debt for some reason or can’t afford
his kennel bill no more, suddenly you can’t get hold of the
owner and then you’ve got 3 or 4 dogs lumbered with you. And
to be honest with you 90 per cent of the time that’s what happens.”
And it is an issue for Peterson that cannot be underestimated: “I’ve
got one owner that has moved up to near Newcastle and I can’t
get hold of him. He basically owes me nearly 3½ thousand pounds
which in this sport is a hell of a lot of money… He’s
got one dog here, she’s four years old, OK, so… she’s
probably got about 3 - 6 months left in her racing career tops and
then basically I am lumbered with the bitch. I am lumbered with the
bitch now because I can’t get hold of him.”
Peterson’s finances are further stretched this year after he
was found in breach of rules 174 (i)(b) and 217 at a Disciplinary
Committee Hearing on 14 April 2009 and fined £600. The judgement
was made in relation to a urine sample that was taken from greyhound
Arco Grace and found to contain procaine - a drug that can affect
a dog’s performance and/or well being.
Arco Grace was available for adoption through G4U but is now with
Oxford Retired Greyhound Trust who collected the dog from Petersons
kennels on 6 October. A person speaking on behalf of the branch said
of the greyhound: “It’s the worst bitch (health wise)
we’ve ever picked up from any stadium and in actual fact he
(Peterson) should be reported to the RSPCA.”
It’s all a far cry from the romantic image conjured up by Amphlett.
Peterson describes the business of racing as a “very tough place,
especially at the moment with the current financial climate.”
And ads: “The sport itself is in turmoil, absolute turmoil.”
Since 1926 a total of 111 tracks were licensed under the now obsolete
National Greyhound Racing Club. Under the newly formed Greyhound Board
of Great Britain there remain only 27. The industry is crumbling and
Peterson earmarks four tracks whose future would seem precarious:
“Tracks like Coventry ; how they survive I just do not know.
There’s been a question mark over Hove for the last couple of
years. Portsmouth , I think they’ve got probably a year maximum
left on their lease… Wimbledon ’s another one. (There
has been) a question mark over Wimbledon for the last few years.”
From a welfare point of view and looking essentially long term, the
closure of any track is of course good news. It is true the industry
is responding to the outrage felt by an ever increasing number of
people regarding the treatment of greyhounds but it would be naïve
to think that any welfare initiatives are driven primarily for any
reason other than wanting to protect the business of racing.
Many readers might have issue with Peterson. Many might have concern
for the number of greyhounds the trainer has lost through injury or
the 25 dogs not listed on Greyhound Data either available for adoption
or adopted. Of greater concern, however, should be the fact that in
the world of greyhound racing Peterson is one the good guys.
Put very simply the humane treatment of greyhounds and commercial
greyhound racing are incompatible and that will never change. And
in case you are wondering, Peterson never did find his 2006 book.
The
industry’s necessity to achieve UKAS accreditation and the implementation
of imposed welfare changes, without any increased funding from the gambling
industry, is already proving disastrous for the GBGB.
The introduction of new kennel inspections, micro chipping and drug sampling,
have culminated in the Greyhound Trainers Association chairwoman –
Norah McEllistrim – calling for a ‘Vote of No Confidence’
in the GBGB and Stuart Locke-Hart, who represents greyhound owners on
the GBGB board declaring ‘I believe the CEO’s [Ian Taylor]
position has become untenable and he should resign’.
The Racing Post’s coverage of the rows, also forced an impromptu
meeting to discus what Jim Cremin – the greyhound editor –
has described as ‘the biggest crisis the sport has faced in the
36 years I have worked within it’
Concerns
were immediately raised over a new kennel inspection form, which had been
hastily produced following the exposure of the Eve Blanchard’s kennels.
The new criteria details a time consuming inspection of the premises and
of individual greyhounds by an RCVS registered vet. The form’s accompanying
guidelines stipulate ‘All dogs should be inspected and be free from
signs of disease including bed sores, and dental disease’ and ‘All
greyhounds must be free from external parasites’. The inspecting
vet also has to certify whether a dog has any infectious diseases.
In an interview to the Greyhound Star, Norah McEllistrim
responded to the perceived extra costs, stating ‘Knowing the exorbitant
charges administered by some vets, that could work out to hundreds of
pounds that we simply don’t have. If the GBGB want the job done,
then they should pay for it because we cannot and will not!’
In
order to pacify the trainers and dismiss the extra cost as minimal, the
newly installed Veterinary Director – Simon Gower - has trivialised
the inspection of dogs, stating ‘‘When kennelling dogs for
racing, a vet should be able to examine 80+ dogs within a 30- 40 minute
period. I would expect that a suitably trained veterinary surgeon would
be able to do the same during a kennel visit’.
Mr Gower also sates ‘As a guide, local authority inspections of
boarding kennels can be expected to be charged at up to £120, and
I would anticipate that most greyhound trainers kennels would command
a fee of up to this. The welfare of our racing dogs is the prime concern
for us all’
Despite
Mr Gower’s apparent concern for the welfare of racing dogs, he fails
to consider in his comparison of £120, the local authority inspection
of boarding kennels do NOT include the inspection of any animals but focuses
purely the establishment.
However,
perhaps Mr Gower would care to make a video similar to the ‘Microchip
Training Guide for Vets’ – showing us exactly how a greyhound
can be diagnosed free from infectious, dental and skin diseases, in less
than 30 seconds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRaYgHAs5M
The
next issue of contention has been the introduction of micro chipping,
which the GBGB claim will be a requirement of the new welfare regulations,
as yet to be announced following Defra’s recent consultation.
However,
a six month pilot scheme conducted earlier this year by the GBGB has -
not surprisingly – been unable to dismiss any long term welfare
problems associated with micro chipping a working racing greyhound.
Although the GBGB Veterinary Director Simon Gower assures us the Datamars
chip is ‘least likely to migrate when inserted by a vet’ –
many trainers remain unconvinced of the safety and the need for both micro
chipping and earmarking, resulting in a campaign for micro chipping to
be withdrawn.
http://greyhounds-r-us.com/
Regardless of the welfare concerns, there is insurmountable evidence the
chip can be removed, replaced or reproduced and will do nothing to improve
the traceability and therefore the welfare of greyhounds.
The
most recent and certainly the most controversial issue of dispute has
been the GBGB’s covert change in drug sampling.
Reports
were leaked to trainers and the media of urine samples being tampered
with and pooled - in breach of Rules of Racing - before being dispatched
to the HFL forensic laboratory.
Long term serving employees raised their concerns, which resulted in the
swift dismissal of the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee and the resignation
of a senior sampling steward.
Caught well and truly with their pants down, the GBGB attempted to excuse
the tampering with forensic evidence by suggesting the ‘pooling’
was an intelligence led operation to pinpoint those tracks/races which
were prone to a higher rate of drug problems and did not have the funding
to run the ‘intelligence led operation’ in parallel with the
existing drug sampling scheme.
Clearly
an analysis of previous year’s samples would have provided this
intelligence and the GBGB have since been forced to admit the covert procedure
was an attempt to show UKAS they could operate independently of its stakeholders.
What
the pooling of urine samples won’t have detected, of course, is
any offending trainers and drugged dogs - individually.
The
welfare of greyhounds has never been a consideration when banned substances
and illegal drugs are administered but how very convenient for the GBGB
the pooled samples will not have resulted in Disciplinary Hearings, which
to the outside world would have appeared encouraging but in complete contrast
to the reality of a gambling industry where drug abuse is inherent. http://greytexploitations.com/resources-and-reports/a-lawless-industry
UPDATE GBGB SINKS FURTHER INTO CRISIS AS Chief Executive
- Ian Taylor - Resigns
Greyhound Board Chairman Maurice Watkins said: “Ian Taylor has resigned
as Chief Executive of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain Limited with
effect Monday 14th September, 2009.”
Starving
greyhound discovered in Fife July 2009 BBC Scotland
A greyhound is being cared for
at a rescue centre after he was thrown over an 8ft fence into an abandoned
factory, imprisoning the dog on Fife wasteland.
Two-year-old greyhound Bleu was
just days from death when found on Sunday by passers-by.
Bleu, who carers say was starved for two to three months, weighed just
18kg instead of the average 30kg he should have weighed.
Now, Bleu is recovering at Langdyke Boarding Kennels near Kennoway in
Fife.
Kennel owner Sylvia Pass said: "When the dog was brought here it
had a 50/50 chance of survival. "It was malnourished and dehydrated
and we found it covered in fleas.
"It has no muscle, no flesh. If it lay on its side and shut its eyes
you would think it had been dead for a couple of weeks, it's that bad."
Bleu was taken to the kennels after a Kirkcaldy couple saw him inside
the former Nairn's linoleum works.
The eight-acre site effectively imprisoned Bleu.
The greyhound did not break any bones but damaged his left shoulder.
Medical treatment since his rescue has increased Bleu's chances of survival.
Ms Pass added: "I would give Bleu a 75% chance of surviving now after
being just days from death."
He is being fed six to eight times a day with a small amount of high-protein
and high-fat food soaked in water
The RSPCA is looking for the owner of a greyhound found wandering around
a Middlesbrough housing estate emaciated and suffering a severe scold to
her back.
A concerned member of the public called the Society after spotting the female
brindle-coloured dog on Sunday 17 May 2009 on the Pallister Park estate.
RSPCA inspector Nick Jones, investigating what happened to her, said:
"This poor dog was in a terrible state when she came into our care.
"She was in poor body condition and suffering a very nasty wound
which appears to have been caused by some sort of boiling liquid. It's
going to take a long time to heal and sadly is so severe it's unlikely
the hair will ever grow back."
The dog, which wasn't wearing an ID tag or micro-chipped, spent several
days at the vets before being moved to RSPCA Great Ayton Animal Centre.
Staff caring for her there have named her 'Frida'.
Rebecca Williams, deputy animal centre manager, said: "She's only
been with us for a few days but she seems to be a truly lovely dog.
"She's doing quite well but there's a long way to go and we won't
be looking to re-home her for some time yet."
Anyone who recognises Frida or has any specific information about who
her owner might be or what happened to her should call the RSPCA 24-hour
cruelty line on 0300 1234 999 and ask to leave a message for inspector
Nick Jones.
Take
Action:
Please
read, and act on, the message below from Greyhound Crusaders.
Greyhound
Action has already written a letter to the Evening Gazette, pointing out
that the dog
racing industry is ultimately responsible for such appalling illtreatment
of greyhounds and that the
public should boycott greyhound racing.
If
you live in North-East England and would like to support the campaign
to end greyhound racing
there, please contact Greyhound Action North-East at greyhoundactionnortheast@hotmail.com
or on
07903 273097 (please note new contact information).
Please
feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this message.
----- Original Message -----
From: Greyhound Crusaders
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 1:13 PM
Subject: DO YOU RECOGNISE 'FRIDA' AN EMACIATED AND BADLY SCALDED GREYHOUND
FOUND IN MIDDLESBROUGH
(UK)- please take action now
PLEASE
FORWARD WIDELY TO ALL GROUPS NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
DOES
ANYONE RECOGNISE 'FRIDA'? AN EMACIATED AND BADLY SCALDED GREYHOUND
FOUND RECENTLY IN A MIDDLESBROUGH HOUSING ESTATE (UK)- please take action
for her today. Please note this forum does not accept photos so if you
would
like one of 'Frida' please email us at greyhoundcrusaders@googlemail.com
or
southwestanimalprotection@yahoo.co.uk
Yet
another appalling crime to an innocent sentient being. The type of evil
people who do this are nothing but the lowest of the low, bullies and
cowards, they must be weeded out by our society and brought to justice.
Anyone
who recognises 'Frida' or has any specific information about her
owner should call the RSPCA 24-hour cruelty line immediately on 0300 123
4999 and ask to leave a message for Inspector Nick Jones.
Please see the recent article below and how you can help dear 'Frida'.
Never
before has the plight of the greyhound had so much media attention as
there has been recently, this can only lead to more and more of the general
public boycotting greyhound racing.
We are now asking all our supporters national and international to inundate
the authorities. Please write to the Middlesbrough Police, Local MP and
the
RSPCA to urge them to do everything within their power to seek justice
for
'Frida' and find the EVIL person(s) that negelcted and abused Frida's
poor
emaciated and badly injured body.
Police
feedback form- please follow the instructions-
http://www.cleveland.police.uk/contact-us/Website-Feedback-Form.aspx
RSPCA-
Enqserv@rspca.org.uk
Local
MP for Middlesbrough Sir Stuart Bell- contact@stuartbellmp.org
Please
keep all correspondence polite. Please ask all the authorities to
trace the tattoo number of the greyhound immediately therefore finding
out
who her previous owner was and bring them to justice. Everything must
be
done to find and prosecute this evil person(s) before they commit any
more
crimes to innocent animals. Sometimes heinous crimes of this nature can
be
linked to child/adult abuse.
We
all have a voice let's use it for justice for 'Frida'.
The
Racing Post reports Hull Stadium is to scrap its Thursday meeting and will
now only be open for racing one night a week – Saturday. A slump in
attendances and the economic climate have been blamed for the cut back.
Hull’s
stadium manager – Andrew Wagstaff – said "In common with
many other stadia in the UK , we are sad to reduce the number of nights
and whilst Saturday night continues to be successful, this is also experiencing
reduced attendance."
Both
Andrew Wagstaff and the racing manager – Mick Smith – are also
to take a 50% pay cut.
The
reduction in racing will result in a surplus of greyhounds, so if you
can offer a loving foster or permanent home to a greyhound please contact
East Riding RGT
As
concerning as it is to hear of such a large number of greyhounds 'surplus
to requirements' - we must console ourselves with knowing that once these
dogs are re-homed - they will not be replaced and fewer greyhounds will
needlessly be bred, suffer and die as a consequence.
As
always – many thanks for any support you can offer
The
breeding of greyhounds for the purpose of racing is a hit and miss
affair at the best of times. Illness aside, both injury and temperament
frequently dictate the fate of such dogs. Factor in the understandable
desire for only the highest performing animal, and the 'wastage' figure
rises enormously.
Even
the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) who govern racing on
Britain's 28 major tracks concede that a greyhound may never contend a
race
because the dog "is too slow ., because he or she is disinterested
in
chasing the artificial hare or because he or she simply interferes or
plays
with other greyhounds whilst running on the track." Interfering with
another
dog commonly refers to fighting.
The
GBGB admission is backed up in a Greyhound Watch survey that is the
largest of its kind ever undertaken. And the disparity between figures
for
greyhounds bred and pups to subsequently contend a race is alarming to
say
the least.
The
survey covered all Greyhound Stud Book litter entries received between
1
June 2005 and 31 May 2006 (Vol. 125), and showed that only 2,267 of 4,332
pups born are recorded racing. In other words, just 52% made the grade.
And
with the figure of 2,267 accounting for just 23% of greyhounds to be
registered for racing in Britain over a twelve month period (comparison
made
against the registration total for 2007 (9,751)), above statistics only
hint
at the scale of unwanted pups.
Looking
solely at the number of greyhounds bred as a result of racing in
Britain, the findings indicate that over a one year period about 8,882
pups
are judged not fit for purpose.
We
have in Britain, however, still meetings held on flapping (independent)
tracks for which no figures exist. Such tracks are though minor players
and
attract both dogs that have previously been recorded racing as well as
pups
new to the track. Flapping tracks will, therefore, not impact greatly
on
numbers.
Members
of the racing fraternity would also be right to point out that the
best bitch in a litter will, on occasion, be retired directly for mating.
In
other words, used as a breeding machine and spending the rest of her life
in
a kennel.
Most
bitches used for mating have though competed on the track, if only in
a
few races. Any Chewing Gum is recorded contending 6 'opens' and one feature
race and subsequently had a litter in October 2000, August 2001, June
2002,
March 2003, December 2003, August 2004, April 2005, February 2006 and
March
2007.
The
survey also collated data relating to specific breeders and the findings
make for interesting reading.
Litter
entries received for Charles Pickering over the same period (June
2005 - May 2006) total 39 (38 identified in the index), and out of 198
pups
born, just 90 reached the naming stage and only 46 (23%) are recorded
racing
(figures in the survey relating to 'naming stage' are based on information
in Vol. 125 and all subsequent volumes of the Greyhound Stud Book that
have
been published).
All
pups from 9 litter entries for Pickering that include a mating between
Goahead Atlantic and El Premier - El Premier being the sire of the brood
bitch, appear to have vanished. Pickering was the subject of an article
in
The Sunday Times (11 May, 2008) in which he was reported offering slow
dogs
to be killed for research.
Litter
entries for breeder and trainer Ann McCarroll (attached to Newcastle)
total 11, and out of 62 pups born, just 35 were named and 23 (37%) are
recorded racing. One of the brood bitches - Agile Milly - was, along with
other greyhounds, later rescued after the animals were booked-in at Marske
Vets Ltd to be euthanased.
And
just 9 (16%) of 55 pups from 11 litter entries for Ian Taylor are
recorded racing. Pups named total 34 of which 18, curiously, are recorded
under Pickering.
So
what happens to the thousands of pups bred every year that never contend
a race?
Interestingly,
the GBGB ask the same question under 'FAQ's' on the governing
bodies website (without, not surprisingly, giving even a suggestion of
numbers). Read further down and you will see the GBGB fail to provide
an
answer and use clever wording to imply such dogs are homed.
Homing
figures for 2007 given within the Greyhound Forum, June 2008 report
for all greyhounds are as follows: 4,479 homed through the Retired Greyhound
Trust (RGT) and an "estimated" 3,500 homed by owners, trainers
and other
welfare charities.
How
credible the above figures are, is, however, in question. RGT Director,
Ivor Stocker, was recently to say: "There was certainly instances
in the
last two or three years were dogs have been counted on more than one
occasion because the trainer put in a form and we (RGT) put in a form."
And
through the media, the governing body invariably compare similar figures
solely against the number of greyhounds that retire from racing annually
(about 10,000) and so, at the very least, imply all greyhounds homed are
ex-racers (it looks good and negates the subject of non-graders).
The
public are being misled. Most, but not all greyhounds homed, are
ex-racers. The RGT have estimated that about 30% of greyhounds homed through
their branches were not registered for racing.
If
that percentage is applied across all greyhounds homed and if we assume
no greyhounds were counted on more than one occasion (for sake of argument)
that is 2,394 non-graders accounted for in 2007.
Homing
figures for 2007 are up slightly on 2006, but have risen little
subsequently. No matter how you look at it, it isn't possible to account
for
the vast majority of greyhounds that are not recorded racing.
Eight
breeders with litters recorded in the survey showing high 'wastage'
were asked about the fate of the pups. Only one breeder responded, and
the
response did not address the specific issue of the animal's fortune.
In
a one page fanciful article (courtesy of Our Dogs, 15 August 2008),
Greyhound Star Editor, Floyd Amphlett, was to state: "Greyhound breeders
do
not dispose of young pups through colouring or genetic issues." Amphlett,
on
that point, was correct. What, however, he conveniently forgot to mention
is
pups are killed and killed in their thousands because they are simply
judged
not suitable for racing.
GA comment:
RGT = Retired Greyhound Trust, a greyhound rescue set up by the racing
industry in the 1970s,
largely for propaganda purposes, due to public concern about the fate
of ex-racing greyhounds.
The
launch of the RGT was the equivalent of a tobacco company setting up a
hospice for lung cancer
victims and many involved in the Trust, especially at a higher level,
are fervent supporters of
commercial greyhound racing (although many of its ordinary volunteers
are good people, who care
greatly for the welfare of the dogs).
The
industry even goes as far as holding race nights to raise funds for the
RGT and there have been
occasions where dogs have been seriously injured and even "put to
sleep" at these events.
Up
until recent years, the RGT only succeeded in finding homes for a few
hundred greyhounds
annually, but this figure has now gone up considerably, due to increased
public awareness of the
plight of greyhounds, brought about mainly through the efforts of anti-racing
groups, such as
Greyhound Action.
Ironically,
this increase in the numbers of dogs homed by the RGT is frequently used
by the industry
to claim that the wholesale slaughter of ex-racing greyhounds no longer
occurs.
However,
recent statements by racing industry officials amount to an admission
that 20% of dogs
"retiring" from the tracks continue to be put to death annually.
This equals 2,000 greyhounds per
year and is likely to be considerably more, given the inaccuracy of RGT
figures.
As
Greyhound Watch have outlined in their survey, the situation for dogs
considered unsuitable for
racing is far worse.
The
survey covered the English Stud Book, which deals with greyhounds born
in Britain.
However, the great majority (almost 80%) of greyhounds racing in Britain
are bred in Ireland and,
when this is taken into account, we are forced to come to the sad conclusion
that as many as 15,000
greyhounds, bred to supply the British dog racing industry, are being
put to death every year, with
the majority being killed before they even reach the tracks.
On
a more positive note, however, due to the success of the anti-racing campaign
and the decline of
the industry, resulting in a reduced demand for greyhounds to be bred,
this (still appalling) figure
is now considerably less than it was just a few years ago.
Comment
from Greytexploitations
The
Fate of Thousands of Greyhound Pups
Greyhound
Watch have undertaken a survey - the first of its kind - on the breeding
and fate of
greyhound pups born in Britain.
Clive
Ellis said 'The survey covered all Greyhound Stud Book litter entries
received between June
2005 and May 2006 , and showed that only 2,267 of 4,332 pups born are
recorded racing. In other
words, just 52% made the grade' - which immediately dispels the myth that
ALL greyhounds love to
race.
As
part of his research and to ascertain the pups whereabouts, Clive contacted
the RGT who estimate
that about 30% of the approximate 4,500 greyhounds homed through their
branches were not registered
for racing and therefore the industry's comparison of greyhounds re-homed
to numbers registered for
racing and coming off the tracks is deceptive.
RGT
Director - Ivor Stocker - has also confirmed rumours that the 're-homed'
figure claimed by the
industry is inaccurate, stating "There was certainly instances in
the last two or three years where
dogs have been counted on more than one occasion because the trainer put
in a form and we (RGT) put
in a form."
Clearly
the whereabouts and fate of many more ex racing greyhounds is now questionable.
To
read the full survey and the opportunity to comment, please click here
http://www.dogmagazine.net/archives/2359/fate-of-thousands-of-greyhound-puppies-in-question/
www.greytexploitations.com
10
YEARS JAIL FOR EX GREYHOUND TRAINER ... various
Cocaine
supplier had raced dogs at Newcastle Stadium
Former
greyhound trainer, Brian Stirling, has been jailed for 10 years for conspiracy
to supply
cocaine and possessing amphetamines with intent to supply.
Drug
gang boss Stirling, who was described in court as “heavy duty”
and “a dangerous man”, gave up
his trainer's licence in 2007, after being charged by racing authorities
with giving a potentially
fatal drug to a greyhound, so the dog could be raced while still injured.
GA
comment :: Yet more evidence that many of those involved in greyhound
racing are bad bastards through and
through. It is also well known that cocaine has often been used to dope
dogs in both Eire and the UK.
Click here for more infoabout
cocaine doping in the industry
UPDATE:
A
former ‘professional’ greyhound trainer attached to Newcastle
stadium, has been jailed for 10 years for supplying cocaine and amphetamine
- the second trainer in just over 6 months to be
imprisoned for drug offences.
It has come to light that Brian Stirling was subject to a National Stewards
Inquiry on July 12th 2007 where he was found guilty of doping a greyhound
- Hillfire Utah - with methylprednisolone. Although not an illegal substance,
methylprednisolone is used to mask injuries and the consequences of racing
a greyhound whilst the injury is masked can prove fatal for that dog.
Astonishingly, under the Rules of Racing, doping your greyhound is NOT
considered a welfare issue for that animal but merely an issue of integrity
whereby illegal gambling practices could be in force. As a result of the
inquiry, Brian Stirling was warned off all licensed race tracks and fined
£1,000. A punishment which was deemed too severe for the five trainers
found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to greyhounds during 2008.
Another 'professional' trainer Graham Calvert, who last year attempted
to sue William Hill for failing to prevent him from gambling, was also
subject to two separate National Stewards Inquiries in 2006 for doping
his greyhound - Tweedale Scott - with methylprednisolone. A more lenient
punishment of a severe reprimand and £700 fine was served on Calvert.
As with Stirling, Calvert's criminal activities led him to court and in
2008 he was jailed for firearms and drugs offences, including possession
of cocaine.
Greyhound racing provides an ideal environment for the criminal elements
of society to profit from the misuse of drugs.
A
retired racing greyhound was left so malnourished she plummeted to half
her normal weight, a court heard.
Unemployed
Brian Brunton, 49, was banned for keeping animals for life after he admitted
causing unnecessary suffering to the dog.
Magistrates
at Cheltenham were told Brunton, of Countess Lilias Road, Cirencester,
struggled to feed six-year-old Tara after he stopped work because of an
accident.
The
alarm was only raised when the dangerously underweight animal escaped
from Brunton's flat and was spotted by a neighbour, the court heard.
Crown
Prosecutor Charlotte Mitchell said: "Tara was very weak, dehydrated
and her muscles had wasted.
"She
had been starved over a period of weeks rather than days.
"She
should have weighed up to 30kg, but on discovery weighed just 15kg. After
she was rescued she was constantly hungry."
Inspectors
swooped on Brunton's former address in Siddington, near Cirencester, to
rescue the animal in May 2008 following an investigation.
Brunton
had init- ially denied he was responsible for Tara's emaciated condition,
but changed his plea to guilty when due to stand trial yesterday.
Defending,
Wendy Kingsbury, said Brunton had made efforts to have Tara rehomed after
being forced to stop work due to injury.
She
said: "He placed an advert in the local pet shop which was replied
to, but he did not manage to rehome the dog."
Magistrates
ordered Brunton to complete 100 hours of unpaid work as part of an 18-month
community order.
He
was also ordered to pay £500 towards the cost of the RSPCA prosecution.
He will not be allowed to make an application to revoke the ban for five
years, magistrates ruled.
Speaking
outside court, RSCPA inspector Chris Simpson said that Tara "could
barely stand" when she was rescued.
He
said: "This was a very serious case for which the magistrates were
considering a custodial sentence. It underlines that even if you are having
financial difficulties you must not let caring for your pet slide."
Mr Simpson said Tara had fully recovered from her ordeal and had been
rehomed.
RSPCA video of Tiptree kennels ... read on for more stories
Read
the next story for more info on this case
Conditions
for dogs in Tiptree kennel were ‘like a concentration camp’ ...
Gazette
A FATHER and son have received prison sentences for keeping greyhounds
in conditions a judge said resembled a concentration camp.
The
11 dogs at Woodside Kennels, Tiptree, were found without food, water or
fresh air and some were kept in the dark, Colchester Magistrates’
Court heard.
Lynne
Shirley, prosecuting for the RSPCA, which spent £20,000 on the rescue
and investigation, said every kennel was covered in excrement and urine
and the smell of ammonia was so strong, the dogs had sore eyes.
All
the greyhounds were underweight and had been suffering for some time,
some mentally as well as physically. The court watched a DVD showing one
dog running round in circles in its pen.
Robert
Freeman, 19, was locked up for 90 days at a young offenders’ institution.
His father, John Freeman, also received a 90-day jail term, suspended
for a year, for allowing the dogs to suffer.
He
had left his son in charge of the kennels while he stayed at home in Wales.
The
court heard inspectors from the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC)
had first visited the kennels in February last year and warned the pair
to clean up.
Conditions
improved temporarily but deteriorated again throughout the following month
until the club’s final inspection on March 17.
Mrs
Shirley said Irene Haselwood, of the NGRC, said she had never seen a situation
so upsetting and unnecessary.
Rebecca
Wastall, mitigating, said John Freeman, a former railway worker, had run
a successful greyhound racing business from a smallholding in Wales for
years, but had moved the kennels to Tiptree after his land was repossessed.
She
said Robert, of Mansfield Street, Swansea, who also worked shifts on the
railways, had been struggling to manage the kennels since his father fell
ill in January.
She
added: “It was a short period of time in which they were at their
worst.”
District
judge David Cooper said: “Looking at the place you kept those greyhounds,
it wasn’t so much kennels as a concentration camp. It’s just
appalling.
“One
dog had to turn and turn in this heartbreaking fashion.
“There
was heedless neglect and cruelty to numerous animals, despite warnings.”
Judge
Cooper ordered John Freeman, 52, of Dyffryn Road, Saron Ammanford, to
pay £500 in costs and £2,000 towards the RSPCA’s £20,000
bill. Both father and son were also banned from keeping pets for ten years,
with the exception of two greyhounds, a cat and a parrot which belong
to John Freeman’s wife.
Read
the next story for more info on this case
Abused
greyhounds go to loving family homes ... Gazette
GREYHOUNDS that were rescued after being subjected to “concentration
camp” conditions by their former owners have been rehomed.
Eleven
dogs found in appalling conditions at Woodside Kennels, Tiptree, were
sent with about 20 other animals to Clarks Farm Greyhound Rescue, in Little
Totham.
One
year on, and with the father and son former owners recently receiving
prison sentences for mistreatment, all 11 have become beloved family pets.
Steve
Cobb, owner of the greyhound rescue charity, said: “That is what
makes it worthwhile – to get them back to health and into a family
environment. Some have gone to local people and some further afield.
“It
was appalling and emotional when they came in. They were underweight and
infested with sores. The worst I have ever seen.
“Most
of them needed medical treatment and injections. Others had to have anti-bacterial
baths twice a week and have their cuts treated. It is a milestone for
us to get them back out in secure homes.”
The
charity has been based in Little Totham since 1999 and looks after about
70 to 75 greyhounds at any one time.
Mr
Cobb said: “People come down and have a look at the dogs and then
we make sure they are suitable with a home visit.
“By
the time people take them home, the dogs are spayed or castrated, have
had health checks and are supplied with a bowl, light muzzle and a collar.”
Read the next story for more info on this case
Greyhound
trainer locked up for cruelty ... East Anglian Daily Times 20/03/2009
A TEENAGE greyhound trainer who kept more than 30 dogs in “concentration
camp” conditions with no food, water or light has been locked up
for causing unnecessary suffering.
Robert
Freeman, 19, had been entrusted with looking after the animals when his
father John, 52, fell ill at the kennels in Tiptree.
Colchester
Magistrates' Court heard the teenager from Swansea left the dogs in cages
covered in urine and excrement without food or water for days causing
some of them to go “kennel crazy”, biting at the bars and walking
round in circles constantly.
District
Judge David Cooper described the 15 minute RSPCA film showing the conditions
as “heartbreaking”.
Conditions
were said to be like a 'concentration camp'
He
said: “Looking at the place where you kept the dogs it wasn't so much
a kennels as a concentration camp.
“Seeing
the dog turn and turn in that way was heartbreaking. It was heedless neglect
and cruelty.”
Robert
Freeman, who runs his own company training railway workers, was ordered
to serve 90 days in a young offenders' institute after he pleaded guilty
to nine charges of causing unnecessary suffering.
The
court heard the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) visited the kennels
in Tiptree in February last year after a tip-off from a concerned member
of the public.
30
dogs and three puppies were seized
The
RSPCA and police were called onto the property in March when conditions
had not improved and seized 30 dogs and three puppies, many of which were
underweight, were flea-ridden, had eye problems, a broken tail and untreated
injuries.
A
statement from Irene Haslewoodof the NGRC said: “The conditions were
appalling. I've never seen a situation so upsetting and unnecessary. It
was heartbreaking to see dogs living like that.”
All
of the dogs seized have since recovered, are now at a healthy weight and
most have been re-homed.
Rebecca
Wastall, defending, said John Freeman had a very successful greyhound
racing business and his son became involved with a partnership.
“When
he fell ill Robert Freeman decided to try and cope and run the kennels
as best he could,” she said.
John
Freeman, a retired railways worker from Saron Ammanford, Wales, pleaded
guilty to one charge of failing to prevent suffering to animals.
He
was given a 90-day sentence, which was suspended due to his ill health.
He was also fined £500, ordered to pay £2,000 towards the
£20,000 RSPCA bill and will be electronically tagged so he cannot
leave his house between 9pm and 6am.
Both
men were banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
Read
the next story for more info on this case
Teenager
jailed for keeping dogs in concentration camp conditions. Daily Telegraph
Teenager jailed for keeping dogs in concentration camp
conditions.
By Sarah Knapton
A
teenage greyhound trainer who kept more than 30 dogs in
concentration camp conditions with no food, water or light was
jailed for causing unnecessary suffering.
Robert Freeman, 19, from Swansea in Wales had been entrusted
with looking after the dogs and puppies when his father John,
52, fell ill.
Colchester Magistrates' Court in Essex, heard the teenager
left the dogs in cages covered in urine and excrement, and
without food or water for days causing some of them to bite at
the bars in frustration and walk round in circles constantly.
District Judge David Cooper, who keeps two greyhounds himself,
could not bear to watch the entire 15 minute film by the RSPCA
showing the condition of the dogs which he described as
"heartbreaking".
He said: "Looking at the place where you kept the dogs it
wasn't so much a kennels as a concentration camp. Seeing the
dog turn and turn in that way was heartbreaking. It was
heedless neglect and cruelty."
Robert Freeman, who runs his own company training railway
workers, was ordered to serve 90 days in a Young Offenders
Institute after he pleaded guilty to nine charges of causing
unnecessary suffering.
The court heard the National Greyhound Racing Club visited the
kennels in Tiptree in Colchester, Essex, in February last year
after a tip-off from a concerned member of the public.
The following month the RSPCA seized 30 dogs and three
puppies, many which were underweight, were flea ridden, had
eye problems, a broken tail and untreated injuries.
Evidence
of an industry in further decline January 2009 www.greytexploitations.com
Evidence
of an industry in further decline
As
predicted prior to Christmas, a series of stadiums have followed in Peterborough
’s footsteps and have announced midweek closures because of poor
attendances.
The
Greyhound Star reports following a very slow lead up to Christmas and
an anticipated sharp drop in attendances in the New Year, Portsmouth have
announced they are to drop their Tuesday meetings throughout January and
February.
Mike
Hall, the Mildenhall racing manager states he is ‘dreading the start
of the New Year’ and are discontinuing their Saturday meetings from
the beginning of January. Harlow is also scraping its Thursday race meeting
during January.
As
expected the GRA have been forced to cut their losses and Oxford will
be closing the stadium on Tuesday from January, claiming they are constantly
losing money on the midweek meeting. One of their sister stadiums Perry
Barr has also cutback on the midweek meeting.
Although,
these may only be temporary measures, it will be interesting to see if
the race nights are restored. Accumulatively, the loss of these 6 race
meetings can be compared to the closure of two stadiums.
As
always, many thanks for your continued support - together we can save
lives.
Greyhound
attendances crash in 2008 Greyhound Star December 2008
2009
Looking Grim for Greyhound Racing
December’s Greyhound Star reports a dismal end to 2008 for the greyhound
racing industry and predicts tracks will be facing an even tougher time
in 2009.
Many stadiums have recently recorded a decline in attendances in excess
of 20% with even the more profitable tracks such as Sheffield and Nottingham
struggling with the credit crunch, along with Perry Barr, Newcastle, Romford,
Brighton and Hove.
An industry insider has said “There will be some tough decisions being
made after Christmas. The general feeling is that many tracks will dispense
with their midweek meetings altogether during the early part of 2009”
Peterborough have already taken the decision to close on Tuesday evenings
throughout January with a possible extension through to February.
The Greyhound Racing Association, who own six stadiums – Wimbledon,
Belle Vue, Portsmouth, Perry Barr, Hall Green and Oxford – are also
experiencing serious financial difficulties.
The six stadiums collectively saw attendances drop by 10% and restaurant
bookings down by 9.9% in 2007. GRA’s annual profits were barely positive
at £174,000 (just 0.7% of money through the gate) and this was for
the year to last March, before the credit crunch really hit.
On top of this, the owners – Risk Capital - bought GRA with a £52
million bank loan which incurs a weekly £80,000 interest payment AND
has to be repaid by next March. Normally they would refinance the loan and
borrow another £52 million, but this will be very difficult with banks
being slow to lend to anyone in the present climate.
All this adds up to GRA surely looking to make drastic cutbacks while their
owners hang on waiting for property prices to rise again, in order to sell
the tracks at a profit for redevelopment.
Knacker’s
yard disposes of unwanted greyhounds for £20 The Sunday Times November
2, 2008
Knacker’s
yard disposes of unwanted greyhounds for £20
Matt Waller of Holts in Hertsfordshire said killing the dogs - supposed
to be put down only by a vet - was routine
Daniel Foggo
A
KNACKER’S yard that supplies meat to the greyhound racing industry
also has a sideline in slaughtering dogs that are no longer fast enough
to race.
An
investigation has found that Holts, a company in Hert-fordshire that has
been slaughtering animals for 100 years, charges £20 each to put
down unwanted greyhounds with a bolt gun and dispose of them.
Staff
said they did it for “quite a few trainers”, who visited the
yard most weeks. “We shift a fair bit of stuff,” said one. The
corpses are incinerated.
Horse
meat butchered on site is sold to the trainers as dog-food. Holts boasts
that dogs fed on its flesh have gone on to become champion racers. They
include a former winner of Greyhound of the Year.
An
undercover reporter was told by Holts it was “no problem” to
put down greyhounds that he simply no longer had room for.
“We
do it [putting dogs down] for quite a few of our greyhound trainers,”
said Alan Waller, who runs the knacker’s yard. “We charge £20
for a dog. It’s better than the vet.”
The
reporter was also provided with meat by his staff. The Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was illegal for knacker’s
yards to supply animal feed to anyone who had not been approved to receive
it by Animal Health, a Defra agency.
Greyhound
industry rules state that dogs should be put down only as a last resort
and always by a vet, who would charge about £60.
The
issue of greyhound welfare was given national prominence when The Sunday
Times revealed in 2006 that David Smith, a builders’ merchant in
Seaham, Co Durham, had killed thousands of unwanted greyhounds for trainers.
Lord
Lipsey, the Labour peer, who is chairman of the British Greyhound Racing
Board, said afterwards that it had been an “isolated case”.
However,
despite a wide-scale reorganisation of the industry, the killing continues.
An
undercover reporter contacted Holts after receiving a tip-off that the
family-run business was routinely slaughtering unwanted greyhounds from
nearby tracks.
Waller’s
son, Matt, described his methods. He said: “One [of us] can hold
it while one does it. It saves you doing anything like that, because it’s
not the nicest job to do.”
He
said: “We don’t charge to put them down, we just charge for
the disposal. The putting down side of it is free. It just costs us about
2p to do it.”
A
sign outside the knacker’s yard – down an isolated track outside
the village of Stanstead Abbots, near Ware – boasts that Fire Height
Dan, greyhound of the year in 2004, was raised on its meat.
Staff
explained that they typically took in “fallen stock” such as
dead or crippled horses before selling the meat to greyhound trainers
and zoos. Anything unfit for animal consumption was incinerated on site.
Cremating animals was “a speciality”.
Matt
Waller said: “All the owners come to us . . . they are all over the
place – Peterbor-ough, Southend. They all come from miles away [because]
there’s not many places round like us any more.”
Killing
the dogs was a matter of routine. “A few of the greyhound trainers
bring them down, old ones or ones that have done a tendon or hock [part
of the leg] or whatever, they bring them down. It’s no problem, we
don’t mind.”
An
RSPCA spokeswoman said: “Once again, it seems that dogs are being
chewed up and spat out of an industry which ultimately treats greyhounds
as disposable commodities rather than sentient animals for which it is
responsible.”
When
confronted by a journalist Alan Waller said: “Greyhound trainers
basically just get rid of their dogs when they are no longer any use to
them and they can’t rehome them. It’s just one of the things
that happens in an industry where there’s too many dogs at the end
of the day and they can’t rehouse them all.
“Under
our licence it is perfectly legal to put dogs down and dispose of them.
We don’t do many of them.
“All
the trainers have to be licensed to be able to purchase meat from us.
We can’t sell out any meat from us to anyone who isn’t specifically
vetted and licensed.”
A
Defra spokesman confirmed that killing dogs with a bolt gun was not illegal.
Gambler
jailed for two years www.journallive.co.uk
£2.1m damages claim case gambler jailed for two years
Oct
22 2008 by Jon Tunney, The Journal
A
COMPULSIVE gambler who lost more than £2m in a disastrous five-month
betting spree has been jailed for two years for drug and firearms offences.
Graham
Calvert was caught with an antique handgun, a shotgun and one round of
ammunition and a stash of high-purity cocaine when police raided his County
Durham home.
Greyhound
trainer Calvert claimed that he had the weapons for his own protection
after a series of attacks by creditors who loaned him money to fund his
gambling.
He
said he had the cocaine – which had an estimated street value of
more than £2,000 – on the basis he had bought it on behalf
of another man, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
Calvert
admitted possessing a prohibited weapon, having a firearm without a certificate,
possessing cocaine with intent and having a knife as an offensive weapon.
The
offences came to light when police went to 29-year-old Calvert’s
home at Sedgeletch Farm, Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland in September
of last year.
Tom
Moran, prosecuting, said: “The defendant, it appears, was a success
as a greyhound trainer but going hand-in-hand with greyhound training
is gambling.
“While
he appears to have had the Midas Touch with greyhound training, this did
not cross over into his gambling.
“He
was spectacularly unsuccessful as a gambler and would appear to have gambled
away jaw-dropping amounts of money.”
In
passing sentence, Judge Esmond Faulks said there were exceptional circumstances
in Calvert’s case which justified him not imposing an otherwise mandatory
five-year jail term for gun possession.
He
said that the handgun that had been found at Calvert’s home was more
than 100 years old and was, therefore, classified as an antique which
would have been legal if kept as an ornament and the ammunition for it
no longer manufactured.
Judge
Faulks also told Calvert: “I further accept that you had prior to
obtaining that gun not just been threatened by people to whom you owed
money but physically attacked and injured by them.”
Calvert
hit the national headlines earlier this year when he sued William Hill
in the High Court for £2.1m damages – money he claimed he lost
through gambling between June and December 2006.
He
claimed that the company had allowed him to place bets when he had twice
asked them to close his account under a self-exclusion scheme designed
to protect problem or pathological gamblers.
But
a judge ruled William Hill – which denied liability – did not
have to award damages despite finding the company had failed in its duty
of care.
Calvert
appealed against the decision and is currently awaiting the outcome of
a hearing in the Appeal Court.
Greytexploitations
comment:
Would you trust this man with your dog?
Greyhound
trainer and prolific gambler, Graham Calvert, has been given a 2 year
prison sentence for possessing cocaine with intent to supply, having a
shotgun without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and having
a knife as an offensive weapon.
Tom
Moran, prosecuting, said: “The defendant, it appears, was a success
as a greyhound trainer but going hand-in-hand with greyhound training
is gambling”.
During
his short but ‘successful’ career Calvert had been subject to
a number of NGRC National Inquiries, including positive testing of drug
samples and irregular performances of greyhounds in his care.
On
two separate occasions, within a period of 3 weeks, Methylprednisolone
was found in urine samples taken from Calvert’s young two year old
greyhound, Tweedale Scott.
The
NGRC state ‘Methylprednisolone in particular may mask injury and
so it is especially important for a greyhound’s welfare that it is
fully clear of any treatment before racing because injury may be hidden
which may have serious consequences for the welfare of the greyhound.
Regardless,
Calvert was allowed to continue to train greyhounds until he was found
guilty of falsifying documents. This would have allowed for illegal betting
practices and it was only then, did the NGRC deem the offence serious
enough to revoke his trainer's license.
Poor
auction emphasizes the sport's plight www.Sporting Press.ie
ANYBODY with any lingering doubts as to the poor health of greyhound racing
in the UK should have been at the Wimbledon sales last week.
The Future Prospect auction at the Plough Lane track is rated the best in
the UK and over the years big prices have been splashed out on some exciting
ex-Irish puppies.
However, there is such a huge black cloud hanging over the sport at the
moment with the imminent closure of Walthamstow and the last rites soon
expected to be read over Reading’s Smallmead Stadium, that the atmosphere
at the GRA track – itself owned by a property developer – was
decidedly gloomy.
A couple of hundred people attended the sales trials ten days ago, although
the number had shrunk to just over a hundred by the time the auction started
at 1pm
How
safe is your track? ... an insider guide to the sustainability of many tracks
in the UK from the editor of the Racing Post
Rebecca
Hagger (20) and Rosemary Hagger (51) both received 10-year bans at Peterborough
Magistrates Court on 28 April after previously pleading guilty to causing
unnecessary suffering to three greyhounds and failing to meet the welfare
needs of another four greyhounds.
Rosemary
Hagger was banned from keeping dogs for 10 years and her daughter Rebecca
was banned from keeping all animals for 10 years. Rebecca was also ordered
to do 200 hours of community service and Rosemary was given a 12-month
conditional discharge. The pair from Edgerley Drain Road, Peterborough,
were each ordered to pay £250 in costs.
The
RSPCA was contacted in September 2007. Inspectors found three greyhounds
which were emaciated and had infected sores, contrary to section 4 of
the Animal Welfare Act, 2006. The remaining four were underweight and
had flea infestations and were living in dirty conditions with no food
or water available, contrary to section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act, 2006.
A
vet estimated that two of the dogs had been made to suffer unnecessarily
for at least two months and one dog for at least one month.
In
mitigation the defendants said that the dogs had belonged to Rosemary's
husband (Rebecca's father) who had passed away.
The
court heard that both defendants had worked in the greyhound racing
industry and decided to impose a ban, despite Rebecca still having
a job in the industry.
RSPCA
inspector Kat Parfitt said: "Animals deserve much better than the
conditions these dogs were kept in and should have access to veterinary
treatment when they need it.
Three
of the dogs from the case still need new homes. White and black Boris
and Tyler and Wilson, who are both black with white chests, are lovely,
friendly dogs who are happy to laze around with just short bursts of exercise.
Anyone who feels they can give a greyhound a good retirement home should
call the RSPCA Peterborough & District Branch on 01733 248116.
Rebecca
Hagger – licensed kennel hand, trainer and owner
Rebecca (known as Becky to her friends) Hagger was formerly a kennel hand
for her father Frederick John Hagger; a trainer and owner attached to
Peterborough greyhound stadium (one of 30 stadiums that come under the
regulation of the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC)).
In 2007 Rebecca obtained a temporary trainers licence and was running
the dogs at Peterborough stadium herself. It is reported that Rebecca
shared ownership of the greyhounds with her father and was the sole owner
after his death.
Racing Manager of Peterborough stadium Martin Race refused to say whether
Rebecca was still allowed at the track and Noel Thompson representing
the NGRC said: “As far as I am concerned if she is a licence holder
or not has got nothing to do with matters has it?”
10/03/08
Press release by Wolverhampton Greyhound Action
MAYOR
URGED "DON'T GO TO THE DOGS!"
Widespread public sympathy for Wolverhampton campaign
Wolverhampton
Greyhound Action have expressed delight at public sympathy for their campaign
to persuade the local Mayor, Councillor Trudy Bowen, to cancel a Night
at the Dogs she is planning to host next month at the city's Monmore Green
Stadium.
The
campaigners staged a two-hour demonstration outside the Wolverhampton
Civic Centre on Friday, March 7th and distributed hundreds of leaflets
asking members of the public to boycott greyhound racing and to contact
the Mayor, requesting that she call off the Monmore Green event.
Amongst
the many people who expressed support, were two who'd had personal experience
of the greyhound racing industry.
One
man told campaigners: "I used to work at Monmore Green Stadium.
While I was there I saw many greyhounds 'put down'. There were also a
lot of dogs being raced while suffering from injuries. Many dogs just
ran once and then you never saw them again. Greyhound racing should be
stopped."
Another
made the follwing statement: "My mother used to work for one of
the country's biggest greyhound trainers. He has as many as 300 dogs in
his kennels. Many ended up being shot if they were no good for racing.
They were trained by cruel methods, including being hit with sticks. Greyhounds
were often fed a big meal before racing, to slow them down, so the odds
on them would be better in their next race. My mother was always trying
to rescue dogs from being 'put down', but in the end, she left the job
because of what she'd witnessed."
Sunday
Times, March 2nd
Vets’
secret trade in dog body parts Sunday
Times, March 2nd
By Daniel Foggo
A
clinic is killing healthy dogs and secretly selling their body parts to
Britain’s most prestigious veterinary college for research, an investigation
has found. The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has a financial agreement
with a vet’s practice which provides the organs from dogs on a regular
basis.
An undercover reporter posing as an owner found that staff at the Greyhound
Clinic in Essex agreed to kill greyhounds for £30 each even though
he told them the dogs had “nothing wrong with them”. The clinic
is then paid by the college, which specifically insists the dogs must be
healthy before being euthanased, for each animal from which it supplies
parts.
The RVC, which is the oldest and largest veterinary college in Britain,
admitted that it had a number of similar financial agreements with other
clinics to provide specimens. The practice has “horrified” the
RSPCA and animal welfare campaigners and even one of the heads of the greyhound
racing industry itself. The sport has been criticised for failing to explain
the fate of thousands of greyhounds which retire from racing each year and
then disappear without trace.
Alistair McLean, chief executive of the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC),
the industry’s governing body, said he was “flabbergasted”
by the trade in body parts. “This is completely and utterly unacceptable,”
he said. “It is quite scandalous.”
The RSPCA said: “We are shocked by this evidence which appears to show
an opening for greyhounds to be systematically destroyed for profit. We
certainly would not like to think that there was a financial incentive to
ending a pet’s life.”
Maureen Purvis, of the campaign group Greyhounds UK, compared the practice
with that of Burke and Hare, the19th century bodysnatchers who killed people
to provide corpses for dissection. “What this clinic is doing is the
canine equivalent of that,” she said. “It is just absolute butchery.”
Although the rules governing vets allow them to use their discretion on
putting down healthy animals, in practice most are reluctant to do so. The
NGRC states that its trainers should put dogs down only as a last resort.
“Even a broken leg can often be mended but some trainers see it
as simply more cost effective to have it put down,” said a racing insider.
It is now apparent, however, that some veterinary practices also have a
financial incentive to put dogs down without any medical reason.
The Greyhound Clinic is in an Essex hamlet which is in effect a “greyhound
village”. The clinic’s immediate neighbours are the kennels of
at least six NGRC-registered trainers, two greyhound retirement homes and
a practice racetrack.
The undercover reporter called the clinic and spoke to Donna Atkins, the
practice manager, saying he had two greyhounds he wanted putting down because
he “had no room for them”. The reporter asked if the clinic ever
took blood from the dogs before killing them and Atkins said the Royal Veterinary
College sent people once or twice a week to collect blood from dogs being
put down, she said. When the reporter called back, Atkins said: “We
are going to take the glands as well. Is that okay?” The reporter said
it was, but emphasised that his dogs were not old and there was nothing
wrong with them. “That’s fair enough; that’s not a problem,”
said Atkins. “So it’s 10.15 tomorrow. Bye.”
When the reporter arrived the next day, two students from the RVC, who introduced
themselves as Demi and Rick, were waiting. The reporter, who said his dogs
would arrive shortly with his brother, explained there was “nothing
wrong with them” but the students appeared uninterested. Asked why
they wanted the dogs’s lymph glands, Demi said: “We take tissue
from healthy dogs and we look at the cells and put them in an artificial
environment and use that to further our research.”
The reporter left but not before paying Atkins £60 in advance to have
the fictitious dogs put down. He was not asked to sign any forms and was
at no time asked his name, phone number, address or any details as to why
the dogs should be destroyed.
He also asked Atkins if the RVC was paying the clinic to take body parts.
“No, no, we work in conjunction with them. We all work together from
all over the place. It’s part of their learning,” she said.
John O’Connor, 65, head vet and director of the clinic, told the undercover
reporter, who was now posing as an employee of a company wanting to procure
canine organs, that he had an “exclusive” commercial contract
with the RVC until November. After that he would review the situation and
expected “at least £30 per canine part”.
When contacted later by The Sunday Times O’Connor initially denied
a financial agreement with the RVC but subsequently admitted invoicing the
college at £10 per dog and being paid. He claimed that he had been
paid a few hundred pounds since he began supplying the parts three years
ago and that he intended to pay the money to charity. O’Connor said
he put down dogs only if they had medical problems or showed aggression
and said he would not have euthanased the fictitious dogs.
An RVC spokesman confirmed it had an agreement with the clinic but said
owners should be issued with a form “to indicate their acknowledgment”
of their pets’ fate. “The decision to euthanase an animal must
only be taken when both owner and vet agree and the owner has given written
consent.”
Greyhound Action comment:- It
is somewhat strange that Alistair McLean, chief executive of the National
Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC), should be “flabbergasted” by the
trade in greyhound body parts. He most know it is inevitable that this
sort of thing should happen when many thousands of greyhounds are discarded
by the British dog racing industry every year. It is hardly surprising
that someone is happy to make money by offering a killing service for
"unwanted" greyhounds and then selling bits of them for research.
Mr McLean, apparently, finds this "completely and utterly unacceptable”
and "quite scandalous”. Those two phrases could also be applied
to the activities of the NGRC, which oversees an industry responsible
for the putting to death, according to our calculations, of approximately
20,000 greyhounds every year. Thankfully, the public can help put an stop
to this appalling situation, by not attending or betting on greyhound
races, so that commercial dog racing is brought to an end through lack
of financial support.
For a related story about the use of greyhounds in vivisection in Australia
click here
Who
needs Virtual Worlds when you can have Virtual Races?
UK revenues US$1.4 Billion per Year from Virtual Racing Games
The
ultimate in virtualization is occurring in the racing industry.
The
October 2007 issue of International Gaming and Wagering Business (see
page 12) reports that virtual horse races (also called "Plastic Ponies")
and virtual greyhound races are generating 700 Million Pounds (US$1.424
Billion) per year in revenue.
Bookies
love this, of course, because they don't have to share money with the
race tracks and, of course, they don't have to worry about punters actually
being able to use skill and knowledge to gain an edge.
They
also don't have to worry about races being canceled to weather or disease
(the UK suffered an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 and 75
races were canceled this year due to bad weather)............
Postings
on the greyhoundscene pro dog racing forum Sunday 11 Nov 07
Richard
Newell, a greyhound breeder living in Ireland (Co. Cork), has admitted,
in posts made on Sunday 11 Nov 07, on the greyhoundscene pro dog racing
forum, that large numbers of greyhounds are put to death before they even
reach the UK tracks.
Some
of his very revealing statements are below:
"I have two bitches (greyhounds) in my garage outside, some would
say that's cruel making them live outside! I wil say go and feckin mind
your own business and get a life!
“If
I want to have my bitches put down I will, just like the farmer down the
road if he has his sheep dog put down or kills one of his pigs, that ain't
my business and it ain't no business of any anti.
“I think you all live in cloud cuckoo land if you think there aren't
hundreds of greys put to sleep before they even reach the track in the
UK. Hundreds of pups are too slow to grade, some don't chase others fight,
injuries as pups etc etc. That is a fact, if you don't like it get out
of the game.
“I
am a realist............ and I am also knowledgeable enough to know that
we pander to the anti's to much. Feck em! Let them come to my place here
in Cork and see how my pups are reared and how my broods live their lives.
I'd love to take out an anti down to the forest I go to every day with
my pups in the hope my pups catch sight of something and chase it down
and kill it. Sorry if that offends you but my pups are being bred to chase,
and hunt and eventually show enough courage on a track to go through the
rigours of racing.
“Fecks sake a greyhound is what it is. If you don't like the hard
facts of quarry being hunted by greys or any other hunting dog then I
think you is in the wrong game.
“I breed my pups If they don't or can't race then they have to go.
Hard but true and not easy for me to take that trip to the vets but alas
it has to be done otherwise before to long if every breeder were to keep
every pup alive there would be thousands more greys being given away to
abusers and the like because it would not be possible to rehome every
one of them without real retirement options in place.
“Not only that there are still a great number of people, certainly
in Ireland that see their greys as livestock and no more than that. A
few have them rehomed but the majority are put down after their use is
over. Again, hard true fact.
“And
don't tell me that the majority of BAGS trainers see their inmates as
anything other than livestock? I doubt the majority of BAGS dogs get a
daily gallop out in a field or a hunt in a forest, more like 10 minutes
emptying out twice a day and a trip to the local track once a week running
lame for £15 to line the pocket of a caring Bookmaker
“I'm so glad I moved away from England. Where I live now there are
folk out hunting with dogs most night's. Nobody where I live bothers the
hunter or his dogs, in fact they are mostly welcomed onto their land to
hunt.
“Our
vet recognizes and readily accepts that my greys are bred for a purpose
and are not pets. Whatever anti thought of the slogan "Greyhounds
make great Pets" very clever, it's been dished out to the public
so much they only associate the words Greyhound and Pet and there is your
problem, the public now see greys as pets!“
Greyhound
Action comment:-
Many
may feel, from what he has to say, that Newell is a callous and evil animal
abuser, but his honesty about the mass-slaughter that lies at the core
of commercial greyhound racing has given us another nail to hammer into
the coffin of the dog racing industry.
According
to our research, about 15,000 greyhounds, bred for the British greyhound
racing industry, are put to death before they even reach the tracks. Most
of these dogs are bred in Ireland, and many of them are killed there,
after being considered unfit for racing in Britain.
Although many of these dogs may never even reach our shores, the British
greyhound racing industry is nevertheless responsible for their slaughter,
as it is demand coming from the British tracks that has caused them to
be bred in the first place.
Newell's
comments reveal, once again, the connection between greyhound racing and
bloodsports and the fact that many of those involved in the racing industry
have little respect or consideration for animals of any kind.
BAGS
stands for Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service and applies to dog races
run at many stadiums in the afternoon to cater for the needs of the betting
shops. Dogs running in BAGS races tend to be slower than those taking
part in the traditional evening races and are therefore treated as even
more of a disposable commodity by the racing industry.
Daily
Mail article 7th July 2007
The
sickening side of greyhound racing
Moet and Chandon champagne at £58 a bottle. Sweet cured salmon and
lobster on the menu. Punters chewing cigars (the big fat variety) in executive
boxes in an air-conditioned grandstand. Welcome to the Derby - the Greyhound
Derby, that is, which gets under way at Wimbledon's Plough Lane stadium
tonight. Canine stars such as Westmead Lord, Loyal Honcho and Dilemma's
Flight will be in action before an expected 6,000 capacity crowd, and the
winner will get a cheque for £100,000.
But behind the scenes? Now that's a different story altogether; one the
dog racing industry would rather you didn't read about. We're supposed to
be a nation of animal lovers, after all. This "love", it seems,
doesn't extend to greyhounds.
The
elite - dogs like Westmead Lord, hot favourite for the derby - are the
lucky few. At the end of their careers, they'll be put out to stud. As
for the rest - the majority - a short, miserable life will be followed
by a brutal and needless death. Most will suffer a fate similar to those
buried in a "mass grave" next to David
Smith's bungalow off a secluded farm track in County Durham. The
method of execution for those unfortunate animals was a bolt gun, a weapon
that fires a metal bar with enough force to shatter the toughest skull.
Smith had been providing a £10-a-time canine killing service for
sections of the greyhound racing industry for up to 15 years.
It's
easier, and cheaper, to dispose of greyhounds whose careers are curtailed
through age - or because they cannot run fast enough to make their owners
money - than to re-home them. It's the equivalent of putting down an Afghan
Hound or Cocker Spaniel because their coats are no longer shiny enough
to compete at shows like Crufts.
The
true scale of the scandal came to light when Mr Smith was convicted of
breaching Environment Agency regulations and fined £2,000 (with
£2,000 costs) earlier this year. It is illegal to bury dead greyhounds
in your garden, but not to put a metal bolt through their heads. Hundreds,
possibly thousands of carcasses, still lie beneath neatly-planted rows
of beans, rhubarb, leeks and onions on Mr Smith's land.
As
a symbol of the cruelty inflicted on greyhounds all over Britain, it could
not be more chilling. At least a bolt gun is quick - and preferable to
being battered to death, killed with rat poison or thrown into a river
weighed down with bricks. These are some of the other ways, say animal
charities, that unwanted greyhounds are routinely disposed of. There is,
undeniably, a ruthless element in greyhound racing. Some dogs are even
fed cocaine, preventing them from running on top form: crooked punters,
in league with trainers and owners, cash in by betting on the doped dogs
to lose.
But
it is the slaughter of unwanted animals that is most disturbing. A recent
Parliamentary report said that at least 4,700 greyhounds a year are being
killed unnecessarily. And the figure, it said, could be a "significant
underestimation" of the problem. This is the disturbing background
to actress Annette Crosbie's outspoken attack on the industry, reported
in the Mail this week.
Miss
Crosbie, who played Victor Meldrew's long-suffering wife Margaret in TV's
One Foot In The Grave, owns three greyhounds and is a member of the Retired
Greyhound Trust. At a public speaking event, she launched a passionate
assault on those who she says abuse and murder thousands of dogs every
year."Hundreds of greyhounds are bred in the hope of getting a winner,"
she says. "The remainder are surplus to requirements and have no
future. "It is, bluntly, a state of affairs which reflects little
glory on Britain as a so-called nation of animal lovers. I have to mention
them because no one cares."
The
timing of her comments - before an audience who had paid £16 to
hear her speak about her illustrious acting career - may be open to question,
but surely not her sentiments. They are shared by many both in and outside
of dog racing, which generates a colossal £2.3 billion in off-course
bets, and more than £87 million in Tote on- course bets at the UK's
29 licensed tracks.
Few
"insiders" are prepared to go on the record. But today, two
women who worked for trainers between 2004/2005, have come forward to
speak to the Mail. Their accounts make uncomfortable reading. The nearest
most people get to this world is a TV screen. Greyhounds themselves are
just a fleeting blur on the screen in pursuit of an artificial hare. But,
unlike horse-racing tracks, dog tracks can be almost gladiatorial.
"It
was common to see cut ears, sprains, holes in faces, dropped muscles,
ripped claws or toes torn open - all this happens in the race itself,"
said Louise, 22.
"It
was my job to bathe them and treat their wounded claws. The claws could
get pulled out as they were running and the dogs would come back in foaming
at the mouth."
The
attitude of the trainer who employed her was "patch them up and send
them back out", rather than pay for a vet to treat injured animals.
"He had no respect for his dogs, and he was not alone," says
Louise.
"I
once saw a dog that had been injured as a puppy being forced to hurdle
but it was still not fully recovered.
"As
he struggled round the track, he fell badly at the last hurdle and was
carried off yelping in pain. I found out the dog was put down the next
day.
"Dogs
were put down all the time. At least one a week was put down at the stadium
because the animal was no longer able to race.
"The
vet would come in to put them down. There was a special room with a blue
door where they were killed. Everyone knew that if a dog went into that
room it wasn't coming back out.
"Every
week it was the same thing, another dog gone. It was very common.
"The
person I worked for was only interested in making money out of his dogs.
Once a dog could no longer race, he wanted rid of it.
"I
was very attached to one particular greyhound and walked him for a year.
I was hanging on in the job waiting to adopt him when he retired. But
it wasn't to be.
"The
dog's shoulder was shattered in a race. Afterwards, the head kennel hand
came back holding the dog's lead. I asked where the dog was. She just
said 'get on with your work;. This became a familiar pattern."
Marie,
30, worked for a different trainer. On one occasion, she says, a dog was
put down simply because it hurt its paw. "The dog hadn't been winning
races for a while and I think the trainer just wanted to get rid of it,"
she explains.
She
adds: "He only injured his paw - it wasn't even broken. But he was
killed regardless. In the end such unnecessary killings were too much
for me and I had to leave."
What
Louise and Marie describe makes a mockery of National Greyhound Racing
Club regulations that dogs should only be put down as a last resort and
then only under the supervision of a vet. Indeed, Louise claims her boss
sometimes even arranged for dogs to be killed outside the track; on those
occasions their ears were cut off because owners can be identified by
a serial number tattooed on a greyhound's ears.
"He
told me he buried the dogs but I think he just burned them," she
said.
This
week, the Mail discovered numerous other tales of widespread cruelty;
dogs being killed at every stage of their lives, from being drowned as
puppies if they don't show signs of being fit to race, or killed when
they are adults because they can no longer perform.
We
have been told about one man, who collects unwanted dogs in his van from
race-tracks all over Ireland and takes them home, where they are shot
with a bolt gun.
Those
who have attempted to expose the scandal have been thwarted. One is Pauline
Harrison, a greyhound owner from Barnsley, who was faced with evasion
and lies when she tried to find out what had happened to her race-winning
dog, Stormy Silver.
He
was five years old when she decided to retire him in 2002. A registered
trainer offered to find Stormy Silver a new home for a £10 fee.
"He
was a lovely dog but I already had four greyhounds at home so I didn't
have room for another," Mrs Harrison told the Mail.
"The
trainer told me he would make sure he went to a safe retirement home,
so I agreed that was the best thing, but when I tried to find out how
Stormy Silver was a few weeks later, he kept avoiding me.
"In
fact, the trainer had given him to a woman he knew. Finally I got to speak
to this supposed new owner and she said Stormy Silver was doing fine and
was curled up on the sofa watching TV.
But
Stormy Silver had a toe missing and when I asked her from which foot,
she didn't know. "She said she would call back but never did. I kept
trying to get through but the number became unobtainable. I contacted
the police and RSPCA but they couldn't help."
It
doesn't take a genius to work out that Stormy Silver probably went the
way of so many other retired racing dogs. Owners of some 52 other dogs
entrusted to the same trainer also want to know where they went. The man
in question was eventually stripped of his licence, but owners like Mrs
Harrison still don't know where their dogs are. The suspicion is that
they are now buried under David Smith's vegetable patch in County Durham.
Four people have also lost their training licences for using the services
of Mr Smith.
Back
in Barnsley, the news is little consolation to Mrs Harrison. "I gave
up greyhound racing after that," she says. "I have not been
back to a race-track since.
"Those
poor dogs are just used and abused. I am sure what happened in the North-East
is happening elsewhere in the country. I just wish I had kept Stormy Silver
myself."
Stephen
Rea, spokesman for the Greyhound Racing Association said: "Every
greyhound, upon arrival at the track, is thoroughly checked by a veterinary
surgeon and then again just before it races.
"To
infer that professional trainers who rely upon greyhounds for their livelihood
would risk them in this way, and therefore that the owners would also
stand buy and allow it, and finally a veterinary surgeon would jeopardise
his or her career by condoning this, is quite honestly too ridiculous
for words."
Tonight,
members of a group called Greyhound Action will be demonstrating
outside the Wimbledon stadium with placards saying "You bet, they
die" . . ."Say No To Greyhound Racing" . . . "Kill
Greyhound Racing, Not Greyhounds" . . . "Dying To Entertain
You".
Greyhound
Action was among the organisations which gave evidence to the Associate
Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, which produced that damning report
on the dog racing industry. It wants the Government to make it illegal
for anyone other than a vet to put down greyhounds, and has called for
the sport's governing bodies to incorporate animal welfare groups like
the Dogs Trust and the Retired Greyhound Trust, for whom Annette Crosbie
is such a passionate campaigner.
As
Miss Crosbie says: "Greyhounds usually start racing at 15 months.
They will have to run in all weathers and all conditions on tracks that
vary from good to disgraceful.
"They
will suffer injuries that will go untreated, and in approximately 18 months
their career will be over. They will be judged too expensive to 'mend',
and the owners will want rid of them.
Some
are kept as pets, more are given homes by voluntary helpers, but most
will be killed.
"Every
year some 30,000 are bred to race, but only 15,000 are registered. No
one knows what happens to the other 15,000."
Wales
on Sunday July 15th 2007
Healthy
dogs are being killed
July
15 2007
by
James McCarthy
FIVE
ruthless killers in Wales are slaughtering hundreds of healthy racing dogs
every year,
according to an animal rights group.
Campaigners
at Greyhound Rescue Wales say they know the identity of the executioners
and have passed
their names to the RSPCA, which has pledged to investigate the practise
of putting down dogs who are
no longer fast enough to compete.
In
the big money world of dog racing, bookies annually rake in more than
£2bn while the Government’s
coffers benefit from more than £70m. But welfare activists say little
goes back into caring for
dogs, many of whom are retired aged four but have another 10 years of
active life .
While
the killings are widely regarded as immoral, they are not necessarily
illegal. Since 1997,
anyone can own a bolt gun to kill animals without a licence but can be
prosecuted if the animals are
put down inhumanely.
Alain
Thomas, founder of Greyhound Rescue Wales, said: “About 500 dogs
are meeting some kind of
unacceptable fate here every year. GRW has been given the names of five
individuals who are
responsible for killing the dogs.
These
individuals buy large quantities of dogs from the registered sector, trial
them discreetly,
then keep the fastest and best one or two dogs in each batch. They dispose
of the other three or
four by shooting them and incinerating the bodies.”
The
organisation also claims the killers make an extra living out of putting
down other people’s
greyhounds and lurchers at around £10 a go.
Mr
Thomas said: “They make money from charging other owners to shoot
and incinerate their unwanted
dogs. This has led to the establishment of an informal but well organised
and commercially-based
system to shoot and incinerate greyhounds.”
A
report produced by the Assembly in 2003 found Wales was a dumping ground
for dogs no longer fast
enough to race on registered tracks in England.
Lorraine
Barrett AM, who chairs the Assembly’s All Party Animal Welfare Group,
said: “I have no time
at all for anyone who is prepared to shoot a dog just because it is no
longer needed for racing.
“I
would like to see those people prosecuted.
“The
Animal Welfare Act, which will come into effect at the end of the year,
will mean that
greyhound tracks will all have to have a vet in attendance. I doubt very
much whether they will be
able to survive having to pay to have a vet on site.
“There
is an issue about what will happen to greyhound racing in Wales. A lot
of people would like
to see an end to it. In a perfect world I would not like to see any animal
used for entertainment.
However I would like to see it regulated rather than go underground.”
John
Rabaiotti, from Swansea’s Fforestfach greyhound stadium, one of Wales’
two remaining and
unregulated tracks, the other being Valley in Ystrad Mynach, claimed the
estimates of dogs killed
were exaggerated.
He
said: “Greyhounds tend to be picked on as it is a good story –
if you believe the figures, there
are more dogs killed than race.
“I’m
not saying killings don’t happen because they do. But I think
the figures are distorted. I don’t
think the problem is anything like it is quoted by animal rights organisations.
“The
way to deal with it is to hit the perpetrators with a lot harder penalties
than have been used
in the past.”
A
spokesman for the RSPCA, which says 12,000 greyhounds disappear and are
unaccounted for every year
in the UK, said they would be “looking into the matter” of killings
in Wales.
james.mccarthy@wme.co.uk
GA
comment: As the highlighted sentence above shows ... they aren't even denying
that dogs are being slaughtered ... they just dispute the numbers.
Comments
left on the BBC One Show website (following an on air article and debate
about the greyhound industry)
I
am a veterinary nurse and in the last few weeks we have had 6 to 8 greyhounds
brought in to be put to sleep. I think more needs to be done within the
greyhound industry to stop this appalling treatment of healthy dogs.
Helen,
Tees
Greyhound
racing is a commercial industry and the dogs are seen as mere tools of
the trade.
Cris,
Devon
New
legislation is all well and good, but would be quite impossible to police.
The only way to put an end to this needless slaughter of these gentle
loving greyhounds is for a complete ban on this vile industry. The greyhound
racing industry has the front to call itself a sport. What kind of sport
murders thirty thousand of its competitors every year?
Dave,
Wiltshire
Wherever
money is made out of using animals, you are sure to find cruelty. These
poor dogs are bred, kept in an unnatural environment and when their racing
days are over are often discarded like trash. No matter how much the greyound
racing fraternity protest their concern and re-homing policies, there
are never enough places for the end-of-the-line dogs.
Margaret,
Surrey
How
can a 'sport' that ends up in the deaths of thousands of greyhounds every
year still be an active practice in this country? Greyhound racing should
be brought to an end and become at most a distant memory.
James,
Devon
We
are the South Devon branch of the national Greyhound Action group lobbying
for a ban on commercial greyhound racing. Thousands of greyhounds are
discarded every year when they are no longer deemed fit for the purpose
of racing. This is a throw-away evil industry and we are talking about
animals' lives here that obviously do not matter to those that breed and
exploit them, as obviously profits come before animal welfare. Greyhounds
are often abandoned, ears hacked off to remove identifying tattoos that
can originate the owner, puppies drowned and shot if they don't make the
grade and serious often fatal injuries are sustained on greyhound tracks
throughout the country. There is evidence that this is a dying sport as
more and more people boycott greyhound racing due to its inherent cruelty.
Helen,
Devon
As
one of the thousands of volunteers working to re-home greyhounds I cannot
believe Lord Lipsey's attitude. Thousands of hounds are put to sleep every
year and the industry has failed to do anything about this until the industry
was exposed by the Sunday Times. The industry is unable to self-regulate
and independent scrutiny is way overdue.
Dawn,
Shropshire
We
have a retired greyhound from Ireland - the sweetest animal you could
ever meet. The comment I wish to make is that in addition to British greyhounds
for re-homing, many are also in the same plight from Ireland - which workers
in the UK are trying to save as well.
Gareth,
Wales
I
re-homed a greyhound last year but after 10 days had to give it back as
it bit one of my children. Gorgeous dog, shame she wasn't more humanised
as she was very frightened of us and kept barking at us. We would definitely
consider re-homing another greyhound once our children get older. So many
greyhounds need homes and they are normally very placid and walk fantastically
on the lead.
Susan,
Essex
I
think it's amazing that the greyhound industry is claiming that 7,000
dogs re-homed each year is a good thing. There may be 10,000 dogs who
retire each year, but there are approximately 100,000 born each year.
What happens to the ones that don't make it to the track?
Phil,
Edinburgh & East
My
partner had 3 racing greyhounds which won many races. They were great
dogs and lived with us until sadly they died at the age of 12. I do think
it is cruel that people should be allowed to race dogs and put them down
because they can no longer race. I think all greyhounds should be registered
when born, and once they have passed on. Maybe then we can find the cruel
people that are getting away with putting down healthy young dogs.
Kellie,
Suffolk
Greyhound
racing should be stopped. Dogs going missing in their thousands is one
thing, but some dogs that are re-homed are in a terrible condition when
they arrive at the re-homing kennels, having sores, bites and needing
tooth extractions. Stop the racing, it's the only way.
John,
Birmingham
I
recently owned a greyhound, but they need a lot of attention as they are
very sensitive dogs.
Lisa,
Essex
How
come these discussions show only the views of people outside the greyhound
racing industry? Why doesn't someone put the real facts forward from the
racing kennels?
Karen,
Coventry
Racing
dogs are not treated well, They are worked very hard and destroyed when
they can no longer race. It makes no sense that a nation of dog-lovers
should use these poor animals in such a way. They are not here for our
entertainment.
Joanna,
Essex
I
think one of the main stigmas attached to re-homing greyhounds is the
popular misconception is that ex-racers do not make good pets. Retired
race greyhounds make excellent pets and are very clean in the home environment.
Keith,
Kent
July
issue of Greyhound Star
Industry
Welfare Fight Back is Long Overdue
The BGRB
has announced a fight back strategy to take on the animal welfare campaigners,
writes Floyd Amphlett.
BGRB
Chairman, Lord Lipsey, recently announced that he had changed his view
on ignoring extremists’ claims for fear that they would lead to extra
publicity.
He
also told a meeting of journalists that the negative publicity was having
an adverse effect on the industry’s ability to attract major non-bookmaking
sponsors.
Now
the board have appointed an agency called The Firm to conduct a communications
audit within the industry with the aim of correcting many of the unsubstantiated
claims made by groups such as Greyhound Action.
A
BGRB spokesman said: “If you google ‘greyhound racing’,
all you see are extremist views about greyhound welfare. Our hope is that
we can redress the problem by presenting an accurate representation of
what we do and giving the public the chance to form their own opinion
based on fact.”
One
of the participants in the study is leading British breeder, Jimmy Fenwick.
He said, “I think it is a great idea because a lot of the good work
that goes on in the industry doesn’t get publicised. For example,
we asked how many greyhounds have been homed by the local homing scheme
in the last year and it was 50. Then we calculated that between three
locals we have individually rehomed 26 dogs in less than four months.
This sort of thing never gets publicity but I know that what we have done
is repeated all over the country.”
Where
are the figures?
With
six months of 2007 already gone, the BGRB are still unable to report the
industry tote and attendance figures for 2006.
The
Star understands that at least six stadia have failed to file figures
and NGRC Racecourse Promoters Limited, the trade association for track
owners, are due to announce a crackdown. One track promoter said: “There
are big concerns, not just on attendance figures but also on injury data
too. Some tracks simply didn’t bother to make returns.
It
does not put the industry in a good light given future responsibilities
under the Animal Welfare Bill, it cannot be allowed to continue. It seems
highly likely that it will become a requirement of membership of the association.
Tracks cannot expect to reap the benefits if they are not prepared to
take responsibility for their actions.
GA
comment: Nice to know we've got them rattled ... for more good news read
the story below :-)
July
issue of Greyhound Star
Summer
depression for tracks
Britain’s
NGRC tracks suffered an abysmal second quarter of the year
with virtually every stadium bar Yarmouth, who [sic] recently
opened a new restaurant, suffering double digit drops in attendance,
writes Floyd Amphlett.
The
Star understands that the figures for April show Perry Barr
with a 33% drop in crowds, only narrowly better than Wimbledon
with a 28% drop. [how can a 33% drop – from Mr Amphlett’s
viewpoint – be better than a 28%? Does he mean worse?]
Other
figures revealed to the Star include: Hall Green –
20%, Belle Vue – 17%, Hove – 16%, Monmore –
10%, Oxford – 15%, Peterborough – 12%, Portsmouth
– 10%, Romford – 11%, Walthamstow – 10%.
An
industry source told us: “The May figures are apparently
even worse, though there is some suggestion that things
are easing for June. There is also a feeling that this isn’t
just greyhound related because those figures include some
traditionally strong tracks and other sectors including
pubs appear to be affected too. Quite what the effect of
the ban on smoking starting on July 1 will be, we can only
imagine”.
(The
Racing Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) THE Greyhound Racing Association
(GRA) has been officially put up for sale. Risk Capital Partners (RCP),
owners of the six-track group since March 2005, apparently hope to double
the pounds 50.3 million they paid at that time to Wembley plc for the
acquisition.
Such
figures clearly put into doubt the long-term future of the sport at some
of the venues due to their land value.
The
decision by RCP is not unexpected, although the timing has come as something
of a surprise.
It apparently has been made after the venture capitalists, the investment
vehicle of Channel 4's non-executive chairman Luke Johnson, received "unsolicited
approaches regarding potential redevelopment on the six innercity brownfield
sites, which total around 55 acres," according to Fergal O'Reilly
of property consultants King Sturge Financial Services, which has been
appointed as advisers in the sale.
Mention
of the word redevelopment will send a shiver down the spine of anyone
connected with the GRA tracks, of which Wimbledon, home of the Blue Square
Greyhound Derby, is the flagship, albeit a somewhat dated one in desperate
need of investment.
However,
O'Reilly did also point to the financial well-being of the business, stating:
"This instruction represents a rare opportunity for a buyer to acquire
a profitable business supported by a significant upside from the underlying
land values."
Tim
Wright, a partner in King Sturge's residential team, said: "I anticipate
a considerable amount of interest when this portfolio is brought to the
market - likely to be during this month and with a price tag of in excess
of pounds 100 million."
Such
an estimate, even if an optimistic opening gambit, may make it unlikely
that the GRA will be sold intact simply as a going greyhound concern,
although there are complications in redeveloping the prime site of Wimbledon,
where the local council has long been opposed to such a move, while there
are also questions about the suitability of the land.
One
of the issues facing RCP regarding the decision to dispose of the GRA
at this time will undoubtedly have been the increase in interest rates
since they made the acquisition some 30 months ago, meaning the debt taken
on board then now requires more servicing, although the company was not
expected to be long-term owners of the group in any case.
In
the time of RCP's ownership, it is understood that profit figures for
the GRA have remained at similar levels to before, with the generally
depressed state of the greyhound racing market offset by some fairly severe
cost-cutting, which has seen many departures from the company.
Stephen
Rea, publicity spokesman for the GRA, said: "Staff have been informed
of the situation, but there is no need to panic as this could take an
awful long time and business will continue as normal."
In
addition to Wimbledon, the GRA owns the freehold to Belle Vue (Manchester),
Hall Green (Birmingham), Oxford and Portsmouth, and has a long-term leasehold
with the local council at Perry Barr in Birmingham.
GA
comment: This means 6 tracks are likely to be sold for property development.
Affected tracks could be: Wimbledon, Belle Vue (Manchester) Hall Green
(Birmingham) Oxford, Portsmouth and Perry Barr (Birmingham). Please see
link below for full news report (if asked, skip intro screen to go directly
to the story)
Please
read the next story for more background information.
Unknown
source
Odds-on for £190m greyhound race
Samantha McClary 11/06/2007
Around
55 acres of prime brownfield land could come to market if Channel 4
chairman Luke Johnson bows to pressure and puts his six greyhound
tracks up for sale.
The
serial entrepreneur’s private equity fund, Risk Capital Partners,
has received several unsolicited bids from residential and commercial
developers for its six freehold stadiums in Wimbledon, SW19; Portsmouth;
Oxford; Manchester; and Birmingham sites in Perry Barr and Hall Green.
Although
no figures have been disclosed, the tracks could sell for around £3.5m
an acre, valuing the portfolio at more than £190m.
In
2005, the Chandler family put its 11.2-acre Walthamstow Stadium in Chingford,
E4, on the market for £40m.
The
track attracted bids from several residential developers, including George
Wimpey, but was not sold.
Ben
Redmond, director at Risk Capital Partners, said: “The land is not
on the market and we have not sought offers, but we have been studying
the unsolicited bids carefully and will give them due consideration.”
The
greyhound racing business has been in steady decline since the 1980s.
Despite
investment in the sector, the growing choice of ways to gamble has meant
greyhound tracks have been fighting a losing battle for custom.
FIVE
ruthless killers in Wales are slaughtering hundreds of healthy racing dogs
every year,
according to an animal rights group.
Campaigners
at Greyhound Rescue Wales say they know the identity of the executioners
and have passed
their names to the RSPCA, which has pledged to investigate the practise
of putting down dogs who are
no longer fast enough to compete.
In
the big money world of dog racing, bookies annually rake in more than
£2bn while the Government’s
coffers benefit from more than £70m. But welfare activists say little
goes back into caring for
dogs, many of whom are retired aged four but have another 10 years of
active life .
While
the killings are widely regarded as immoral, they are not necessarily
illegal. Since 1997,
anyone can own a bolt gun to kill animals without a licence but can be
prosecuted if the animals are
put down inhumanely.
Alain
Thomas, founder of Greyhound Rescue Wales, said: “About 500 dogs
are meeting some kind of
unacceptable fate here every year. GRW has been given the names of five
individuals who are
responsible for killing the dogs.
These
individuals buy large quantities of dogs from the registered sector, trial
them discreetly,
then keep the fastest and best one or two dogs in each batch. They dispose
of the other three or
four by shooting them and incinerating the bodies.”
The
organisation also claims the killers make an extra living out of putting
down other people’s
greyhounds and lurchers at around £10 a go.
Mr
Thomas said: “They make money from charging other owners to shoot
and incinerate their unwanted
dogs. This has led to the establishment of an informal but well organised
and commercially-based
system to shoot and incinerate greyhounds.”
A
report produced by the Assembly in 2003 found Wales was a dumping ground
for dogs no longer fast
enough to race on registered tracks in England.
Lorraine
Barrett AM, who chairs the Assembly’s All Party Animal Welfare Group,
said: “I have no time
at all for anyone who is prepared to shoot a dog just because it is no
longer needed for racing.
“I
would like to see those people prosecuted.
“The
Animal Welfare Act, which will come into effect at the end of the year,
will mean that
greyhound tracks will all have to have a vet in attendance. I doubt very
much whether they will be
able to survive having to pay to have a vet on site.
“There
is an issue about what will happen to greyhound racing in Wales. A lot
of people would like
to see an end to it. In a perfect world I would not like to see any animal
used for entertainment.
However I would like to see it regulated rather than go underground.”
John
Rabaiotti, from Swansea’s Fforestfach greyhound stadium, one of Wales’
two remaining and
unregulated tracks, the other being Valley in Ystrad Mynach, claimed the
estimates of dogs killed
were exaggerated.
He
said: “Greyhounds tend to be picked on as it is a good story –
if you believe the figures, there
are more dogs killed than race.
“I’m
not saying killings don’t happen because they do. But I think the
figures are distorted. I don’t
think the problem is anything like it is quoted by animal rights organisations.
“The
way to deal with it is to hit the perpetrators with a lot harder penalties
than have been used
in the past.”
A
spokesman for the RSPCA, which says 12,000 greyhounds disappear and are
unaccounted for every year
in the UK, said they would be “looking into the matter” of killings
in Wales.
WITH
regard to the recent letters from Annette Crosbie, T Hughes and others,
I would like to make a few points about greyhound ownership in general
and dogs that have finished racing in particular.
I am a greyhound owner, primarily involved for the selfish pleasure of
seeing my dogs race and win. I buy and sell dogs regularly, hoping to
get one that turns out to be a prolific winner, or is a good gambling
dog. This is how I've been for the past 20 years (since I was 18). I've
always owned three or four dogs at any one time and have always passed
them on to somebody before retirement was upon them, found them homes
or had them killed.
I use the word killed not because I had them disposed of in a sinister
way; they were all put down by vets in the proper manner. I use the word
because it is more accurate and descriptive and honest. I can admit I've
had my dogs killed, and although it is a last resort, it is an option
I have used purely for practical and financial reasons.
I think it is a fair assumption that some of the racers I have passed
on to people, those that have not actually been homed, have ended up abused
or neglected or killed when their racing careers had finished.
I console myself that it was not actually me who was responsible for them,
because as soon as I handed the dogs over I sent a letter to the NGRC
informing them of a change of ownership (many dogs that are sold remain
registered in the original name for years later) absolving myself from
any further responsibility.
A lot of owners love their dogs and are devoted to them, be they bottom
grade or top open class. But how often have we all heard the phrase "I
could never have him/her put down, there's a place ready in front of the
fireplace." Invariably this is said about dogs that have achieved
more for the owner, the same owner that would freely let go of a dog that
achieved less.
We must remember that every time a dog goes in to traps for a race we
are exposing it to the possibility of horrific injury. If owners loved
their dogs so much, would they take a chance like that?
I think it is time the greyhound industry was honest with itself. Greyhound
racing is an industry based on exploiting animals, just the same as horseracing,
and ultimately the same as pet shops and breeders exploiting domestic
and show dogs.
Unfortunately there is not enough money in the sport to care for every
dog once its racing career is over. If there was I would not advocate
putting dogs down. Anybody who buys a greyhound to race must realise they
are exploiting the dog for their own pleasure.
A lot of sentimentality is heard among owners, but at the end of the day
the dog exists for their pleasure. The Retired Greyhound Trust does its
best, and there is also a lot of hard work done by individual trainers
when it comes to homing ex-racers, all of it woefully inadequate to deal
with the scale of the problem.
It is the responsibility of an individual owner and ultimately their choice
what happens to a greyhound after it has finished racing.
The fact is that ex-racers with no traceable owners, and owners unwilling
to pay for them, are a strain on the sport and are the cause of much financial
pressure among trainers. I can see the sense of T Hughes' argument and
I believe it is sound.
Euthanasia or culling might seem wicked and downright cruel but we
must remember that the whole sport is based on finance, and if it becomes
financially unviable it will disappear.
STUART J ALLEN
London E17
GA
comment: This last line says it all ... we couldn't have summed it up
better ourselves! Greyhound racing is a business, re-homing the dogs properly
is too expensive and would reduce profits ... therefore a large number
of "Greyhound trainers" choose to kill their dogs instead. To
reduce costs, many don't even use a vet, but instead either mutilate and
abandon them or get an unlicensed person to kill them ... often in a truly
horrific manner. For more actual examples of what happens to greyhounds
once they are too old to race or just aren't fast enough click
here
AT FIRST glance the white-washed single-storey building could pass for a
holiday chalet. Tucked away among Leigh Animal Sanctuary’s complex
of kennels, the bland exterior of “Block 8” gives nothing away.
But anyone venturing inside encounters a sinister scene: a stuffy boxroom
in which thousands of dogs have allegedly met their deaths.
“It stinks of dead dogs in there,” said Jane, a former staff member
who worked at the site in Greater Manchester for years. “It is a sickening
smell.”
The dominant features of the white-walled and red-floored room are two industrial-sized
freezers.
They are the last stop on what former staff and greyhound trainers say is
a conveyor belt of killing, starting with dogs being delivered at the sanctuary’s
front desk on an almost daily basis; leading to lethal drugs fired directly
into their chests; and ending with the bodies dumped in the freezers.
Ostensibly the sanctuary, which has been open since 1975 to rehome unwanted
animals, is offering succour to dogs found wandering the streets by council
dog wardens or brought in by owners who no longer feel able to look after
their pets.
But the reality behind the facade is that, according to the testimony of
former staff members, about half of all the dogs entering will be killed,
often within days or even hours.
The testimony is backed by interviews with three greyhound trainers who
said the sanctuary had long been used to dispose of unwanted dogs.
The question of what happens to greyhounds after their racing careers are
finished has become a scandal following revelations in July by The Sunday
Times that one man in Seaham, Co Durham, had acted as an unofficial “executioner”
for the industry for at least 15 years, killing and burying dogs in his
one-acre allotment.
The resulting outcry provoked inquiries by the government, Inland Revenue,
Environment Agency, RSPCA and the authorities governing greyhound racing.
The Labour peer Lord Lipsey, who is chairman of the British Greyhound Racing
Board which represents many of the country’s dog tracks, said that
while the killing of dogs was “abhorrent”, it was restricted to
the “odd bad penny”.
However, trainers who frequent Leigh Animal Sanctuary disagree. Three greyhound
trainers gave interviews, on condition of anonymity, stating that the facility
has been the killing ground of choice for the industry in the northwest
for many years.
All said that it came down to a matter of cost, with the sanctuary considerably
undercutting vets’ prices. One said: “It’s £35 at Leigh
Animal Sanctuary but if the vet put them down at the track it’s £65.
Every track uses it, they come from all over, Belle Vue [Manchester], Kinsley
[West Yorkshire] and Doncaster [South Yorkshire].”
Vets in the vicinity charge up to £70 to put down a dog and are likely
to ask the owner why they want the animal put to sleep.
The trainer, who admitted taking greyhounds to be put down at the sanctuary,
said: “The majority of registered trainers take them there. They have
put down thousands.
“I’ve
seen loads of dogs going there [just because they] have not turned out
to be any good for racing.”
Greyhounds are the breed most likely to be summarily put down since they
are seen as difficult to rehome and therefore of no profit to the owners,
claim ex-employees of the sanctuary. Many greyhounds are brought by their
owners or trainers when their racing careers are curtailed through lameness,
age or lack of speed.
Most of these will specifically ask for their dogs to be put down. The
sanctuary is happy to oblige with no questions asked. While killing dogs
humanely, such as with lethal injections, is not illegal, trainers belonging
to the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) are required to put dogs
down only as a last resort and then only under the supervision of a vet.
But according to former staff at the sanctuary, a vet was rarely present
when dogs were killed. “The drill was for the dogs to be kept in
an isolation block until they can be checked over by a vet but many greyhounds
didn’t even make it that far, they just went straight to Block 8,”
said a former employee who asked for her name to be withheld.
“It was the same with any dog which was considered to be ugly or
otherwise unlikely to sell,” she said. “If anyone rang back
later to ask about a dog we always said it had been rehomed rather than
admit it had been put down. The sanctuary is run in a very commercially
minded way.
“If it is something pedigree or attractive, it might sell to a member
of the public for up to £250, which is a big profit.
“But dogs like greyhounds are considered a burden since they are
thought to be difficult to rehome; so instead they just tend to put them
down straight away.”
One trainer said: “They can take £35 for rehoming, put them
to sleep and then they’ve got £35. They don’t have to
feed the animal, they just put it to sleep. It’s money for old rope.”
A reporter posing as a greyhound owner contacted the sanctuary by telephone
last week, seeking to have some greyhounds put down. After being told
it was £35 per dog he asked if he needed to make an appointment.
Receptionist: “Just turn up any time.”
Reporter: “I’ve got three greyhounds [to put down], is that
a problem?”
Receptionist:
“No, that’s fine, you can bring them down any time . . . Just
remember it’s £35 each.”
Two days later the reporter walked into the reception block and spoke
to a member of staff named David. During a perfunctory exchange the reporter
told David he had two young greyhounds to be brought in the next day that
he wanted putting down because they were “past it”.
David, who declined to ask why he wanted them dead, charged the “trainer”
£70 and gave him a receipt. The blue slip included the “trainer’s”
name and address and telephone number, but no details about the dogs except
that they were greyhounds.
David simply pencilled in the words “For P.T.S” [put to sleep]
on the line headed “reason for rehoming”.
When asked if he would lie to the “trainer’s” wife if she
called by telling her the dogs had been rehomed, David agreed he would.
All three former staff said dogs were put down by other employees rather
than vets. One said: “The dogs would be injected in the chest because
that was the quickest way, though vets usually put the needle in a vein
in a paw.
“When the bodies were collected by a company to take them for cremation
they would write down a figure only about half the actual number we were
taking. I suppose that was to make it look as if they weren’t putting
that many down.”
Yesterday Linda Buxton, 48, the woman in charge of the sanctuary, refused
to comment.
Others are also seeking to speak to Buxton. Alistair McLean, chief executive
of the NGRC, said: “Following the Seaham exposé we have had
information about a number of places, one of which was Leigh Animal Sanctuary,
and we are now investigating to identify those trainers using it.”
Trio banned
Three leading figures in greyhound racing have been banned from the sport
for life following The Sunday Times’s exposure of the Seaham scandal.
At a stewards’ inquiry last week at the National Greyhound Racing
Club, Gillian Young and her father Sid Fenwick, both licensed trainers,
were “warned off” the sport, an effective ban. Young was fined
£1,500 and Fenwick £1,000.
Both had been pictured in July delivering two young greyhounds to David
Smith in Seaham, Co Durham, to be put down. Smith could face two years
in prison and a £20,000 fine.
Young’s husband Graeme, an assistant track manager, also received
a life ban and was fined £2,000. Trio banned
GA
comment :This
comes as no suprise(read
the stories below for more information about this), we have known for
years that 1000's of dogs were just disappearing after they "retired"
from racing and 1000's more before they even got to the track ... deemed
too slow to even bother training. It is great news to see that more and
more of these secret killing fields are being discovered and the true
callous and murderous nature of the greyhound racing industry is being
revealed.
We
also note with interest that 3 people have been banned for life by the
racing authorities ... these are the 3 people who were caught in the Times'
previous expose of the Seaham killing ground ... the particularly interesting
point is that they were randomly caught because they just happened to
bring dogs on the day when the newspaper was there ... if every trainer/owner
who had had a dog killed at Seaham or similar places around the country
was banned for life ... there wouldn't be many left to carry on racing.
Take
Action: Please take the time to write or email your local paper about
this ... we must keep the pressure on and keep the issue in peoples minds
while it is still fresh. Today is the day to act!
For
an extended GA press release on this topic click
here
SUNDERLAND
Greyhound Stadium owners today denied claims they knew thousands of healthy
racing dogs were being secretly slaughtered in Seaham.
The
racing industry has been thrown into turmoil after David Smith was accused
of killing up to 10,000 dogs and burying them near his £220,000
detached house in Northdene Terrace.
The
dad-of-three, who runs a builder's merchant and newsagent's in Lord Street,
charged £10 a time to shoot dogs, allegedly for 40 trainers, because
they were too old to race and too expensive to home.
Animal
rights campaigners said they believe most of the slaughtered dogs would
have been raced at Sunderland and Brough Park stadiums both owned
by bookmaking giant William Hill.
"William
Hill knew about this," said Tony Peters, of Greyhound Action. "They've
know for years this guy Smith has been killing dogs that come from their
tracks."
The firm denied the allegations.
A spokesman said: "William Hill stadia hosts a responsible and regulated
sport and has no reason to believe that any owners or trainers from our
tracks have been involved with this activity.
"We
find the revelations abhorrent and will welcome and support any investigation
into the activity to identify any miscreants who may have chosen to euthanase
their greyhounds by these means.
"Should
an investigation identify any individuals have raced greyhounds at our
tracks and who have then engaged in this activity, these individuals will
be banned from having any further association with our tracks immediately
and will be reported to the NGRC (National Greyhound Racing Club, which
regulates 31 licensed tracks)."
Durham
police have twice spoken to Mr Smith since revelations of his activities
came to light over the weekend
A
spokesman said: "We have received no specific complaints about Mr
Smith's activities and we have no concerns about the bolt gun and we have
now established it is quite legitimately held."
On
whether the alleged mass dog grave posed a public health hazard, District
of Easington Council said: "We will be working with the Environment
Agency to ensure there will be no long-term contamination of the land
at Mr Smith's home.
"There
are potential health issues surrounding the disposal of animal carcasses
and we would therefore strongly advise people to use pet crematoriums
or contact the council for further advice."
The
NGRC said its North East stipendiary steward Eric Vose would investigate.
But
Greyhound Action fears any investigation may be worthless unless the one-acre
plot where Mr Smith allegedly buried 10,000 dogs is dug up.
Death threats to dog killer
DOG killer David Smith has been forced to boost security at his Seaham
home after receiving death threats.
Since
the allegations were made against the businessman, malicious phone calls
have been made to his businesses and Northdene Terrace home.
Some
of the sinister calls were answered by Mr Smith's wife Maureen and his
daughter.
To
protect his property and family, Mr Smith hurriedly installed CCTV, floodlights
and other security measures after the allegations received national attention.
"I
am devastated by all of this," said the East Durham builder's merchant.
Durham
police said they were not aware of any death threats, but confirmed the
Smiths had received a number of malicious phone calls.
Killings 'common knowledge'
PEOPLE in Seaham have backed David Smith, who has received death threats
for allegedly killing thousands of greyhounds.
Many
people said it was common knowledge dogs were being put down.
"Everybody
in Seaham knows what he does" said Frank Prest, of Seaham Pet and
Garden Centre. "And have done for a long time.
"As
long as he's doing it humanely, he's providing a service. If he didn't
do that, they would just smack them over the head with a brick."
Deborah
Rochester, 29, from Ropery Walk, said: "I don't agree with the methods
he's using but I can't see why everyone is putting up a fuss about it
now because he's been doing it for years."
Her
friend Angela Peel, 30, from Dawdon, said: "He's not doing anything
illegal and people have been using him for years."
They
both said greyhound owners should take more responsibility for their dogs.
Pauline
Yates, 41, from Seaham, agreed. "It's up to the owners to look after
them until they die," she said.
Fifty-year-old
Alan Savage, from Parkside, also said blame for the situation should lie
with the owners. "It should be the owners held up as well, not just
Dave Smith. They're the ones making money off the dogs then just getting
rid of them."
Racing told to clean up its act
THE greyhound industry has been told to "clean its act up" by
the Government.
Animal
Welfare Minister Ben Bradshaw said killing a dog with a bolt gun breached
the rules of the National Greyhound Racing Club.
"The
National Greyhound Racing Club must launch an immediate investigation,"
he said. "It must discipline or expel any members who have broken
its rules by disposing of their dogs in this way."
"The
Government believes racing greyhounds should only be put down by a vet.
"We
have long felt self-regulation within the greyhound industry is the most
effective way of policing animal welfare.
"If
they can't clean up their act, Government will intervene."
Meanwhile,
campaigners have called for commercial greyhound racing at stadiums such
as Sunderland and Easington to be scrapped.
Greyhound
Action says replacing real dogs with computer-generated virtual racing
is the only way to ensure thousands of greyhounds a year do not end up
prematurely killed.
Another
day, another death: this man slaughters greyhounds on an industrial
scale
Rent A Flyer and Clash Nitro
just two of his victims
By
Daniel Foggo
DAVID
SMITH met the owners of the two greyhounds at his garden gate and pocketed
£10 from each as he took hold of the makeshift leads.
With his chained-up rottweilers looking on, the bearded and bespectacled
Smith led the lithe racing dogs — one a fawn- coloured brindle and
the other black with white markings — across his plot and into a breeze-block
shed.
The animals appeared sprightly and alert as if they hoped they might soon
be allowed off the lead for a run. But seconds later two sharp reports rang
out. They had been killed.
Anyone who had worked in an abattoir would have recognised the sounds as
the discharging of a bolt gun, a weapon that fires a metal bar with enough
force to smash the toughest skull.
The dogs emerged lifeless and limp in Smith’s bloodied wheelbarrow.
He dumped them in a freshly dug hole on one side of his one-acre garden
before covering the grave with earth using a mechanical digger.
Smith contemplated his garden for a moment with a look of satisfaction.
On the other side of his plot his lettuces were coming up nicely.
The episode, on Wednesday, was captured on film by a photographer for The
Sunday Times. It was repeated again the next day, this time with greyhounds
emerging from a white van and a silver Ford Mondeo before disappearing into
Smith’s killing shed.
It was a scene that has been repeated regularly in this secluded corner
of the seaside town of Seaham, in Co Durham — a slaughter business
that can be exposed for the first time today after a Sunday Times investigation.
Smith’s unofficial abattoir and graveyard have quietly serviced the
greyhound racing industry in the north of Britain for about 15 years. Calculations
by this newspaper suggest that over that period at least 10,000 dogs
have been killed and buried in the plot at the back of his house. Before
Smith, his father, now 81, provided a similar service.
According to a dog track insider, the trade has been a secret that greyhound
trainers and owners have been keen to keep. “Only doing two dogs a
day is a bad day for him. It is not unheard of for him to do around 40 a
day and if anyone ever digs up that garden it will be like the killing fields,”
we were told. “He has made a mint out of it.
“This service is for the licensed trainers who have 50 or 60 dogs in
their kennels. The greyhounds are used for the afternoon races that appear
on television. These dogs have made a lot of people a lot of money and they
don’t deserve to be shot in the head. It is a scandal that the industry
should be ashamed of.”
Campaigners have long suspected that such an operation was being run somewhere
in Britain but have never been able to pinpoint its location. The RSPCA
says about 12,000 greyhounds a year disappear and are unaccounted for.
Greyhounds have only a short racing life. Once they reach 3½ to
5 years old — out of a natural lifespan of about 12 to 14 years
— they are considered too slow to compete. Some go to new homes as
pets, in accordance with the official policy of the National Greyhound Racing
Club (NGRC), the industry’s governing body. Many others simply vanish.
Debbie Rothery, who runs a greyhound sanctuary in West Yorkshire, said thousands
of greyhounds were disposed of each year under the noses of the NGRC. “It
is a sordid secret but nobody wants to know and it is about time it was
exposed,” she said. “The RSPCA have told me they have not got
time to pursue greyhound abusers and parliament does not do anything because
they are making too much money from the industry.”
Greyhound racing is big business, attracting 3.5m people to its tracks each
year, with millions more watching races on television. Every year £2.5
billion is bet on the sport and about £70m goes to the government
in tax.
In recent years greyhound racing has upgraded its public image, helped by
regular television coverage of meetings and by celebrity owners such as
Freddie Flintoff, the England cricketer.
The scandal of the disappearing dogs has, however, remained hidden and even
those within the racing world who have attempted to expose it have been
thwarted.
One is Pauline Harrison, a greyhound owner from Barnsley, who met evasion
and lies when she tried to find out what had happened to her race- winning
dog, Stormy Silver. He was five years old when she decided to retire him
in 2002. Terry Dee, a registered trainer attached to Kinsley stadium, a
licensed track near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, offered to find him a new
home.
“He took him off me but when I tried to find out how Stormy Silver
was doing in his new home a few weeks later Dee kept putting me off. In
the end I rang the retirement home and they said they hadn’t had any
dogs from Kinsley.
“Then Dee said he’d lied and in fact he’d given him to a
woman but it took weeks to get the number. In the end, I spoke to this supposed
new owner and she said he was doing fine. But Stormy Silver had a toe missing
and when I asked her which foot it was on she didn’t know. She said
she would call back but after that the number became unobtainable.”
The owners of some of the 52 other dogs entrusted to Dee also want to know
where they went. After they complained, Dee was brought before the NGRC
and said he had given the dogs away at motorway service stations but had
not kept records.
He was stripped of his trainer’s licence but the former owners still
did not know what had happened to their dogs. The suspicion is that Dee,
who died several months ago, took them to Smith. The industry insider said:
“Everyone knows the dogs went there. The inquiry swept it under the
table; once Dee was no longer a licensed trainer they had effectively washed
their hands of him.”
When informed of her dog’s fate by The Sunday Times last week, Harrison
said: “It is horrific but I had come to suspect that something like
this had happened.”
The Sunday Times began its investigation after a tip-off from a racing insider
who also felt it was time to expose and end the practice. A reporter, posing
as a greyhound owner who wanted to dispose of his dogs, rang Smith, whose
wife Maureen answered the phone and asked what he wanted.
“It’s about some dogs,” said the reporter and offered to
call back. She interrupted and said in a matter-of-fact tone: “You
want to put some dogs down, do you? Half past nine in the morning, down
by the garden gate.” Every morning? “Every morning, barring a
Sunday,” she said.
Last week the reporter turned up at the Smiths’ business just as two
other dog owners, a man in jeans and a baseball cap and a woman in a quilted
waistcoat were leaving together in a powder-blue van.
The plot of land where the slaughtered greyhounds are buried is on a secluded
plateau just below the Smiths’ large redbrick dormer bungalow. Nearby
is a stream into which the residues of decaying dogs could leach, although
it was dried up last week.
As Smith emerged from the shed where he had just ended the lives of the
two dogs, the reporter told him that he had eight greyhounds he wanted put
down. Smith, who at no point asked why he wanted them dead, indicated that
that was no problem as long as he hurried up as he had to get back to his
work as a builders’ merchant.
He bemoaned the fact that many of his customers balked at paying his £10-per-death
fee. “When you think it’s 60 or 70 quid at the vet, what am I
gonna do? I’ll be honest with you, I was thinking of putting it up,”
he said.
“If some hassle us (over) 10 quid I am gonna put it up to £15.
Don’t hassle us for a discount — at 10 quid I’m doing it
for nothing.
“I am doing a service because the council and everyone who comes here,
the RSPCA . . . begged us not to pack in because if I pack in there will
be dogs all over the streets.
“People are not going to pay 50, 60 or 70 quid at the vets, they will
just let them loose. That’s what they said to me.”
He continued complaining, saying that he found the endless killing “a
hassle”.
“I’ve done it for that many years, and my father done it before
me and I’ve done it and I’m not really bothered. If I had to pack
in tomorrow I’d pack in. It’s the hassle. For what? For what I
make out of it?” When the reporter suggested that he might run out
of room to bury the dogs, Smith pointed towards the far corner of the plot
and said: “It takes me about three years to get across there and by
the time I get across I can start here again and there’s only a few
bones left so it doesn’t worry us.”
The RSPCA denied having any record of meeting Smith.
A spokesman said that such killing was unjustified and unnecessary, although
not necessarily illegal.
Since 1997, anyone can own a bolt gun to kill animals without a licence
but can be prosecuted if the animals are put down inhumanely.
The RSPCA put down 1,045 dogs last year for non-medical reasons but
insists that it is done only as a last resort once all other options have
been exhausted. “This is a sad reflection on the greyhound racing industry,
which should be cleaning up its act,” said Steve Cheetham, the RSPCA’s
veterinary spokesman.
“It is imperative that the industry finally admits there is a problem
and works with welfare organisations to look at ways of tackling this as
a matter of urgency.”
Alistair McLean, chief executive of the NGRC, said that the industry helped
to fund the retirement of about 3,000 of the 10,000 dogs that stop racing
at its 30 registered tracks each year. But although they ask their trainers
to confirm what happens to dogs after they retire, making exacting checks
is difficult.
“Our policy is clear, which is that we would wish the greyhound to
be suitably rehomed. Greyhounds make great pets. It is absolutely against
our rules to use someone like this,” McLean said. Clarissa Baldwin,
chief executive of the Dogs Trust, said: “One of our very big fights
with the industry is that they have no idea what is going on in their ‘sport’.”
When confronted, Smith denied any knowledge of killing dogs but later said
he was doing it only to “do society a favour” and gave the proceeds
to charity. He claimed that most of the dogs were sick or injured. He refused
to estimate how many dogs he had put down and said that some weeks he did
not kill any. “But I am stopping it now,” he insisted.
Run into the ground
Many greyhounds are kept in cramped conditions for much of their lives and
are sometimes required to run several races a week.
There have been persistent allegations that some are doped to slow them
down so that bookmakers will offer better odds next time they run.
An industry insider said: “There are many ways to do that — excessive
feeding before a race or giving it beta blockers. To speed it up you give
it cocaine, which works in seconds.” Critics claim that trainers can
get round drug tests.
Three-quarters of the greyhounds racing in Britain are born in Ireland,
where breeding and exporting them is a big enterprise.
They are ready to compete at 16 months. The elite few that are fast enough
for the open races carrying substantial prize money and kudos will be treasured
and will eventually be put to stud. But most will be fit only for the graded
races that make up most of the 71,000 run in Britain each year.
“The dogs in the afternoon fixtures are just made to run, run run,”
said the insider. “Then, when they go lame or get too old and lose
a bit of speed, they are just disposed of.”
Welfare bill loophole
The government set up the Greyhound Welfare Working Group — made up
of the sport’s various official bodies together with groups such as
the RSPCA and the Dogs Trust — last year to advise it on its animal
welfare bill, which is likely to become law later this year or in early
2007.
However, despite much parliamentary debate, the bill will not make any specific
provision for greyhounds and the group has been told that they will be covered
only by secondary legislation.
According to a draft drawn up by Defra, the environment ministry, this is
likely to state that “where destruction is inevitable, greyhounds must
be euthanased humanely by the intravenous injection of a suitable drug administered
under the direct supervision of a veterinary surgeon”.
Maureen Purvis, of Greyhounds UK, a pressure group that gave evidence to
a House of Commons select committee regarding the new bill, said: “We
wanted the tracks to come under the jurisdiction and inspection of the local
authorities. The industry has had 80 years to regulate itself and it plainly
is not working.”
GA
comment: this story comes as no suprise to GA, but it is very nice to see
what we've been saying for 9 years finally vindicated and exposed in the
press ... Read on for more on this story.
Britain is famously supposed to be a nation of animal lovers. Most households
own a pet and more than a quarter of them have a dog. They will be horrified
by our report today on the grim fate of racing greyhounds. A dog’s
life is up to 14 years or longer, but a greyhound’s racing life is
no more than five years. After that the lucky minority are placed in caring
homes. Most, however, are killed in the prime of their lives and the RSPCA
estimates that 12,000 greyhounds suffer this fate every year. For many
the end means death in a grubby abattoir in Co Durham, with a bolt shot
to the head for a meagre £10. Animals which have made owners and
gamblers tens of thousands in bets end up being slaughtered and dumped
in a field. There are similar operations no doubt across the rest of Britain.
Greyhounds are fine animals with a lineage stretching from the time of
the pharaohs through to modern kings and queens. One moment they are seen
as sleek creatures racing around the track in a blur in pursuit of an
artificial hare. The next their useful life is over. Many owners are complicit
in the destruction of their animals but others are unaware of what is
happening. They are led to believe that their dogs have been put into
comfortable retirement when in reality they have been summarily put down.
The official policy of the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) is that
caring homes should be found for dogs so they can see out their lives.
But only 3,000 of the 10,000 greyhounds retiring each year from Britain’s
30 official tracks are found homes. Fewer still from the 18 unofficial
tracks are looked after once they have finished racing. Yet this is an
industry which, the NGRC boasts, is our second biggest spectator sport
and generates billions in betting. “Unfortunately we do not have
any figures,” is its official position on the destruction of healthy
dogs. That is not a satisfactory answer. Greyhound racing is rich enough
to look after its retired animals properly. It should do so. This unnecessary
slaughter shames it
Proving
nothing has changed in recent years ... The Times did a similar story
in October 2003 ... click here to read it or
read on for more on this story below.
BBC news July, 2006
The canine killing field
Call for greyhound deaths inquiry
An MP has called for an inquiry into greyhounds' fates when their racing
days are over after claims thousands have been killed in County Durham.
A Sunday Times investigation claims builders' merchant David Smith, of Seaham,
County Durham, has killed and buried 10,000 animals over 15 years.
MP Eric Martlew said he would call for an urgent probe.
A woman at the Seaham house said the story had been blown out of proportion
and they were considering legal action.
'Industry in denial'
The government said it would be interested in seeing the evidence.
Carlisle MP Mr Martlew said the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal
Welfare would hold a meeting about the case on Monday.
He said: For a long time now people have thought this kind of thing has
been going on but without any evidence.
"I think the industry is in denial about it."
Mr Martlew said despite the good work of charities who work to re-home greyhounds,
the problem of healthy dogs being killed has been a concern for animal welfare
groups for many years.
The Sunday Times said it covertly filmed greyhounds being received, killed
with a bolt gun and then buried.
Under current law, no licence is needed to put down animals with a bolt
gun. Animals must be put down in a humane way.
Animal health and welfare minister Ben Bradshaw said: "We would welcome
the chance to look at the evidence gathered in this case."
Unwanted
greyhounds put down at 'abattoir'
By Cahal Milmo
The greyhound industry is facing two inquiries into welfare in dog racing
after allegations that a builders' merchant has killed and buried 10,000
animals at his home.
The
Government and an all-party committee of MPs promised to investigate reports
that thousands of healthy greyhounds were being killed each year at secret
dog abattoirs. The concerns follow revelations that David Smith, of Seaham,
Co Durham, was offering a service to kill healthy racing dogs which were
no longer needed and dispose of them. The Sunday Times, which filmed two
greyhounds before and after they were killed in return for a fee of £10
per dog, said it believed that at least 10,000 dogs had died at the property
over 15 years.
Mr
Smith confirmed that he does put down dogs using a bolt gun for "humane"
reasons. His business is not illegal.
Alistair McLean, chief executive of the National Greyhound Racing Club,
said: "We categorically don't endorse this kind of thing."
THE greyhound
industry is "in denial" about the fate of thousands of dogs which
are slaughtered after they pass their racing prime, it was claimed yesterday.
Eric Martlew, the chairman of a Commons cross-party animal welfare group,
said he will be urging his colleagues to launch an urgent inquiry into dog
racing following reports that a County Durham builder's merchant has killed
and buried at least 10,000 animals.
The government also said it will look at an investigation bya Sunday newspaper
which claims David Smith spent the past 15 years filling land at his home
in the village of Seaham with canine carcases.
Mr Martlew, the MP for Carlisle, said the Associate Parliamentary Group
for Animal Welfare will hold an urgent meeting about the case today. He
said: "This is absolutely appalling. It's time the industry cleaned
up its act. There must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of people in
the industry that knew what this man was doing. I also suspect this isn't
the only canine killing field like this. I think the industry is in denial
about it."
Mr Martlew said too many people in dog racing saw the animals simply as
"commodities". Ben Bradshaw, the minister for animal welfare,
said he was shocked by the reports. When confronted by the newspaper, Mr
Smith said he had been killing the dogs for "humane" reasons but
would now stop
TWO
greyhound trainers face being banned from the sport after being photographed
taking dogs to be slaughtered by a builders’ merchant and buried in
his back garden.
Sid Fenwick and his daughter Gillian Young were caught on camera by The
Sunday Times taking two greyhounds to be destroyed by David Smith. He is
said to have killed 10,000 dogs and buried them in a plot of land at the
back of his house in Seaham, Co Durham.
The
two trainers have been suspended by the National Greyhound Racing Club
(NGRC), the sport’s governing body. Young’s husband, Graeme,
has also been suspended from his job as an assistant racing manager at
Pelaw Grange, a licensed dogtrack at Chester-le-Street in Co Durham.
Both
Fenwick and Young now face formal stewards’ inquiries by the NGRC.
The body has the power to fine them up to £5,000 each and to impose
a lifetime ban from attending racetracks. NGRC rules stipulate that only
vets can put down greyhounds.
The
NGRC’s action comes a week after The Sunday Times exposed for the
first time how healthy greyhounds were being slaughtered simply because
they were no longer considered fit enough to race.
The
killing of the greyhounds, some of which were aged only four or five and
could have lived another 10 years, had long been suspected but never before
proved. Alistair McLean, the NGRC’s chief executive, admitted he
was “flabbergasted and appalled”.
Each
year trainers retire around 10,000 licensed greyhounds from racing, but
homes are only found for about a third of them. The remainder simply “disappear”,
according to animal welfare groups.
Yesterday
campaigners mounted dozens of protests outside tracks and betting shops
throughout the country. In parliament last week, politicians raised concerns
that the government’s forthcoming animal welfare act will not regulate
the dog racing industry quickly enough.
The
government is delaying until at least 2009 proposals that would make it
illegal for a greyhound to be put down by anyone other than a vet using
an intravenous injection.
The
dogs buried in Smith’s so-called “canine killing field”
were slaughtered by shooting them in their heads with a bolt gun, which
is not at present illegal. The carcasses were then tipped into a hole
in his plot before he used a mechanical digger to cover the “graves”
with soil.
Smith
told an undercover reporter that it took him three years to fill his one-acre
plot with bodies, at which point he started over again. It was also said
Smith had been providing a £10-a-time dog-killing service for sections
of the greyhound industry for up to 15 years.
The
scandal has caused widespread alarm within both the racing industry and
also among the general public, as well as sparking inquiries by the government,
the RSPCA and the tax authorities.
The
Environment Agency, which has voiced concerns over the possible health
implications of so many bodies buried in such a small space, is attempting
to gain access to Smith’s land in order to excavate the plot.
Fenwick,
73, who was photographed arriving at Smith’s makeshift abattoir with
his 44-year-old daughter and two greyhounds 11 days ago, revealed last
night that the location was known to people in the industry as “the
Garden of Eden”.
He
said he had taken the dogs to be killed because they were too noisy and
“a menace”, but insisted he had never visited Smith before and
had not realised how he disposed of the bodies.
Fenwick said he was not the dogs’ trainer and claimed that he did
not know their names although he estimated them to be four or five years
old.
He said an unnamed man had given him the dogs, which were lame, and he
had intended to keep them as pets before becoming irritated by their constant
barking. “I just got them off this chap, he’s not a trainer,
he’s an owner I think,” he said. “He gave them to us because
they were a menace, barking and barking and barking, and I knew I’d
get reported by the residents.
“I
was going to keep them as pets, but it was private houses where I had
got them and they were barking so I was talking to a chap as to the best
way to put them to sleep and he said ‘the Garden of Eden, you can
take them any morning’. But I wouldn’t have taken them there
if I’d known [what happened there].”
He
added: “I’d never been there in my life and one of the chaps
said . . . if you take the dogs there they are put to sleep. He [Smith]
has his own incinerator, the greyhounds are burnt and then the ashes are
put on the land.
“Well,
when I saw in the paper what he did with it I would never ever have taken
a greyhound to be shot. I am totally innocent.”
Fenwick,
who said his daughter only accompanied him “for the ride” and
to help unload the dogs, insisted he normally used a vet to kill dogs
humanely.
Last
week Smith was visited by the police, who have satisfied themselves he
was acting within the law. Bolt guns, which kill by firing a metal rod
into an animal’s skull, have not required a licence since 1997.
Paddy
Sweeney, a retired greyhound vet, said he knew Smith well and was aware
he had been killing dogs for about 20 years.
He
said Smith provided a cheap and humane service, but he was critical of
the greyhound industry for causing dogs to be frequently injured, necessitating
their destruction.
“Without
a shadow of a doubt Dave Smith puts down dogs that have been injured at
licensed tracks,” he said. “He is a good man but the people
who exploit the dogs are vermin, they are lower than a snake.”
Harry
Williams, a licensed trainer who has previously expressed concern over
the welfare of retired dogs, said the industry’s problem with them
being killed was linked to an increase in demand for greyhounds to fill
bookmakers’ race programmes.
“The
trainers are not interested in quality dogs, they just want cheap ones
to fill race cards and, once they get injured, it is not worth their while
to get them treated by a vet. We now have the advent of the disposable
greyhound, thrown away like disposable nappies.”
Jeff
McKenna, owner of the Pelaw Grange racetrack, said he had suspended the
Youngs and Fenwick as soon as he was made aware of the allegations. The
NGRC has no jurisdiction over Graeme Young, but McKenna said he had suspended
him because of his family links to the trainers and would carry out his
own inquiry. “We take the welfare of the dogs very seriously,”
he said.
McLean
said that as a result of a hotline set up to elicit more information,
the NGRC now had “quality” tip-offs on about 30 trainers.
The kennel books of trainers showing where retired dogs have been sent
are now being scrutinised by officials. “This is a very serious matter.
It has brought the reputation of the sport into disrepute,” said
McLean.
“We will do whatever is necessary to clean up our industry even if
it takes six months or a year. We are extremely grateful for the assistance
provided by The Sunday Times.”
RISE
IN ANIMAL CRUELTY
The
number of cases where animals and pets have been treated cruelly has risen
sharply, according to figures to be announced this week.
Statistics
compiled by the RSPCA will show a “significant rise” in every
category of animal abuse.
Last
year the charity reported 70,000 animals were being neglected or abused,
a 78% rise on the 2003-04 figures. The 2004-05 report found 20,000 animals
had been deprived of access to water, an increase of nearly 100% on the
previous period.
It
also highlighted cases such as a man who cut off a puppy’s ears and
a couple who were found with the decomposing remains of dozens of exotic
pets.
The
latest, undisclosed, figures have been drawn from a number of sources
including complaints made to the charity, prosecutions and convictions.
The
charity will use the statistics to pressure the government to find parliamentary
time for a new animal rights bill. Animal welfare campaigners want to
see it on the statute book by early 2007.
The
proposed law will impose a basic duty of care on every owner and provide
for prosecutions of people who keep animals in conditions likely to lead
to cruelty or neglect. At present, the authorities can act only once an
animal has suffered abuse.
GA
Comment: It is quite incredible that the NGRC appears to be so suprised
by this revelation ... they know themselves less than 1/3 of the retiring
licensed dogs are re-homed by their schemes ... didn't they ever wonder
what happened to the others??? Surely if so many dogs are disappearing
year after year ... you might ask questions? It is clear that lots of
people involved in the racing industry obviously did know about the killing
field ... because the estimated 10-15,000 dogs killed there had to come
from somewhere.
(Read
the previous articles for more on this story)
NEWS
OF THE WORLD 5-2-06
Cocaine used to dope greyhounds
ROVER
DOSED
By
Brian Radford
RUTHLESS
gamblers are fixing dog races by feeding the greyhounds COCAINE, the News
of the World can reveal.
The
drug stops dogs winning because it "fries" their brains, preventing
them from running on top form, and crooked punters cash in by betting
on the doped greyhounds to LOSE.
There
have been four cases of dogs testing positive for cocaine —and none
of them finished first —but it is feared many more have gone undetected.
In
an exclusive interview, Noel Thompson, security co-ordinator for the National
Greyhound Racing Council, said: "People are giving drugs to dogs
which they know will stop them."
Cocaine
is a stimulant in humans, but when the drug is mixed in with a dog's food,
its nervous system is overstimulated and the animal becomes disorientated.
"A
doped greyhound will often struggle to go round bends and lose vital ground,"
said Mr Thompson. "Certain drugs will take the edge off a dog."
He
added that the callous fixers are cruelly playing with the dogs' lives."They
are giving them poison, because that's what drugs are," he said.
"An overdose could kill a dog, just as it would a human being.
"We
know for sure a number of gambles have taken place involving a greyhound
which later tested positive. Inevitably gambles have been landed on greyhounds
that were not tested."
Trainer
Around
10,000 dogs a year are tested and in 2005 up to 30 were found to be doped
with drugs, including cocaine. The most recent cocaine case involved Dark
Ranger at the Pelaw Grange track near Chester-le-Street in Durham last
September. Both his trainer and kennel-hand were fined £1,000 and
disqualified after the 7-4 chance finished third.
Mr
Thompson said: "It's unlikely that a dog is ‘got at' without
a trainer or someone on the staff being involved. People are definitely
trying to buck the system."
He
added: "Apart from cocaine, another big stopper is Cyclizine, the
travel sickness pill.
"Beta-blockers,
heart drugs, chocolate and amphetamines have all been used on greyhounds,
I believe."
Another
trainer, Andrew Gardiner, was severely reprimanded and fined £1,000
after his dog Emma The First was doped with beta-blocker Propranolol at
Brough Park stadium, Newcastle upon Tyne, in October.
And
greyhound agent William O'Donoghue was reprimanded and fined £400
after theophylline, an asthma treatment, and caffeine were found in a
urine sample taken from Kiel Sensation at Perry Barr, Birmingham, last
July.
Even
the 2003 Greyhound Derby winner Droopys Hewitt tested positive for a painkiller
in the third round of the competition, although the result was not known
until after he had won the £75,000 final, two weeks later, when
it was disqualified.
Millions
of punters bet on greyhounds in betting shops, at dog tracks every day
and on TV worldwide.
Annually
greyhound racing generates a colossal £2.3 billion in off-course
bets, and £87.5 million in Tote on-course bets at the UK's 31 tracks.
Wrecking
Online
betting exchange Betfair—who offer punters the chance to gamble on
greyhounds to lose races—has teamed up with the National Greyhound
Racing Council to hound out the crooks.
When
Betfair spot suspicious betting patterns they alert NGRC investigators
who launch an immediate probe.
Mr
Thompson says the sport's security squad is doing its "absolute best"
to stop the dopers wrecking the country's second biggest gambling sport
after horse-racing.
He
added: "I think it is awful and disgusting for anyone to dope greyhounds,
and our stewards look at it in the same way
From
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk Nov 24 2004
Man in dog mutilation on run
A greyhound was mutilated
and left for dead on a Welsh hillside after
failing to win a race in Warwick, a court heard this week.
Andrew Gough, aged
28, shot Last Hope in the head and sliced off his
ears before dumping him in the Rhymney Valley.
But he botched the
job and the dog was still alive when he was found by
a walker on May 2, leaving the RSPCA with no choice but to put him down.
At a court hearing
on Monday, the groundsman was found guilty of
ill-treating the dog by magistrates in Blackwood, South Wales.
He was not there to
hear the verdict and is now on the run from police
after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Last Hope raced at
Warwick on April 25 and, after performing badly due
to a toe injury, owner John Hurley and trainer Mark Emmett decided he
should be put down.
Days later they met
Gough at Hinckley races and Mr Hurley paid him £10
to destroy the dog humanely.
But he botched the
killing, shooting the greyhound through the head and
then slicing off the ears which had telltale identity tattoos.
The walker later discovered
him whimpering and extremely distressed on a
mountainside in the Rhymney Valley, south Wales.
Last Hope raced at
a flapping trap in Warwick where most owners usually
race dogs as a hobby and meets are self-regulating.
Animal welfare groups
have mounted a vocal campaign against Last Hope's
treatment and protested outside the court at each hearing.
Tony Peters, UK coordinator
of greyhound protection group Greyhound
Action, called on the public to boycott racing.
Coventry Stadium,
which re-introduced greyhound racing earlier this
year, have also been hit by protests by animal rights activists.
Mr Peters said: "Although
this is one of the worst cases of cruelty to a
dog ever to be heard in a British court, it is only the very small tip
of a massive iceberg of suffering and slaughter caused by the dog racing
industry.
"These dogs are
killed, either because they are not suitable for racing
or because their racing careers are over.
"Many are just
abandoned or are killed by a variety of horrific methods,
such as clubbing, drowning or injection with poisonous substances."
He said six US states
had banned greyhound racing so there was no reason
the UK couldn't.
Click
here for more on this story... GA mounted a campaign against Gough
and his associates.
From
www.dogpages.org.uk
IS
ANYONE STILL PRO GREYHOUND RACING AFTER SEEING THIS POOR DOG ?
You might have already seen this thread but just in case you haven’t
……..
From
Betfair internet forum (pro dog racing) April 29 2004
Posted
by : Keith Talent 29 Apr 12:25
"Anyone
know of stopped dog that still won, causing the owner/trainer to lose
a fortune?"
"Stopped dogs?
How does that work?"
"They feed them pasties and pies and stuff."
"....... pastries and pies?? More like supermarket value bread soaked
in water, cheaper and heavier, or you could just put them on the walker
for an hour before you load them into the van."
Greyhound
Action comment:
Stopping" dogs is the process of deliberately making them run more
slowly, so the "owner" or trainer can win money, either by betting
on another dog in the same race or on the same dog in a later race when
the odds will be higher.
Giving greyhounds large meals shortly before a race to "stop"
them, poses a huge risk to the health of the dog and can easily lead to
death. But, hey, what does that matter when there's money to be won?
From
Global Greyhounds pro-racing forum May 2004
"With regard to some dogs not showing any signs of lameness until the
day after a race, lame dogs run on BAGS every day of the week and nobody
seems to make a stand against that do they?"
(Greyhound Action note: BAGS = Bookmakers Afternoon
Greyhound Service. Races that are run in the afternoon for the benefit of
betting shops)
"People
can try and justify it how they want. At the end of the day it is no good
for the dogs. Judging by some of the replies on GG, people will run dogs
lame because they dont know any better."
From
BBC NEWS May 7th, 2004
Greyhound's ears cut off
The RSPCA has condemned
an attack in which a greyhound was shot in the head and its ears cut off
before being dumped alive on a south Wales mountain. The incident was
called "barbaric" by a spokesperson for the charity who said
the "deeply distressed" animal may have been a racing dog. Its
ears, probably tattooed, had been cut off to stop identification.
The greyhound was put down after being found by a person walking their
dog near Fochriw in the Rhymney Valley. The animal which had been shot
in the head, possibly with a nail gun, was discovered last Sunday.
A post-mortem examination found the dog has severe brain damage and his
jaw had been shattered.
It will not be tolerated and you will not get away with it Karen Thomas,
Greyhound Rescue Wales "This is a shocking, horrific incident. The
greyhound has suffered immensely," said RSPCA inspector Simon Evans
on Friday.
The animal group is investigating the attack along with Greyhound Rescue
Wales and the three Welsh greyhound tracks. "Whoever carried out
this barbaric act may have though the dog was already dead when they dumped
him," said Mr Evans.
"I believe the culprit chose the location very carefully, hoping
the greyhound would never be found. The animal had probably previously
been a racing dog, and had simply out-served his purpose, he added.
"If so, the dog would have had tattooed ears to identify it, but
these had been cut off". "Shocked and disgusted"
The black greyhound had distinctive markings on its chest and neck. There
was also an unusual large scarred area on its back, between the shoulder
blades where its coat was patchy with some white hairs and some skin visible.
Appealing for anyone
with information to come forward - anonymously if necessary - Karen Thomas,
chair of the charity Greyhound Rescue Wales, said most people would be
"shocked and disgusted" at this crime.
"Animal rescue organisations and the greyhound racing industry in
Wales are sending a clear message to the people who did this," she
said. "It will not be tolerated and you will not get away with it."
Posters showing the dog's distinctive markings are to be displayed at
greyhound tracks in south Wales. Anyone with information can contact the
RSPCA cruelty line on 0870 5555 999.
Greyhound
Action comment:-
It is rather ironic that the greyhound racing industry should apparently
be so concerned about what happened to this dog, seeing as it is directly
responsible for this atrocity.Because the industry exploits dogs for commercial
purposes, it is inevitable that certain individuals involved in greyhound
racing will seek to dispose of dogs they no longer require by the cheapest
possible method, which can often involve extreme cruelty, as is the case
here.Such horrific incidents will only cease to occur once greyhound racing
is abolished.
Three men have been questioned by police after a greyhound was found shot
in the head with its ears cut off but still alive on a mountainside.
The incident, called "barbaric" by the RSPCA, sparked a joint
appeal by the charity and Greyhound Rescue Wales when it was discovered
last week. Its ears, probably tattooed, had been cut off to stop identification.
A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said three men had voluntarily attended a
police station over the action.
The black and white animal was found "extremely distressed"
by a member of the public out walking their dog on Sunday 2 May on mountainside
between Fochriw and Bargoed in the Rhymney valley.
It had probably been shot with a nail gun. The dog was taken to a vet
and put down. A post-mortem showed severe brain damage and a metal shard
in its cheek. A film of evidence is to be submitted to the RSPCA's headquarters,
a spokeswoman said.
From
the Racing Post 17/01/2004
"It
is unfortunate that it [greyhound racing] is also led by an unaccountable
and self-regarding oligarchy which simply does not understand the necessity
to take on board and react to considered criticism from outside."
(Lord Lipsey, new chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board.)
From
Global Greyhounds pro-racing forum Sept 2003
"As
you know, I have always opposed the PTS clause, but I think I can now see
the NGRC secret philosophy. With the current levels of greyhounds racing,
it would be impossible to find homes for all retired racers. The more successful
the RGT, the more demand would be put on it...............So the solution
would be to cut down on the amount of racing. A severe cutting of the BAGS
schedule would be ideal. But can you see the bookies standing for that ?
So the NGRC let many dogs disappear, and risk the future of racing in order
to apease the bookmakers."
"When
nobody can do anything about lame dogs running on BAGS week in week out,
what hope is there of doing anything about what happens to the BAGS dogafter
it finishes racing?
We all know ...........that there is insufficient funding to cater for
the retired dogs but getting anything done about it is another story.........Seems
nobody within greyhound racing has the power to get anything done. The
NGRC are only powerful over the trainers and the owners and wield their
stick bashing owners and trainers around with petty fines and enforcing
rules that suit them BUT when it comes to making proper, needed changes
i.e. kennel ventilation, track safety and standards everyone should adhere
to, retirement packages for dogs, proper industry wages (the minimum wage
goes up again towards the end of the year - soon kennelhands will be cash
in hand Kosovons!!!)"
("PTS clause" = the clause in the NGRC's rule book that allows
the ex-racing greyhounds to be "euthanased" by a vet if no homes
are available for them.
"NGRC" = National Greyhound Racing Club. Most of the greyhound
tracks in Britain operate under NGRC rules.
"BAGS" = Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service. Races which
take place in the afternoon for the benefit of betting shops.
"RGT" = Retired Greyhound Trust. Set up by the NGRC to find
homes for ex-racing greyhounds, but only manages to re-home a small percentage)
From
Global Greyhounds (pro-racing forum) Sept 2003
"I
think part of the problem is that there is simply to many dogs out there.
Every day you look at the press or Greyhound Weekly, the amount of pups
being advertised is unbelievable. The market has gone flat, nobody is buying
pups as there are so many to choose from."
From
Hove Owners Forum (pro-racing) June 2003
The biggest threat that the antis will bring up is litters being bred
for racing - only 25% will make the track. Just look how many dogs are
racing in the UK and Ireland. Work the figures out. A huge amount of this
wonderful breed are lost.
I have heard a comment made by a breeder in Ireland - "This is a
business. People do not complain about livestock being slaughtered."
Hove Owners Forum,
July 2003 (continued)
"It is my opinion that we are badly let down by the NGRC with regard
to retired dogs. The ownership forms have a section to complete when the
dog retires, there is a fine system in place for non-compliance and abuse
of the system/dog, yet the NGRC chooses not to enforce this system at
all..........."
From
"The Greyhound Charter - An Action Plan" by the Union of Greyhound
Owners (a pro-racing group) Sept 2002
"For
many years a number of owners have failed in there duty towards the greyhounds
they own, In administrative terms the sport has failed consistently to identify
irresponsible owners or set an example as to what is expected of owners."
"Many existing track kennels fall well short of what we consider to
be minimum modern standards..........."
"Currently there is considerable reluctance on the part of most promoters
to make public the extent of Injuries sustained at their tracks.........."
"On every occasion a greyhound is injured and unable to continue the
race should be stopped at a convenient location away from the injured animal.
The current practice of kennel hands manhandling injured animals from the
track in order that races can finish must be discontinued. Kennel hands
are being forced into a position of responsibility for which they have received
no medical training and consequently may increase the degree of suffering
experienced by the injured animals. It is assessed that kennel hands have
less than 10 seconds to assess injuries and decide an appropriate course
of action."
From
Global Greyhounds (pro-racing forum) Sept 2002
"Withdrawing from greyhound racing I have the retirement form for my
dog ready and waiting. I am giving myself a cooling off period, and my dog
is off the card.
I refuse to run him on deathtraps, especially when there is plenty of money
available to sort out the bar but not the hare.
I will never buy another racing greyhound, because I don't like having the
piss taken out of me.
You should have seen the colour of my poor trainer's face when I said my
dog wasn't going to run in the next race on a track where the hare had just
shattered into 200 pieces. I said bring him out here, give him to me and
I will take him home, and it will have nothing to do with you.
Fortunately they cancelled the race after he went in and told them. I was
aware it would cost me a lot of money, and some people said I would be banned
from owning a dog or going to an NGRC track ever again. Good thing I don't
care!............."
Extracts
from a letter to the Daily Telegraph (27 July 2002) by Denis Beary, Vice
President, Society of Greyhound Veterinarians, Nottingham
"The
state of the greyhound racing industry in this country is as bad as that
in America (Features, July 24). A visit to a city track in Britain may
present an impression of a thriving sport with a rising betting turnover
and a younger audience. The reality is different: promoters are doing
very well but money is not going elsewhere. Training fees can be as low
as £4 a day in some parts of the country.
Prize money has not
kept pace with inflation; open races worth £50-£60 in the mid-1960s are
now worth £100-£150. Owners with greyhounds in training at most tracks
will be lucky to cover two weeks' fees with a win.
The consequences
are that corners are cut. Veterinary bills cannot easily be afforded by
trainers, who struggle to make ends meet. Tracks pressure them to keep
the maximum number of greyhounds "on the strength" so they can receive
bonuses. One trainer was suspended and fined for daring to refuse to run
his dog for the second time in three days as he considered he had not
recovered from his previous run.
The only source of
income from the bookmakers is a voluntary levy, and the promoters control
the body that disburses it. One London track has received £100,000 to
build toilets but most lack proper watering systems or air-conditioned
kennels for animals who may be confined for up to six hours."
The
Times,October 22, 2003
Happy
retirement of greyhounds a myth
By Lewis Smith
UP
TO 12,000 greyhounds are killed or abandoned every year at the end of
their racing lives, a study has found.
Animal welfare groups said it provided the first reliable figures on what
happens to the dogs and exploded the myth that most were kept as pets
in retirement.
Abandonment
and slaughter were so common that greyhounds' fate was "a major animal
welfare problem", the report by the National Assembly for Wales said.
It prompted calls for legislation to regulate the independent greyhound
racing sector and for the industry to meet strict guidelines on the treatment
of the dogs.
Researchers
said that between 8,000 and 12,000 greyhounds were slaughtered or abandoned
annually, of which only an estimated 2,800 were rescued or impounded by
local authorities.
The
cost to the taxpayer was estimated at £600,000 annually, with lurchers
(greyhound cross-breeds used as working dogs) costing a further £1.35
million.
Up
to 30,000 greyhounds cease racing each year and animal rights activists
have long believed that many are killed or abandoned. The study concludes:
"Large numbers of greyhounds and lurchers are abandoned once they
are no longer useful. The study shows that the argument that most are
kept as pets by their owners cannot be sustained."
Alain
Thomas, of Greyhound Rescue Wales, said the most common methods of killing
unwanted dogs were to shoot them or beat them to death. Some corpses had
their ears cut off to prevent identification.
Lorraine
Barrett, chairwoman of the Assembly's All Party Group for Animal Welfare,
which carried out the study, said: "This report is confirmation of
the terrible truth we've suspected for a number of years."
David
McDowell, of the RSPCA, said: "There is no justification for abandoning
or killing these animals simply because they can't do their job any more.
An animal should be the owner's responsibility for life, not just until
they've reached the end of their usefulness.
"It
is imperative that the industry finally admits there is a problem and
works with welfare organisations to look at ways at tackling this as a
matter of urgency."
Greyhound
racing is split between the regulated registered sector, which has 31
tracks in the UK, and the unregulated independent sector, with 21 tracks.
The independent sector was singled out for criticism by the report.
Industry
representatives, however, dismissed the estimates of killed and abandoned
animals as "hugely overblown". Jeff McKenna, on behalf of independent
track owners, said of the figures: "The only reason for euthanasia
is if there's a fatal injury to a dog.
"The
majority of independent owners regard their dogs as part of the family.
That's the whole ethos behind independent racing. They are part of the
family, not just racing machines."
Emma
Johns, of the British Greyhound Racing Board, an umbrella group for registered
tracks, said that the organisation was in contact with animal welfare
groups to help to protect dogs, notably the Greyhound Trust, which rehomes
retired animals.
"Nobody
would say there can't be improvements, but we have already made many."
Researchers
estimated the number of greyhounds abandoned and killed after conducting
a survey of local authorities to establish the number impounded after
being found abandoned.
Greyhound
Action comment
The
true figure is actually far higher than 12,000, when one also takes into
account the thousands of pups and young dogs disposed of by the racing
industry before they even make it to the tracks.
Such
a survey is very useful though, and very necessary, seeing as the greyhound
racing industry does not provide figures for the number of dogs abandoned
or killed (wonder why?).
We
would welcome "legislation to regulate the independent greyhound
racing sector and for the industry to meet strict guidelines on the treatment
of the dogs", but this would not go to the root of the problem, which
is that commercial greyhound racing inevitably creates a demand for a
large number of dogs to be bred, and most of those dogs will end up being
be "put to sleep" or worse, because there are simply no homes
for them to go to when they become surplus to the requirements of the
greyhound racing industry. The only legislation which will properly protect
the dogs is legislation to outlaw commercial greyhound racing.
The
report singles out the independent tracks for criticism - and, indeed,
they are to blame for a considerable amount of greyhound death and suffering,
but it is the registered tracks which are mostly responsible for the mass
slaughter of these wonderful dogs. This is because the 31 tracks licenced
by the National Greyhound Racing Club tend to be much bigger operations
than the independents, and so create most of the huge demand for
greyhounds to be bred. In addition, most of the greyhounds running on
independent tracks are dogs which were originally bred to supply the demands
of the registered sector, but which failed to make the grade.
In
many ways, the problem of abandoned lurchers is more difficult than that
of greyhounds. To a great extent the slaughter and abandonment of greyhounds
would eventually come to an end if racing and coursing were banned, but
the use of lurchers is more difficult to regulate because it takes place
in a much less organised and obvious manner. However, we would welcome
a ban on the deliberate use of any dog to hunt or kill another animal,
which would make the "working" of lurchers illegal and considerably
reduce the demand for these dogs to be bred. This would be much harder
to enforce than a ban on greyhound racing, but would nevertheless have
a very positive effect, as well as giving some protection to wildlife,
of course.
From
information we have received, we believe the shooting of "unwanted"
greyhounds by trainers and others connected with the racing industry to
be widespread. In quite recent times, pits full of the bodies of shot
greyhounds have been discovered in Oxfordshire and North Warwicks. Other
case we've heard about are difficult to investigate because of the bodies
being buried on private land.
If
a law were passed making all greyhounds "the owner's responsibility
for life, not just until they've reached the end of their usefulness",
this could virtually mark the end of commercial greyhound racing, as very
few people would be prepared to "own" racing greyhounds, knowing
that they would have to take care of the dogs for many years after their
racing days were over. We believe, however, that a straight ban on commercial
greyhound racing would be a better option and easier to enforce.
We
would dispute the statement that "the majority of independent owners
regard their dogs as part of the family". To give an example, when
the Westhoughton independent track (near Bolton) was threatened with closure
early this year, many of those running greyhounds at the track rushed
to get rid of their dogs. Some were "put to sleep" and others,
thankfully, taken in by a local greyhound rescue. If the characters who
race dogs at Westhoughton were not prepared to care for them when they
thought the track was going to close, it isn't hard to imagine the fate,
year in year out, of dogs they consider to be no longer good enough for
racing. Sadly, we have no reason to believe that the situation is any
different at any other track.
Jeff
McKenna's statement that greyhounds "are part of the family, not
just racing machines" actually implies that he does consider the
dogs to be racing machines. It is this concept of dogs as commodities
to be used to satisfy the whims of human beings which goes to the very
heart of the issue.
The
British Greyhound Racing Board is no doubt in touch with the Greyhound
Trust, also known as the Retired Greyhound Trust (RGT), because the RGT
was actually set up by the greyhound racing industry over 25 years ago
in an attempt to allay fears about the fate of ex-racing greyhounds. The
RGT succeeds in rehoming just 2,000 greyhounds per year of the massive
number disposed of by the racing industry and contributes considerably
to the overall problem by actually encouraging people to attend greyhound
races. Earlier this year the Trust announced that it could no longer afford
to pay for the neutering and spaying of dogs it rehomes, so increasing
the risk of more "unwanted" greyhounds being born. The lack
of consideration that the racing industry has for the dogs it uses is
evidenced by the fact that it does not supply its own rescue with sufficient
funds to operate properly.
As
we've said above, the report is a very useful one, but "regulation"
of commercial greyhound racing is not the answer. For the dogs' sake,
it must be banned.
From
champdogs.co.uk 10 Oct 2003
"Whilst working for a trainer as a kennel hand at an NGRC track I have
seen the lengths some trainers and kennel hands go to hide a dog that has
been drugged including two kennel hands from the same kennel getting out
of sight of the stewards and half a bowl of pee from an okay dog being tipped
into the bowl of the dodgy dog to be produced for drug testing.
I
have seen a dog so drugged up that as it ran around the first two bends
it stopped at the 'pick up' thinking that the race had finished and was
so totally disorientated its eyes were rolling in its head.
We had dogs arrive from Ireland that had be totally detoxed before they
could run again. They were total wrecks, they went through withdrawal
and had to be built up again to full health. Some of these dogs cost up
to £20,000.
Greyhounds with substance abuse die young, their insides are rotten........"
From
Global Greyhounds (pro-racing forum) December 2002
"As such, welfare
should be seen in the big picture, but the BGRB will need watching bloody
hard because they put welfare down the list regularly."
(BGRB = British
Greyhound Racing Board)
The
message below was posted on an internet greyhound rescue discussion group
in October 2002.
".........about 2.5yrs ago when one of the tracks shut through the
Glasgow area, some volunteers went along to ensure no dogs were abandoned
there - they found one boy who had been deliberately left in the flap. He
was, needless to say, in a terrible frightened state but was saved and is
in a fabulous home."
From
Global Greyhounds (pro greyhound racing forum) August 2003
".........The
NGRC (National Greyhound Racing Club) know how many (ex-racing greyhounds)
are still in kennels, and should know how many have been rehomed
privately or have been taken home by their owner. But they choose not
to publicise this figure.Could it be that there would still be a large
number of dogs unaccounted for?"
"A big problem
I think is the number of dogs being bred. It's too easy to breed greys
with nothing in mind but profit."
"The area that
causes me great concern is that too many dogs ARE being put to sleep before
their time due to being surplus to the industry's needs due to injury,
age, or related issues."
From
Global Greyhounds (pro greyhound racing forum) August 2003
"I personally
think that greyhound racing deserves all the flak it gets from the AR
mob.WE are all supporting an industry where healthy dogs can to be PTS
on a wholesale scale, without anyone receiving punishment. Some track
kennels are STILL not up to scratch, yet thay are allowed to remain open,
and owners are still supporting these tracks. Trainers are allowed to
staff their dogs on a 1 to 30 basis."
From
Global Greyhounds (pro greyhound racing forum) June 2003
"........ you want to know whats chasing from 10-12 months - the
sooner you know the sooner you can cull....... Anything that does not
chase or will not go around with another and then chase - I would not
keep - unless they are a very fine specimen - If they don't chase from
the start part with them!"
From
Global Greyhounds (pro greyhound racing forum) May 2003
"......alot of the bitches bred both in uk and ireland, should not
be bred, inferior bitches and studs are used, rearing is maybe questionable,
and the result of these matings are often pups with a short life and a
trip to the vet..."
From
Global Greyhounds (pro-racing forum) August 2003
".......another
man i know put a whole litter asleep because they would not chase ...........im
not saying i agree with it but you just cant find 8 homes that easy over
here for retired greyhounds..........."
"So what do you
suggest I do with pups that do not chase, injured, or not able to grade.
Come on lets take off the blinkers & face up to the realities of our
sport. Think it is time to confront the antis by coming clean. Is
it really so bad that a few dogs are PTS............."
From
Hove Owners Forum (pro Greyhound Racing), July 2003
"There are lots of owners who really
don't give a damn about their dogs......"
"One of the biggest
problems I can see is the puppies who won't chase at the schooling stage...................I
would love (?) to see figures showing the total number of puppies bred
each year and those actually making the track. I think it would make upsetting
reading.
For example, a Hove owner who bought 2 puppies over here sent them to
Ireland for schooling. Neither would chase and the owner got a call saying
'the problem would be dealt with'. Our decent owner wouldn't hear of this
and paid to get them shipped home immediately and is now paying to have
them kennelled with me until they are homed. How many don't get this treatment?
Hundreds, if not thousands every year I expect."
".... I get overwhelmed and saddened when I home one dog and constantly
have a waiting list of 25 wanting to take its kennel place."
"The problem of retired racers is a mammoth one and I have to say
on this issue I think Annette Crosbie makes a lot of sense. There are
just too many dogs being bred every year to find them all homes when they
retire. I think we are just burying our heads in the sand - because we
take our ex-racers home we assume everyone else does and this just isn't
the case.
Its a problem which needs addressing at every level of the industry and
until this is done I don't think we can fight our corner effectively with
the antis."
"The greatest
problem that this industry faces is the fact there is just too much racing
nowadays. Racing that is put there to feed the bookmakers frenzy. It is
impossible for all the dogs required to complete the racing requirements
to be owned by genuine greyhound owners that have every intention of taking
their dogs home after retirement, or ensuring they have a good home to
go to. So who does own all these runners?
The people who do are the "Fat Cat" trainers at the some of
the bags tracks............ who buy up cheap dogs in Ireland for a few
hundred pounds, run them in their own name on BAGS cards, receiving not
only the run money as trainers but also the owners prize too.
It doesnt take long to work out that an average such purchase running
at say the Stow would soon recoup his purchase price and much more for
his Owner/Trainer. Such dogs have nobody who cares for them, the trainer
wants the dog to run as often as possible, not bothered if he is boxed
up or highly graded, nor even injured. Not needing to defend the dogs
welfare or rights. He is just a money machine, and a highly profitable
one at that.
Once injured and no longer able to race, what happens to the dog. He has
not got a doting owner who is ready to take him home or think about ensuring
he has a long and happy retirement. He is just a number, the trainer certainly
wont want 10's of such dogs filling up his kennels, not when he has got
a vanload of new "cash dispensers" just arriving from Ireland.
So he disappears quietly from the list of the kennel strength to end up
where? If he is lucky dumped on the hardworking and overstretched re-homing
organisations. Otherwise......
To fill these never ending BAGS races the Irish just produce more and
more dogs, which, if they dont make it to the track, for whatever reason,
are disposed of.
These are the reasons the welfare organisations target our sport. WE know
they are really targeting the wrong track.... but to them all greyhound
stadiums and owners are the same. In a way we are..... because we race
our dogs against people that Do treat these wonderful creatures in this
way."
"Not sure how
you could sort the breeding side of racing greyhounds i.e the amount of
hounds that are lost ,due to non chasing or not fast enough.............."
"As you all no
doubt know i've ventured into new grounds with the hope off kenneling
some retired dogs till a home becomes available,this has come about because
there are owners/trainers that don't give a shit about the dogs life after
racing........."
"The industry ( not the governments yet ) in both England & Ireland
must be held accountable for what has gone on before and more importantly
what is happening now. The majority of racing kennels are full to bursting,the
next crop of pups are now being schooled, but what has happened to the
thousands of pups born at the same time some from the same litters. With
greyhound breeding now seemingly like a cottage industry in Ireland the
full horrors as to what happens to pups not up to standard cannot be imagined.
.........its the thought of the youngsters who never made the grade which
churns my insides."
"Could it not be a case that our authoritys don't want these figures
brought to light........we have a problem in our sport,until this is either
eradicated or brought to the surface,we will always have groups shouting
for the banning of greyhound racing..
It's time the NGRC either put up or shut up shop,open up the sport from
the inside out and lets see exactly what problems we have or have not.."
"Exactly....& for the same reason, they refuse to publish injury
statistics....but with pressure brought to bear on them from the government
perhaps we can get to know the truth for ourselves!"
From
Greyhound Monthly June 2002 >Taken
from "THE INCREASING INJURY RATE" by Paddy Sweeney (an experienced
greyhound vet).
Over the past six
months a great many owners have asked me to send another contribution
to your popular magazine on a variety of topics. It is impossible to respond
to all of them at once, so I will try to explain what concerns most of
them and what particularly affects those who can't speak for themselves
- the cause and prevention of the rising injury rate."
"Much of the
concern expressed to me about injuries during last month related to the
rounds of the Derby at Wimbledon. On reading a notice in a newspaper inviting
letters to the editor I submitted a rational explanation for the avalanche
of criticism of the event, which included remarks such as "deadly"
and "mickey mouse racing'."
"Prior to 1926 our
greyhounds were raced only over straight courses and were admired for
their ability to run with the efficiency of the cheetah. When they were
raced around turns they became subjected to new stress from centrifugal,
rotary and jack-knifing forces, which often exceeded the safe load for
the musculo-skeletal system."
"To gallop around
the three smaller of the turns illustrated (30M, 40M, 50M)without losing
momentum, the greyhound may have to lean at an angle of as little as 30
degrees to overcome the centrifugal force which is pulling it outwards.
This force is proportional to speed and weight and it may be sufficiently
severe to break any tissue. It is inversely proportional to the radius
of the semi-circle. The radius is half the distance between A (the entrance
to the turn) and B (the exit). An individual greyhound running around
the 60-metre radius first and then around the 30-metre radius at the same
speed can be expected to suffer double the centrifugal force on the second
run. Since the closure of West Ham, there is not a turn in Britain with
a radius of 60 metres. In fact, only at Henlow and Owlerton are there
turns with 50-metre radii..........."
"When the sport began
here many dogs weighed less than 60lbs and bitches less than 50. They
were slower than today's runners and the surfaces were equally slow. The
great majority of tracks were designed with radii of less than 40 metres
arid some were under 30."
"...........we have
opened a number of mini-tracks suitable only for whippet racing and with
total disregard for the safety factor. We have since been breeding from
the bigger and faster specimens. We now have bitches weighing over 80lbs
and dogs more than 100. When I first went to the dogs as a student, there
were 'little champions' sound to run for three or four seasons. Now there
are dogs running at almost twice that weight and about twenty-five lengths
faster. But how long do they last? They may be crippled before they have
had ten races. There is no excuse for being ignorant about the carnage.
I have done my duty as a vet to advise people about limiting it for forty
years.The tragedy is that promoters, bookmakers and the sham body set
up to protect their interests, seem more interested in exploiting the
trainers and the greyhounds for the maximum financial return than in listening."
Quotes
from Global Greyhounds (pro-greyhound racing) forum in December 2002.
"There are tracks
that look for all the world as if they are being run down, in readiness
for closure - Catford and Portsmouth come instantly to mind, but I am
sure there others....At present the greyhound industry as a whole in the
UK is in serious decline, if things dont change soon there will DEFINITELY
be closures."
"Fully agree about
UK racing is in decline.....the industry in the UK is in very serious
decline, many of our big owners don't even race their dogs here any more,
and that list is growing almost daily. A top trainer last week announced
he is leaving the sport as despite a kennel of 45 dogs, and two category
one wins, he can't make it pay, he isn't the first and he wont be the
last. My favourite track is empty every Tuesday evening, and you can hear
a pin drop."
