UPDATE 1/05/09 FROM Greyhound Crusaders

( Read on for original info and urgent action )

Further to our recent appeal for 'Dougie' we are now asking all our
supporters to please write either by email or if preferred snail mail to
their local MP's to demand that the UK greyhound racing industry take a DNA
sample from 'Dougie' immediately to trace his bloodline, therefore obtaining
more evidence to bring about a possible prosecution by tracing Dougie's
previous owner.

By writing to your own local MP who will be obliged to act
on your behalf, hopefully this will create more pressure on the racing
industry to obtain justice for this poor greyhound. If you do not know the
email or snail mail address of your local MP just do a google search and you
should find their full contact details.

( Useful sites for contacting your MP are http://www.writetothem.com and
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk )

It is imperative that you please copy and paste into your email/letter the
two links below of the recent article and video concerning this case for
your MP to peruse, also please include in your letter contact details for
the racing industry so that your MP can write to them, please see below.

Video of 'Dougie'- http://greytexploitations.com/latest-news

News article- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8017738.stm

Also please email the GBGB welfare officer:

Email- Peter Laurie Welfare Officer- welfare@gbgb.org.uk

SNAIL MAIL

Peter Laurie (Welfare Officer)
Greyhound Board of Great Britain
Procter house
1 Procter Street
London
WC1V 6DW

Tel: 020 7421 3770
Fax: 020 7421 3777

ORIGINAL APPEAL/INFO

Message from Greyhound Crusaders:

From BBC News Website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8017738.stm

Greyhound found with ears cut off

A RSCPA is investigation is under way after a greyhound was found mutilated
in a "sickening act of cruelty".

The animal was found on a grass verge in Bedlington, Northumberland. His
ears had been cut off and electrical tape was stuck to his back and legs.
He was taken to a veterinary surgery in Morpeth for treatment and is making
a good recovery.

It is thought his ears were deliberately severed to get rid of
identification tattoos.

'Unimaginable pain'

The RSPCA is urging anyone who knows who the dog once belonged to, or who
may have seen or heard anything suspicious, to get in touch as soon as
possible.

Inspector Ian Smith said: "This is a horrific and sickening act of cruelty.
"It is clear this dog's ears have been removed by a sharp implement, which
must have caused him unimaginable pain and distress.

"Thankfully he was rescued early and taken to safety, else he easily could
have died.

"We just hope someone will now come forward with vital information to help
us discover what happened."

You can read another updated article from the News Post by clicking here

TAKE URGENT ACTION:

Following the discovery and rescue of Dougie ( the name given to the greyhound)

We are now asking all our supporters national and international to please take the time to write
to the following people.

Let's inundate them globally so they know the strength of feeling we all
have and our love for the greyhounds and the need to protect them from
further abuse and pain. please keep all correspondence polite

Please send a letter to the local papers:

the Northumberland Gazette: northumberland.gazette@northeast-press.co.uk

and the Morpeth Herald: http://www.morpethherald.co.uk/contactus.aspx

please use the feedback form in link above, once into the link please tick
letters to the Editor, also please make your subject 'Letters to the
Editor'. Name and address needs to be supplied.

In your letter please strongly urge the general public to come forward with
any information relating to this crime by contacting the local Police and
the RSPCA. The person(s) who committed this evil deed must be brought to
justice.

Please also mention that greyhound racing should be banned outright
asking readers not to support it and that you have recently read other
similar articles of immense cruelty to greyhounds in the last few weeks ie. a
greyhound was found stabbed to death with a breadknife in Sunderland, an
ex-racing greyhound was dumped in Sittingbourne and then involved in a road
traffic accident, also a greyhound was found drowned in a potato sack in the
River Foyle in Ireland, a heartbreaking case of a greyhound who was pregnant
with six pups, brutally killed with ears hacked off and dumped on wasteland
in Iron Acton nr. Bristol, also a very disturbing case in Hartlepool of a
greyhound found decomposed with ears hacked off, an emaciated greyhound
found in Gloucestershire and a recent prosecution for a man who kept his
racing greyhounds in concentration camp type conditions.

Details of all these cases can be found from links on the GA home page
(scroll down the home page to find them)

Please ask readers: to visit the 'Greyhound Action' website www.greyhoundaction.org.uk ( especially
http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/facts7.html ) or the 'Greyt Exploitations' website www.greytexploitations.com
for more info on the plight of the racing greyhound.

The letters page is one of the most popular looked at pages in newspapers
and so you will be educating thousands of readers!!! Go for it.

Please also email the RSPCA Enqserv@rspca.org.uk and ask them to take vital
DNA from 'Dougie' to trace the bloodline of the dog therefore possibly
finding out the previous owner, they do this in Ireland and obviously this
is an Irish greyhound as both ears were hacked off as Irish greyhounds have
tattoos in both ears as opposed to English bred greyhounds who only have the
one tattoo.

Please leave a comment on the Bedlington website here:

http://www.bedlington.co.uk/2009/04/local-dog-found-with-ears-mutilated/#comment-9

Please email the Northumberland Police here- use this feedback form:

http://www.northumbria.police.uk/contact_us/general_feedback/index.asp

ONCE INTO THIS LINK PLEASE CLICK ON THE 'FEEDBACK USE OUR FORM' LOGO ON
BOTTOM LEFT HAND SIDE OF PAGE

(providing your personal details is not mandatory). Please urge the
Northumberland Police to do all they can to find the perpetrator of this
appalling crime and impose the maximum prison sentence allowable.

Lastly please email the local MP Denis Murphy for Bedlington:
murphyd@parliament.uk Please ask Mr Murphy to do all he can to help justice
prevail.

Greyhound Crusaders/SWAP team will endeavour as always to go on local radio
to do an appeal to local people in Bedlington to come forward with any
information leading to a prosecution, we will also be sending press releases
out to local papers asking the same and writing to the local greyhound
stadiums with a picture of 'Dougie' and an appeal asking punters to help
identify the previous owner if they can.

If anyone has information relating to this crime please email us immediately
in confidence at southwestanimalprotection@yahoo.co.uk or
greyhoundcrusaders@googlemail.com