#defund greyhound racing

[robert-the-greyhound]

Used, Abused, Discarded: Greyhound Gravesites in Ireland.

TW: GREYHOUND BODIES/CORPSES/SKELETAL REMAINS.

At lunchtime on the 31st of August, I was sent a link to a news article, published at half ten in the morning, about the discovery of a Greyhound Gravesite in Ireland, where the remains of multiple greyhounds were found. The most shocking part? This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last either. In this discovery, a number of Greyhound skeletons, skulls and remains were discovered by a member of the public walking at Roseberry Bog, Newbridge, just 2Km from Newbridge Greyhound Stadium. As of yet, we are unsure of just how many bodies were dumped at the location, but a chilling image from the scene shows multiple skeletons in the mud, with a kennel muzzle half buried beside them.

As mentioned above however, this is not the first time the public has stumbled across a dumping ground for greyhounds. In 2012, over the Easter bank holiday weekend, a man out walking in a disused quarry came across the remains of Greyhounds in varying stages of decomposition, with two bodies, a black female and a fawn male being very recently discarded due to the lack of decomposition. The greyhounds were believed to have been disposed of via a blow to the head.

Further back in 2010, the body of a Greyhound was found on Waterville Beach, with a concrete block tied around its neck. The body was discovered on the shore by a local veterinary nurse out for a walk. This event is not uncommon, and only recently, in mid-June of this year was another Greyhound drowned in this manner. In Yorkshire, UK, a greyhound was found in a canal, with a sandbag tied to her neck. Despite the fact she was microchipped, her last registered owner claimed to have rehomed her, and the person who took her claims to have no longer wanted her and given her to two others. So much for traceability eh?

This isn’t just an Irish issue however, as mass graves appear in practically every country where Commercial Greyhound Racing exists. In 2018, at a licensed greyhound trainer and breeders property in Sydney Australia, the bodies of 9 Greyhounds were discovered, along with a further 12 Greyhounds alive, but emaciated and suffering from a multitude of illnesses. According to an inspector with the NSW RSPCA, the living greyhounds had “such horrendous dental disease that you could actually smell the rotting in their mouths”.

Another 99 Greyhound bodies were discovered in a mass grave at a Hunter Valley Property in 2016. Investigations found most of the dogs had been killed by a blow to the head, either a gunshot or a blunt instrument. The vast majority of remains showed no sign of other injury, suggesting they were killed as emergency euthanisation over injury, but likely as “wastage” of the industry.

This latest greyhound grave / dumping ground is not the first, and it likely won’t be last. Across the globe, where gambling and greyhounds exist in the form of Commercial Racing, we will find Greyhounds who have been killed for failing to make the grade. The industry produces them at a much larger quantity than there are available homes for them. They have no plan for the lifetime of the animals, and rely on rescues, pounds and private charities to try and find homes for the dogs who have been discarded. And with global adoptions on the decline due to people returning to work and the ongoing cost of living crisis, more and more trainers won’t have the patience to wait for kennel space for their non-productive hounds. Every Monday on “dump day” we see calls from Vets who have young, healthy greyhounds coming in to be euthanised. We see County pounds putting out appeals to greyhound specific rescues, or rescues known for a soft spot for sighthounds to take some of the ex-racing or ex-coursing hounds who are nearing the end of their hold.

The onslaught of Greyhounds trying to come into rescue, trying to find homes, trying to experience life as beloved companions, not commodities, it never ends. And when there isn’t a place in rescue, we’ll, we can see what other alleys greyhound trainers go down to open up the kennel space…

TW: #AnimalAbuse, #AnimalDeath, #GraphicImage, #AnimalBody, #DogAbuse, #DogBody, #DogDeath

[robert-the-greyhound]

Irish Taxpayer funding UK Gambling Industry

It’s a known fact that around 85% of Greyhounds Racing in the UK are born and bred in Ireland. The export of Irish Greyhounds to the UK is fairly well documented, even if the the GRI does still struggle to keep track of ALL the dogs leaving the island. In fact, the GRI acknowledges how important the export of Greyhounds is to the viability of the industry. Whilst the GRI doesn’t track the sales price of Greyhounds at sales trials, some details are available on the Sales Auction Page, with greyhounds being sold for as little at €350.

Is it any surprise then that a new report by company Preferred Results Ltd. had found that the entirety of the Goverment grant to the Irish Greyhound Industry is eaten up by the below-cost exports to the UK? According to the Powers Report, it costs almost €5850 to raise a Greyhound to 24 months, but the average sales price is just over €1000. That’s a hell of a loss to those breeders and trainers, and to the industry itself. The sale of Greyhounds to the UK at such a net loss is a Win for the UK gambling industry, which is kept afloat by the below-cost imports, usually only “average” dogs in terms of Greyhound Racing Grades. For UK BAGS racing though, this is ideal, fuelling their photo finish racing at a cheap and cheerful price. For the Irish Gambling Industry though, that’s another massive loss in an already loss-making industry.

Read the full report below ��🏻