greyhound pal

*Nodding in agreement* Edinburgh Zoo has all these captive breeding programmes and is allegedly a 'good' zoo. So how come the big cats pace back and forward and attack the glass? My oldest daughters words - 'concentration camp for animals'

Thats pretty much the way I see it - I don't understand why people blame the other person. The person who is in a relationship having an affair is responsible after all they have made a commitment - not the individual who was single... I'll never accept that men are 'tempted' or 'weak'. Thats just giving men a passport to do what they want to do. I had a fling. I was in a very violent relationship and someone came along and showed me some positive attention. It didn't get more physical than the odd snog but it gave me the confidence and strength to leave. Perhaps after years of being told how ugly and what a nasty person I was, when someone came along it challenged every bit of what he'd told me I was. Also agree 'just sex' is easier to deal with. I find it much harder to deal with feelings. I mean it would be easier to cope with an OH having sex with someone and not 'caring' for them than to deal with them not having sex with someone and having feelings for them. Can you tell I've been in both situations? Not being very clear tonight - I know what I mean!

This is a press release I received about this which pretty much sums it up for me: A leading worker for Animal charities in Scotland has condemned Enable Scotland for creating conflict between animal charities and charities raising money for human causes. He claims that giving money to such charities helps the government pay for weapons of mass destruction. John Robins, Secretary of the charities Animal Concern Advice Line and Save Our Seals Fund said: “Enable Scotland is skating on thin ice in a pair of tackety boots. They forget that the welfare state was established to ensure that the educational and health needs of the people of this country would be paid for through our taxes. If they think more money is needed to pay for special education programmes then they should be attacking government for failing to fulfil its duties.†“It is ridiculous that vast areas of our health service and education provision have to rely on people putting their spare pennies into collection boxes or buying raffle tickets. Hospitals for sick kids should not have to rely on handouts from burger bars. All these services should already be fully funded through income tax and council tax instead of by a myriad of self appointed charities each with their own expensive tiers of bureaucracy and administration.†“By donating money to charities which the government uses to plug the gaping holes in education and health and welfare budgets people are freeing funds for Tony and his cronies to spend on weapons of mass destruction. Government decides whether or not our money should be spent on nuclear bombs or special needs teachers. As long as charities pay for the special needs teachers public funds can be spent on a replacement for Trident. Enable Scotland would be better campaigning to have public money spent on the services we need and let Tony Blair sell raffle tickets to fund weapons of mass destruction. †“There is no welfare state for animals. There is no Children in Need Day for animals. People who choose to support animal charities have already paid for the welfare state through their taxes. It is not their fault that groups like Enable Scotland cannot convince the government to spend our money properly.â€

Crossposted with permission. If anyone needs a lift down the A1 to Sunderland, PM me Greyhound killer in court Slaughterer Smith to face enviro charge Durham Magistrates, Friday, January 19th Newly-formed GA branch to hold demo - please try to attend Seaham Slaughterer David Smith is due to appear before North Durham magistrates at 10am on Friday, January 19th, as a result of a private prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. Smith is accused of "depositing non-specific controlled waste without a licence" on July 12, 2006 and the allegation relates to him burying dogs in a makeshift graveyard behind his home in Northdene Terrace, Seaham, County Durham. The case follows media revelations last July, that Smith had used a captive-bolt pistol to shoot greyhounds, brought to him by trainers and others involved in the greyhound racing industry, and then buried their bodies on his land. He was said to have slaughtered 10,000 dogs over a 15 year period. (See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2272307,00.html and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...272094,00.html) It is disgraceful that Smith cannot be charged in connection with the actual killing of the greyhounds, but, unfortunately, if suffering cannot be proved, it is not illegal for a person to shoot a dog, if they have been given permission to do so by the "owner". It is also disgraceful that the greyhound racing industry itself is not in the dock, accused of causing the mass-slaughter of the thousands of dogs it callously discards every year, when they are no longer of any use as money-making machines. David Smith is, without doubt, an evil man, but those who run the dog racing industry are even more evil, as it is their activities that allow characters like him to flourish. Smith's greyhound-killing days have now come to an end, but that does not mean that any dogs have been saved from slaughter, as the "surplus" dogs he "disposed of" are now just being killed elsewhere. That's why we feel it is important that our supporters do not get so overcome with hatred for David Smith, that they lose sight of the fact that he is only a minion and that it is the big bosses of the greyhound racing industry who are the major enemy and that, until that industry is destroyed, many thousands of greyhounds will continue to be put to death each year. Greyhound Action North-East (GANE), a newly-formed GA branch, set up to cover North-East England, are organising a demonstration outside the court, to draw attention to the suffering and slaughter of dogs at the hands of the greyhound racing industry and to call upon the public not to attend or bet on greyhound racing, so that it withers away through lack of financial support. The demo is due to start at 9.30am outside Durham Magistrates Court, Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HW. Maps of the location can be found at http://-refer to moderator-.com/ykjx2a and http://-refer to moderator-.com/ylzra7 Please try to attend, especially if you live in or near the Co. Durham area. If possible, please bring anti greyhound racing banners and placards - and rescued greyhounds are very welcome. If you are planning on being there, do please get in touch with GANE, so they have some rough idea of numbers. Even if you aren't able to get to the demo, please let them know if you would be interested in taking part in future events in the North East. GANE can be contacted at [email protected] or on 07716 764816. Please feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this message. Tony Peters, Greyhound Action www.greyhoundaction.org.uk

The Scottish SPCA don't have anything on their website but they do have this from todays Glasgow Herald. I'm actually quite impressed with the response from Mike Flynn because I've never really thought much of him or his values in the past... Illegal trade makes dog tests ‘waste of time’ GERRY BRAIDEN January 03 2007 A competency certificate for dog owners, which has been suggested as a method of controlling dangerous breeds of dogs, has been derided by a leading animal charity. The SSPCA believes that the existing illegal trade in dogs would render such a test useless. The organisation believes such a scheme would be an administrative nightmare but it suggests that if all dogs were registered it would potentially cut the number of attacks. The claim comes after five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson was mauled to death by her family dog in Merseyside. The dog, confirmed yesterday as a pit bull terrier, also attacked Ellie's grandmother The owner had previously been sent two letters about the dog's behaviour. Some experts have appealed for all owners to be examined on dog care and control and supplied with a certificate which would have to be presented to breeders and rescue centres before an animal was handed over. The SSPCA insists a registration scheme, similar to the old dog licence, is a more realistic and workable option as the vast majority of attacks are the fault of the owner. The most effective way would be to microchip the dogs and register them when they changed hands or died, giving the authorities the name and contact details of the owner. In Sweden potential owners have to register even before they buy their pet, specifying the breed they require. They are then bound by conditions which could lead to them losing the dog if they break the rules. Given that the trade in dangerous dogs such as pit bulls is illegal and many dogs are sold by unregistered breeders, a competency certificate would have little use, the SSPCA says. The organisation said it has it own vetting procedures for potential owners wanting to take dogs from its kennels. Mike Flynn, head of the SSPCA's uniformed division and a former pit bull terrier owner, said microchipping would provide proof of ownership and who was legally responsible or the dog. He said: "People would be more likely to be in control of their dog if they can be held to account. If the person hasn't the time or patience to properly train their dog and it attacks someone then the person cannot own a dog again. "It would also be a far cheaper and easier scheme for the government to run." According to Mr Flynn, the relaxation of the Dangerous Dogs Act in the late-1990s has led to many pit bulls re-appearing on the streets. He also pointed to trends from the 1970s when alsatians, dobermanns and later rottweilers developed bad reputations because of poor breeding and bad ownership. Mr Flynn said that border collies were the worst offenders for biting, but poor control, especially among rottweiler owners, led to powerful dogs being demonised. He added: "The really sad thing is this won't be the last person killed by a dog. And in 99% of cases it is the fault of the owner." Last night Ellie's family were said to be "together, comforting each other", according to Merseyside Police. In a family statement released through police, her relatives said they were "absolutely devastated" at the loss of their "little angel". "She was an active little girl, full of life and always running around. We are absolutely devastated," they said. In Northern Ireland yesterday a pit bull amnesty began following an attack on a family in Co Antrim in November. So far two of the dogs have been destroyed and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the scheme should be considered UK-wide

Amanda needs wisdom & strength to do what is right *snort* I could've written that myself!

Well its just happened He's dead

Agree totally with that. Theres no justification for killing anyone. Theres nothing to be gained from it is what I'm trying to say I suppose

Was the film 'Let Him Have It'? I think death by hanging is barbaric and I don't see what good executing this guy will do. This has made me incredibly sad to see this on the news today. I can't explain why I feel like that, but I just feel its morally wrong - as I do about the death sentence in general

Ridiculous it had to come to this before he went... But also glad he's gone

Agree completely, Abigail. Very suspicious about this...

Pm'd you Galty

If only I had seen the light and married that tree instead Going to post some pics of last Sunday later, if I get home from pub sober enough

I'm a tad attached to it. Do you remember that woman a few years back that married a tree?

Ahhhhhhhhh ok. Tom Cruise/Eric Clapton??? We did stay over but due to car trouble, not deliberately. Think if I'd turned up at Hove I just might've been lynched Couldn't have stopped myself from pulling out a placard, abusing some people then hugging a tree

Tony has been sent a letter from William Hills solicitor asking Tony to apologise for comments he made regarding the Seaham dogs on the radio a few weeks ago. I think that he said there was blood on their hands due to the proxiity of their tracks to Seaham. Tony read out the letter then tore it up on Sunday. He's now going to answer saying that he tore the letter up at the gathering (I really hope he says outside LL's house) and they can do whatever they have to now. Can you imagine if they progress this? The press attention would be massive.

Ah Galty - you could've hung around and introduced yourself to me I'm dead curious to what you look like! I had car trouble and didn't get there til about 1-ish. I would estimate there was maybe around 100 people there by the end. Was a good turnout and quite a good day out. I'm curious though - how did you get the copy of the letter? I didn't think copies were handed out until after the speeches? ETA - fab letter too and I loved Tony for tearing up the William Hill solicitors letter

Back to what I said although maybe too nicely to be clear... *What we're going to do is put a plan in place. *The foundations of when where and who's doing what. *Then it goes out and people who want to be involved will. Those who don't, won't. *People who want to attend also will, those who don't, don't. Simple. You can't please everyone... *Objective - to stop the slaughter. Also simple.

Hello MelP! How are you? Hello Allie I think its best to aim for what is the only way to stop dogs dying. Backing down doesn't come in to it. This is the biggest problem because so many people believe that if you start at introducing welfare reforms things will get better for the dogs involved. What actually happens (this is what I think) is that all this does is creates a smoke screen for the industry to hide behind and continue what its doing all along. One example of this is the RGT. The industry 'uses' its RGT to show how it provides for the dogs which retire. Of course the RGT isn't big enough to rehome all the dogs because no organisation will ever be big enough for that. Instead what the industry (I mean the NGRC) does is drops the RGT name in everytime anyone questions what happens to the dogs when they retire. What this has shown is that the dogs are obviously NOT being homed and living happily ever after. So the NGRC do what the NGRC does when scandal befalls them - start to justify these mad figures on where their dogs are and blame the independant tracks Any self-respecting industry would shut its face and promise to do something. This is the whole issue behind this - the NGRC cannot be trusted to do any investigation themselves because you can guarantee no one will ever be held to account for this if they are left to it. Hope that explains a bit more about GA's position on this. They simply dont want to be involved in somethign else that will create a smokescreen for teh industry to keep doing what they are doing. As for the march. What i would say is that give us time and a plan of action will be in place very soon. There are literally thousands of people now involved in this now (not just on this board or just internet forums in general) and it would be impossible to act in a democratic way to get the foundations of this down. As soon as there is info and a plan, it will be put out to everyone asking for help with different things (I think). You have to appreciate that we're all run ragged at the moment with this going on. I'm personally knackered after all the info requests, emails and phone calls sinc this story broke, so please bear with us

This Amanda I fully agree with what GA are saying here - too many welfare reforms in the past which haven't worked and too many people have swayed that direction which has detracted from what the whole issue is - too many dogs, not enough homes. Dogs will die because no amount of welfare reforms or money will get more homes. Lord Dipstick makes his point about those who rehome non-greyhound breed homes rehoming greyhounds instead - all this would do is mean that non-greyhound breeds would be dying in their thousands. The thing is that the slaughter to this scale has never been uncovered before (although this is NOT an isolated way of disposing of dogs - its happening elsewhere) and realistically the only way to stop this happening, is to prevent the cause - or ban racing But you've summed up my personal thoughts on this, Celia, which is why I've decided to go ahead with it as an individual. Got to speak to the rest of the committee to see how they feel though, although I know some GAS supporters have pledged to come along.

Hey Terri You are already on my list for stuff up here. I know you struggle with getting to Shawfield so don't worry about coming on Saturday. Meantime watch this space and I'll email you to let you know whats needing done! A x p.s. - have you seen Seafield kennels lately - its awful

Me three! And agree with you too about the campaign side and, of course, your opinion! People are also interested to hear about what happens before and during racing which often leads them to their own conclusion about what to do - ban racing, without us even suggesting it. Doing stalls and campaiging, if there was a comment most frequently used it would be 'its a disgrace, it should be stopped' is, I would say, the most frequent response. I will be there and so will other GAS supporters...