Brindlebabe Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 19th July 2006 Dear Sirs Given the recent horrific news in the Sunday Times this week regarding 10,000 Greyhounds being shot and buried by one man in County Durham, we would be grateful if you would publish an article in your local newspaper. Most Greyhounds who run on UK tracks are bred in Ireland. Ireland is responsible for breeding around 30,000 Greyhounds a year. This is an estimated figure because no proper records are kept and some litters are not registered. Only the best Greyhounds are picked from the litter to be trained for racing. The others are killed (the Irish do not see Greyhounds as pets). Greyhounds are often killed inhumanely to save on costs. This is something the Welfare Organisations have known for many years but which the Racing Industry does not want the public to be aware of! Greyhounds are brought over from Ireland to attend “auctions†where they are sold to Trainers and owners. The organisation which we belong to, Houndsavers has attended some of these auctions and some Greyhounds which are not sold are simply abandoned in the car park. Houndsavers has rescued some of these dogs. There are 2 types of race tracks, registered tracks and unregistered tracks. The registered tracks are run by the British Greyhound Racing Board (BGRB) and anyone racing their dog on these tracks must have their dog in registered trainer’s kennels. If anyone goes into a betting shop to place a bet on Greyhounds, it is the registered tracks upon which the bet is placed. The unregistered tracks are simply private tracks where owners take their dogs to race but they have nothing to do with the betting industry. Owners of Greyhounds who run on registered tracks have to pay for their Greyhound to be kept in a trainers kennel. It is therefore clear to see that if the Greyhound cannot race anymore due to injury or age, the owner will not want to continue paying for the dog to be kept at the kennels. A few owners take their dogs home but many owners have more than 1 dog racing at any one time so it is difficult for them to take all the dogs home. Some stay at the Trainer’s kennels even when the owner ceases payment. Unscrupulous Trainers need to get rid of the dogs to make way for “paying†Greyhounds and this is where the problems start. As a rescue organisation, we often hear of hundreds of horror stories of how these dogs end up. Dumped in a river with a weight tied round its neck, shot with a bolt gun, ears cut off to prevent identification etc etc. The problem is that the BGRB appear to be turning a blind eye to these activities. The BGRB has set up an organisation called the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) whose purpose is to ensure that the Betting Industry is kept in constant supply of dogs and the registered tracks are run smoothly. The NGRC have documented “Rules of Racing†which runs for some 83 pages but nowhere in this document is there any welfare requirements save for “Rule 18 – Responsibilities of owners†which is blatently ignored. Any private boarding kennels must be licenced and the owner obtains his licence via the Local Authority. This presumably is a way of the Local Authority keeping checks on the kennels and a standard of welfare is therefore established. It is proposed under the new Animal Welfare Bill that this will continue for private boarding kennels AND animal rescue kennels. However, Greyhound Trainer’s kennels and race tracks will be EXEMPT. This means that no independent body such as the Local Authority will be able to inspect the kennels as these kennels do not need a licence to operate. Instead, it is proposed that the NGRC will continue to check registered tracks and kennels. As the NGRC currently have no welfare policies, it is difficult to understand what guidelines any Trainer will be able to follow and it is clear from many welfare people’s experience that the quality of some of these kennels is below standard. In the Sunday Times this week it was established that some Registered Trainers in the North were taking their dogs to Mr Smith in County Durham to be shot and disposed of after they could not race any more. The NGRC are supposed to undertake 6 monthly checks on all registered kennels but they appear not to have noticed that dogs were missing. The NGRC do not keep proper records of dogs which go missing and it is estimated by the RSPCA that some 12,000 Greyhounds “go missing†every year and are not accounted for. Is this really the sort of organisation that the Government want to put in charge of Greyhound welfare? We believe the reason why Greyhound Kennels will be exempt from Local Authority regulation is that many are below the standard required and it would cost the trainer or track a huge amount of money to get them to the required standard despite the billions of pounds being pumped into the industry each year. Also, the Chairman of the BGRB, Lord David Lipsey, is a member of the House of Lords and has huge influence over DEFRA and the Government on this matter and the Government receives a great deal of money in taxes from this so called “sportâ€. Lord Lipsey states he is horrified at the news of so many dogs being shot but what does he or the NGRC believe happens to them? Why are they not keeping proper records so as to prevent dogs going missing? The NGRC have highly detailed records of race meetings and which dogs win and at what speed and time etc but they appear to keep no proper records of injuries or missing dogs? It is clear that whilst there are attendances at race meetings and bets taking place in betting shops, there will be cruelty on a large scale. Its about time the public was aware of the truth behind Greyhound Racing. Yours faithfully John and Adrienne Hare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Wendy, I will move this over to the new forum that Rick has created for this subject, hope that's ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlebabe Posted July 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 That's fine Ange, thanks . It might be worth people explaining they are circulating this as volunteers as it mentions Houndsavers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderblue Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Ive just sent this to my local paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melp Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 That letter is fab, thankyou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 have forwarded to my paper but I hope its not too late - it is delivered tommorow - hopefully they will still remeber for next week?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpole Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 forwarded too to a couple of our local papers brilliant letter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 my local paper is delivered tommorow but I will send in a copy for next weeks Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Sorry to be thick but do we send it with our own address and signed as per the original authors or sign it as ourselves It's just my local paper won't print a letter without having an address (you can state you wish it to be withheld so it's not published) and it has to be signed too. I don't want to bodge it up Marion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlebabe Posted July 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 I used my address but said I was one of many volunteers posting it on behalf of Houndsavers . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelli Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 I used my address but said I was one of many volunteers posting it on behalf of Houndsavers . I did the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Thanks folks I am too late for this week's but will send it in for next week. Marion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Sorry to be thick but do we send it with our own address and signed as per the original authors or sign it as ourselves It's just my local paper won't print a letter without having an address (you can state you wish it to be withheld so it's not published) and it has to be signed too. I don't want to bodge it up Marion Marion, I wasn't sure either, but didn't want folk to think I was thick! lol - not saying you are, but glad you asked the question!! Now that has been clarified I shall send the letter asap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest troiblue Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 I sent copies of this to my local papers but so far have heard nothing back. I also sent it to some Tv shows and the Richard and Judy show have just contacted me and a researcher said that R + J may consider doing an item on the work of Houndsavers. I realise that its only `may' but may is better than no answer at all. Would it help if other people wrote too? they wont be able to forget about it then and the more they realise how much people care, the more likely they are to cover it I suppose. Also you lot are better at wording things than me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 If anyone needs contact details for their local press there is a useful list of local newspaper websites here http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=1239 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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