Brindlebabe Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Longdog Liberation Latest News from Greyhound Action Saturday, July 29th, 2006 Welcome......... to the first edition of our new e-mail newsletter, Longdog Liberation, which we hope to send to all our on-line supporters several times a week. Apologies for our lack of e-mail alerts recently and if there has been a delay in us getting back to any of you. We've just gone through a complicated, protracted and time-consuming house move and relocation of our office, which has put us rather behind with our Greyhound Action work. Now that the dust has settled, we have a much more spacious and user-friendly office, kindly donated to us by one of our co-workers, and are making huge efforts to catch up with the backlog. It is important to remember that Greyhound Action is not a wealthy organisation with expensive offices and a paid staff. We are all un-paid volunteers, who try to keep overheads down to a minimum in order to put the maximum of financial resources into our campaign to protect greyhounds. The Seaham Slaughterer You will all be aware of the recent Sunday Times article that exposed the horrific greyhound-killing activities of John Smith in the Co. Durham town of Seaham. Inside information about Smith was given to us some while ago and we passed this on to investigators, who said they would do their best to get his activities exposed in the media. Whether or not this led to the article in the Sunday Times, we do not know, but we are nevertheless delighted that he has been exposed and for the crushing blow that this has dealt to the greyhound racing industry. More on the Smith saga in the next issue of Longdog Liberation. Save the Greyhounds Gathering Tooting Bec Common, London SW16 (Rastell Road entrance) Sunday, August 27th, 12 noon Please keep this day free and try to attend this very important event at which rescued greyhounds (and other dogs) will be very welcome. Do bring along anti greyhound racing banners and placards (if you have any or can make some) and food and drink for yourself and the dogs. Following the Sunday Times exposé, there has been a groundswell of feeling within the greyhound protection movement that there should be a demonstration in London in protest at the suffering and slaughter caused by the greyhound racing industry. Because of our very heavy workload, we were reluctant at first to organise such an event, but became increasingly concerned that, if we did not do so, the protest would be watered down by calls for reform and stricter regulation, when what is needed is a clear message to the government that the greyhound racing industry should be done away with and to the public that they should boycott commercial greyhound racing, so that more tracks close, leading to less demand for the breeding of dogs for suffering and slaughter. We thought, first of all, of organising a march, but have decided against this, because we want dogs to be present (including "oldies") and the forecast for August is more very hot weather. In fact, a gathering on Tooting Bec Common is ideal, as it is a lovely location, which is great for dogs, and parking should be comparatively easy in side-streets near to the Rastell Road entrance. Most important of all, Lord David Lipsey, who presides over the mass slaughter of greyhounds from his position as chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board, lives in a luxury house right next to the Common and will be able to see our protest gathering from his window! We intend this to be a gentle, enjoyable event, for human and canine participants alike, but with an important message for the government, the public and the greyhound racing industry. There will be speeches and a minutes silence in memory of the many hundreds of thousands of victims of greyhound racing, followed by the laying of wreaths and flowers outside David Lipsey's home in remembrance of those same poor dogs. A letter will be delivered to Lipsey from Greyhound Action calling on him to recognise the error of his ways and to join us in our efforts to bring the greyhound racing industry to an end. We hope that anyone who wants to speak will be able to do so and we hope that various greyhound rescue and animal protection organisations will be present and will each provide a speaker. We must stress though, that the aim of the Gathering is to call for an end to commercial greyhound racing and we really want no talk of anything less. Our Remembering Rusty event last year was a great success, with about 100 people attending, even though it was held at a fairly remote location in South Wales. Hopefully, with the Save the Greyhounds Gathering being held in London and following in the wake of the Seaham horror story, we can attract several times that number. Lets make August 27th a great day for the greyhounds! (More detailed info about the event to follow in future issues of Longdog Liberation). Granada News promoting dog racing Please complain One of our supporters sent us the following message. Please complain to Granada. I have received a message informing me that Granada Regional News Programme 13.25 today (27th July) featured a competition for up to 40 people to go to Belle Vue dog track. In the first instance, complaints should be directed to the duty office (details below) Duty Office Gas Street Birmingham B1 2JT email [email protected] Tel: 0870 600 6766 Fax: 0121 634 4898 Minicom: 0870 241 6346 Monday to Friday: 08:00 - 23:00 Saturdays and Sundays: 10:00 - 22:00 Closed on Bank Holidays. Someone with an inside contact has been able to give a more direct email address (see below) so if emailing you may want to send to both addresses. [email protected] Please feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this newsletter. Louise & Tony, Greyhound Action www.greyhoundaction.org.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ASGA Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Save the Greyhounds Gathering Tooting Bec Common, London SW16 (Rastell Road entrance) Sunday, August 27th, 12 noon Please keep this day free and try to attend this very important event at which rescued greyhounds (and other dogs) will be very welcome. Do bring along anti greyhound racing banners and placards (if you have any or can make some) and food and drink for yourself and the dogs. I really like the idea of a big greyhound gathering... much more dog friendly than a march. The Bristol Greyhound Gathering has been lovely every year. I will definately be going to the Tooting Gathering. Lets hope we get lots of people, dogs & press there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClazUK Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 I will try to do both. I'd love to see a ban, but accept tighter regulating is more likely. I am happy to be involved with either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlebabe Posted August 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Latest News from Greyhound Action Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 Oops......... Welcome to the second edition of Longdog Liberation and apologies for a couple of typos that occurred in early issues of the first one. A result of trying to put it together at 4 o'clock in the morning! The Seaham Slaughterer is, of course, called David Smith, not John (apologies to all the John Smiths out there and hope we don't have to write to every one of them individually!) and the meeting point for the Save the Greyhounds Gathering will be Rastell Avenue, not Road (more info below). Save the Greyhounds Gathering Additional information As you will have read in the first edition of Longdog Liberation, this event is due to take place on Tooting Bec Common, south-west London at 12 noon on Sunday, August 27th. The meeting place for the event will be at the Common's Rastell Avenue entrance, which is situated at London SW2 4XP. For those travelling by public transport, the nearest tube/rail is Balham. Map at http://tinyurl.com/lplfr shows Balham station and Rastell Avenue (circled towards the right). Streatham Hill rail station is also close. After meeting at the Rastell Road entrance, we will make our way a little further into the park to hold the Gathering at or near the location marked with an arrow on the map at http://tinyurl.com/mo3j9 For anyone who gets lost/delayed, the contact phone number on the day will be 07703 558724. Important note:- A small number of people have expressed concern as to the nature of the event. As stated in the previous issue of Longdog Liberation, "We intend this to be a gentle, enjoyable event, for human and canine participants alike, but with an important message for the government, the public and the greyhound racing industry". This is not, repeat not, a demonstration outside Lord Lipsey's home. It is a peaceful gathering in a public park, where he will be able to see us, at some distance, from his upstairs window, if he should care to look. There will be no mass protest outside Lipsey's house. A small delegation will deliver to him a polite letter from Greyhound Action. We also hope that participants at the Gathering will bring wreaths and flowers in memory of the slaughtered greyhounds and that the police will allow people to go in turn, individually or in small numbers, to lay these outside his garden fence. After the serious side of the event is over, both human and canine participants will be able to socialise and enjoy themselves in the park. We're happy to say there has already been a great deal of interest in this vitally important event, with people even coming from the USA and other countries to attend. Please do your best to be there yourself, with rescued greyhounds and anti dog racing banners and placards, if possible. And do let us know if you intend to be there (send your message to [email protected]), so we can get some idea of numbers. Do also let us know if you would like to speak. We already have several speakers, but we would like representatives of all groups and organisations that are attending to make short speeches and, in fact, anyone who wants to say a few words will be welcome to do so, whether they want to speak in general terms or in a very personal way, about their own experiences with dogs that have suffered at the hands of the racing industry. We envisage something somewhat similar to our Remembering Rusty ceremony in South Wales last year, which turned out to be a very moving and uplifting event. In relation to speeches, because we are expecting our largest ever attendance at a Greyhound Action event and some speakers may be softly-spoken, it may be difficult for everybody to hear, unless we have some sort of a microphone/loudspeaker set-up. This would obviously need to be very portable and to work off a generator or battery, as no mains electricity will be available. If anyone has this sort of sound equipment and would be willing to bring it along, please let us know. As a last resort, we could, of course, hire it, but would prefer to save the money for other aspects of our campaign to protect greyhounds. As we've said previously, we're encouraging participants, if possible, to bring along rescued greyhounds (other types of dog are very welcome too) and anti greyhound racing banners and placards. In relation to these, it really is the more, the merrier, so if you don't have any already, why not have a go at making some? Ideas for slogans are Say No to Greyhound Racing, You Bet....They Die, Kill Greyhound Racing...Not Greyhounds, Running for their Lives, Dying to Entertain You, Boycott Greyhound Racing, and we're quite sure there are many others that you could think up. Posters and flyers advertising the Gathering will be available shortly. Please contact us, if you would like some. We would prefer to e-mail these to you in pdf format for you to print out yourselves, but can also put some in the post to you, if you are unable to print them. Daz Not washing quite so white We've received the message below from a supporter. Please complain to Daz. I expect you are already aware of the latest ad on TV for Daz washing powder, in the fake soap opera "Cleaner Close" series. If not then it features a grey who doesn't seem keen to run then a fluffy rabbit is washed in Daz by the canny barmaid and he becomes a champ.The grey looks glowing with health and would I think be judged a fatty by any racing expert so total lack of any reality as per. It also seems to imply that racers live in nice homes and are pampered pets doing a bit of racing for a laugh. The manufacturers are Procter and Gamble. I have emailed their Daz site www.dazwhite.co.uk with my complaint and I will not be washing my exracer's bed in their products again. Perhaps you could alert people on your website. Recent events Leics GA car boot sale We've received the following report from our Leicestershire branch on their very successful car boot sale held at Croft on Sunday, July 30th. We had an excellent morning on Sunday and raised £124.17 for Greyhound Action. (Nearly £70 was donated in our collection tin.) The images pinned to the front of our tables were certainly crowd stoppers and we had so much support for GA’s cause. Many people had seen the recent newspaper articles and were very supportive of a total ban. We ensured just about everyone purchasing or browsing the stand were given a GA leaflet. Lots of people asked about re-homing – I had prepared a re-homing list for Leicestershire and surrounding areas – which we were able to hand out, together with information about greys. We directed lots of people to GA’s website and suggested they sign up for the newsletters etc. and we got around 80 signatures on the petition. We only had 3 idiots – one guy asked if we were selling greyhounds. Another thought Smith was on to a good thing!!! And another was a horrible woman who trained greyhounds. She had the cheek to say “ I hope you don’t say all greyhound trainers are badâ€. I had a rather heated debate with her when she announced she was taking a greyhound to be PTS today due to his injuries. A rather large crowd gathered around and to be honest I tried to keep composed, but was boiling inside. Some of the pathetic statements the trainer came out with was just making her look ignorant and only interested in a profit. Anyhow, a lovely lady started having a go at this trainer too and we sent her away with a flea in her ear. A number of people, who had been watching, came over and signed our petition and said they just didn’t realise what this atrocious industry stood for (and they gave us a donation!). Wildside Activity Centre, Wolverhampton Also on July 30th, where local animal protection campaigners held stalls and a vegan barbecue to raise funds for Greyhound Action. Once again, about £120 was raised, and our thanks go out to all who took part. Louise Illness forces GA founder to step down It is with considerable sadness that I have to announce that, due to a serious health condition, my wife Louise is no longer able to take part in the running of Greyhound Action. Louise founded Greyhound Action in 1997 and, despite having been born with a walking disability that frequently confines her to a wheelchair, she has campaigned steadfastly (and vociferously!) on behalf of greyhounds and other animals for the past twenty years. Her ideas and inspiration have played a huge part in making GA such an effective campaigning organisation and have led directly to many of the successes we have achieved. In recent months her health has deteriorated alarmingly and it has now been discovered that she has an advanced form of hyperthyroidism that has become so severe as to be life-threatening. This illness is relatively common amongst women and correct testing could have discovered that she suffered from it years ago. The fact that this was not done has resulted in her being close to heart-failure and now means she must undergo a prolonged course of treatment to get well again. So much for our wonderful health system, but then we all know this government would rather spend the money on producing arms, going to war on behalf of George W. Bush and supporting vivisection. Please feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this newsletter. Tony Peters, Greyhound Action www.greyhoundaction.org.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest galty Posted August 21, 2006 Report Share Posted August 21, 2006 Has this idea died a death. No mention on any other anti sites of the progress of this march Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elricc Posted August 21, 2006 Report Share Posted August 21, 2006 Why nothing to pass on to your racing buddies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClazUK Posted August 21, 2006 Report Share Posted August 21, 2006 No mention on any other anti sites of the progress of this marchFunny, I don't see The Refuge as an anti-anything site. Unless you're anti the welfare of animals? Has this idea died a death.No, it's going ahead as detailed in Brindlebabes post (summarised below for ease of reference) As you will have read in the first edition of Longdog Liberation, this event is due to take place on Tooting Bec Common, south-west London at 12 noon on Sunday, August 27th. The meeting place for the event will be at the Common's Rastell Avenue entrance, which is situated at London SW2 4XP. For those travelling by public transport, the nearest tube/rail is Balham. Map at http://tinyurl.com/lplfr shows Balham station and Rastell Avenue (circled towards the right). Streatham Hill rail station is also close. After meeting at the Rastell Road entrance, we will make our way a little further into the park to hold the Gathering at or near the location marked with an arrow on the map at http://tinyurl.com/mo3j9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Why nothing to pass on to your racing buddies? No just thought I might go up there to witness it for my self. Just wonder if it was still going ahead with the reported illness of the founder of G/A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Funny, I don't see The Refuge as an anti-anything site. Unless you're anti the welfare of animals? No, it's going ahead as detailed in Brindlebabes post (summarised below for ease of reference) Sorry I do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Sorry Last two replys where from GALTY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abigailj Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Good luck to everyone who is going to this! I won't be there as I will be at other end of the country. Hope it goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going to the dogs Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 Any feedback on this? Couldn't find anything on the news about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhoundgirl Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 I've looked everywhere that I could think of and not found any mention of this If no one from the press has written anything I think the racing fraternity will be laughing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest galty Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 As it was not far from where I live.. went to have a look. Not a bad turn out, about 40 people and a number of children, 20 odd dogs. I left at 12.45 so some more might have turned up after I left. This statment was issued by G/A ************************************************************************************* Text of letter delivered by Greyhound Action to Lord David Lipsey's home, following the Save the Greyhounds Gathering on Sunday, August 27th, 2006 Saviour or Slaughterer - what’s it to be? David Lipsey, You are not an unintelligent man. You know that commercial greyhound racing inevitably leads to the slaughter of many thousands of greyhounds annually. You know that the shape of dog tracks, with fast straights leading into tight bends, inevitably leads to thousands of injuries, many of them serious, every year. You know that many thousands of greyhounds are bred each year to fuel the demands of the tracks and that, in an industry that primarily exists to make a profit, most of those dogs will be disposed of when considered no longer fit for racing. You know that the vast majority of those dogs will have nowhere to go, because, in a situation where almost 8,000 strays are put down by local authorities every year, there is, and always will be, a massive shortage of homes for ordinary dogs, before we even get to the question of "unwanted" greyhounds. You know that a very large number of these discarded greyhounds will end up being put to death, either by a vet’s needle or by the likes of David Smith, with his captive-bolt pistol. You know that all this slaughter takes place because a small minority of people want to bet money on dogs running round a track and because a collection of unscrupulous individuals desire to line their pockets with the proceeds. You know that the greyhound racing industry causes the deaths, not only of greyhounds, but of many other "unwanted" dogs, who end up being "put down" because homes or rescue kennels they could have gone to are taken up by discarded greyhounds. You know that, as chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board, you bear a greater responsibility for this slaughter than anybody else. Far more responsibility, in fact, than characters like David Smith, whose slaughtering, if not done by him, will just be carried out by somebody else. You know that in our eyes, and in the eyes of greyhounds, if they could only realise who you are and what you stand for, you are a monster, the devil-incarnate, the enemy - and you know we will fight you and your evil industry relentlessly, uncompromisingly and with total determination. To the people of this country you are a Lord of the Realm. To the greyhounds you are a Lord also. The Lord High Executioner. Even though you have never administered to a greyhound a lethal injection or shot one in the head with a gun or captive-bolt pistol, the blood of thousands of these executed dogs is well and truly on your hands, as you preside over an industry that is the root cause of this mass slaughter. You are the Slaughterer Supreme of greyhounds, but it doesn’t have to always be that way. Join us in our battle to put an end to commercial greyhound racing, to finish this evil industry that causes so much slaughter and suffering. With your knowledge, your contacts, your influence, you could play a vital role in dismantling the dog racing industry and putting an end, once and for all, to this horrific holocaust of greyhounds. Join us in our fight to save the greyhounds and work together with us to protect these dogs from persecution. You would not be the first person from the greyhound racing industry to come over to our side, but you would be the most important. The door is open. You only have to walk through it. We are giving you the opportunity to go down in history as a saviour of these wonderful dogs, rather than to be remembered as a wicked scoundrel, responsible for their mass execution. A chance to do the right thing, to truly be a Noble Lord, to be a decent and honourable human being. Take that opportunity, David. Take it. Tony Peters on behalf of Greyhound Action Sunday, August 27th, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abigailj Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 Any feedback on this? Couldn't find anything on the news about it. I imagine the press will be contacted with a write up of the event, including main info/details. Sometimes press can't be bothered to travel to see an event but they will print an article about it a few days later if the organisers send them a write up. Then all press have to do is phone people for comments and re word it etc.. give it a few days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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