Greyhound Rescues - Propping Up The Racing Industry?

[greyhound pal]

Its not those who go to the track that are the issue. Those going to the track aren't making much money to keep the industry going. Its much more complex than that.

 

Huge amounts of money comes from BAGS racing where punters, in general, don't attend. BAGS is the racing you see playing in the bookies tv's every afternoon. The BAGS racing also causes a huge amount of dogs to be bred - they're the cheaper dogs who are frequently over-raced. Cheap dogs, lots of races, mega money making schemes. Those who go along to the dogs for a night out on occasion should be discouraged, but if they stopped going, the industry wouldn't fall.

 

Another issue is that people who attend racing regularly know exactly what goes on so education is pointless. They've done it for years, its 'tradition'. The big players, the people who don't think twice abotu destroying a dog once its career is over. These are the ones to be targetted for disposing of . There are many owners/trainers who know whats going on but think racing is alright because they dont' kill off their dogs. They don't see themselves as part of the problem even though they know what otehrs do. Or there are those who think because they dump their dogs on rescue once racing is over, they aren't in the same category because they 'donate' their dog to an over stretched rescue. You'll never educate these people because they believe they love the dog and love the breed. They do - just not the same way I do. Then of course there are the puppy farms - a massive percentage of pups don't make it to the track and are disposed and stages from birth to 2 years. These pups are 'forgotten' or 'hidden' and not taken into consideration. Thes dogs make a much larger proportion of dogs dying than those who finish racing.

 

As for regulation. That wouldn't stop dogs suffering one little bit. All it would do is mask the problem. What this argument never takes into consideration is that as long as greyhound racing is around, greyhounds HAVE to die due to the sheer numbers of them. You'll never rehome all the dogs that would need a home. If by some chance regulation ever does come into play and greyhounds had to be accounted for after racing, all that would happen woudl be a massive rise in the numbers of non-greyhounds in rescued beign destroyed. The homes aren't there. The scale of the problem is massive. Knowing figures wouldn't help any simply because you have to consider things like the pups issue etc. which is why I switch off when figures are thrown about.

 

This is much more complex than it appears on the surface. Its not the throughput of greyhounds after racing that is the issue. In fact those who complete their career is the least of the problem - thats just the part that people are aware of.

 

The RGT without charity status wouldn't stop the industry rehoming dogs. The RGT exists to show what a great job the industry does of rehoming its waste product. The vast majority of their income comes from the industry (BGRF) itself. Why else would they do such a mass mailing of all their achievements in glossy brochures every few months? Its plain and simple PR and obviously very clever stuff because people do fall for it.

[elricc]

I agree AManda its the bookies who provide the outlet for racing, bookies are the people who make the money out of the system. Until william Hill et al are stopped there will be no change. Its the people supporting the bookies who are at the root of the thousands of dead dogs every year.

I once drove a van full of dogs from kennels to rescue and watched two van fulls drive in, thats the reality, and they couldn't have cared less about mine or the people with me views as long as we took the dogs.