Protest in Boston against sending Irish greyhounds to China

Speak out against Irish racing greyhounds going to China!

According to published reports, the Irish Greyhound Board is considering allying with Chinese officials to bring dog racing to the People’s Republic of China. Clearly, this expansion of a cruel industry would cause greyhounds to suffer even more, both in transport and then while racing. These gentle dogs would subsequently face uncertain futures in countries where animal welfare laws may not even exist and where dogs are on the menu.

Here is a disturbing photo of greyhound being sold at a meat market.

According to the American-European Greyhound Alliance (AEGA), Greyhounds in Ireland have been found mutilated, with ears cut off, drugged, hanged, drowned and killed by bolt gun in backstreet slaughterhouses. A minute percentage get homes here as will not be the case in China. Dogs in China are considered meat, many beaten brutally to tenderize their meat before they are often skinned alive.

Here’s the Irish Greyhound Board’s mission:
“The Board operates Tote facilities at all greyhound tracks in the Republic and applies an on-course levy on all bookmaker’s betting in the Republic. These levies together with gate receipts have funded the industry and allows the Board to:

•Supplement prize money at all levels of greyhound racing.
•Provide development loans and grants to greyhound tracks in order to enable them to improve their facilities.
•To advertise and market the industry on both a national and international level.
•Develop and improve greyhound stadiums nationwide.”

There is NO mention of greyhound welfare.

Please join with the animal welfare organizations like ARAN and Greyt Exploitations to send a strongly-worded letter to officials below. Let them know that the cruelty of dog racing should end, not be expanded.

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE IRISH GREYHOUNDS!

Mr. Simon Coveney, Minister of Agriculture

Mr. Barry Coleman, Welfare and Racing Operations Manager, Irish Greyhound Board

For a sample letter, click here.

Racing greyhounds in Arizona and six other U.S. states already suffer broken legs, broken hocks, electrocution, paralysis, and heart attacks, have disappeared in large numbers, and face euthanasia. And this is under “regulation.” Imagine a country without any animal welfare regulation.

Tags: Greyhound Racing, International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

Kudos to Greyhound Action, a greyhound protection group in the UK, for protesting outside Owlerton Stadium.

Two year old Royal Raider suffered a serious break to one of her front legs after colliding with several other dogs at the first bend. Royal Raider died the following day, despite veterinary treatment.

In fact, all greyhound tracks are inherently lethal, because their oval shape, with fast straights leading into tight bends, creates a very dangerous environment for dogs to run in, leading to thousands of injuries to greyhounds, many of them serious, occurring every year in Britain…the same can be said in the United States.

An RSPCA report on greyhound racing has stated that ‘at least 20 Greyhounds a day – either puppies which do not make the track, or retired dogs aged three or four – simply disappear, presumed killed’ (in the UK)

If there was an loud uproar every time a dog died in the United States, our tracks would be long boarded up and made into shopping centers.

Every time a racing greyhounds dies at a U.S. track it should be on the front page of the sports section.

Also dead racing greyhounds should be announced on the TODAY show. Every racing dog that dies should be announced just like that old dude Wilbur announces all the folks who turn 100.

Maybe if the public knew how often this poor race dogs died here in the U.S. and abroad, it would be the end of this dying sport.

Michael Vick’s dogs have a public face. What about dead racing greyhounds who have died senselessly for greed and profit?

Here’s an interesting blog that is starting to put the story of dead racing greyhounds in people’s faces.

“At six and a half years of age, Amy Jo was still running for her life.

At six and a half years old, Amy Jo ran her 258th, and final race.

On January 22, 2005, this little red brindle girl severely fractured her left hock, and she was euthanized.

The injury report included the following description of the injury:
“piece of bone protruding from leg”

After hundreds of races, Amy Jo suffered a terrible, painful injury, and then she was killed.”

This is happening in the United States. We are a third-world country when it comes to greyhound racing standards.

Why are there no standards for how long a dog can run?

Tags: Greyhound Injury, Greyhound Racing, International Greyhound Racing, Nationwide Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
1 Comment »

According to this article, a greyhound trainer in the UK is charged with doping his greyhound with cocaine.

An international greyhound protection groups says, “Sadly, the doping of racing greyhounds appears to be widespread and most of it goes undetected. It is yet another example of how little those in the racing industry care about the dogs they use as money-making commodities.”

Cocaine is no stranger to greyhound racing in the United States either. Earlier this year Alabama had its share of cocaine abuse and in past years, Florida too.

Tags: International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
2 Comments »

Here is an excerpt from a greyhound racing industry conference six months ago. The speaker is from the UK.

“So, in summary, we’ve got a similar industry to yourselves, a falling number of greyhound tracks, we have falling attendance, we have a rapidly declining tote turnover, we have legislation which is being brought in to try and, I think, probably destroy greyhound racing. We have a problem with our media, we have a problem with our PR, we have a problem with our image, but we’re not downhearted, we’re still here, we’re still operating. One of my general managers who has two small children asked me how can we keep greyhound racing going for the next 18 years so he can get his children through university and pay his mortgage, I would like to be around in 18 years……… Thank you very much.”

You can read his entire speech here.

He doubts that David Smith killed 10,000 greyhounds. That one story gave British greyhound racing a big black eye.

Tags: Greyhound Racing, International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

I used to think the Brits were more civilized than the U.S. but after reading this report of six greyhounds  killed in one week in one dog track in the UK — I’ve changed my mind.

Thank you Tony Peters for telling the world about this horrific greyhound slaughter in the UK.

“A veteran greyhound racing enthusiast has vowed to “give up the game” after six greyhounds were “put down” following serious injuries at Manchester’s Belle Vue dog track in just over a week. ”

“The middle-aged man, who said he had raced dogs at the stadium for half his life, contacted greyhound protection group Greyhound Action on Sunday, after a two year old dog, called Ballyverry Rock, was “put down” after being badly injured in a race the previous evening.”

“The man, who asked for his name not to be divulged, said the dog’s death was “the final straw” for him, after witnessing five fatal injuries to greyhounds at Belle Vue the previous weekend.”

“Thousands of injuries to greyhounds, many of them serious, occur every year in Britain. The main reason for this is that the shape of the tracks, with fast straights leading into tight bends, creates a very dangerous environment for dogs to run in.

“In addition, hundreds of other greyhounds, bred because of the demand created by Belle Vue, are put to death as puppies or young dogs, before they even make it to the track, after being judged unsuitable for racing.

“According to recent research, more than 12,000 greyhounds, bred for the British racing industry, are ‘put down’ every year, after failing to make the grade as racers or when their ‘careers’ on the tracks come to an end.

“An RSPCA report on greyhound racing has stated that ‘at least 20 greyhounds a day – either puppies which do not make the track, or retired dogs aged three or four – simply disappear, presumed killed’.

“Members of the public can help put an end to this horrific situation by not attending dog tracks or betting on greyhound racing, so this appalling death-industry fades away through lack of financial support.”

If you’ve got the stomach for it, you can read the article in its entirety here.

For more information about the campaign against the suffering and slaughter caused by commercial greyhound racing, please visit Greyhound Action’s website

Tags: Greyhound Injury, Greyhound Racing, International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

May 22 – May 29, 2010 is Greyhound Awareness in the UK.

Do you remember the name David Smith?

He was the assassin who reportedly killed 10,000 greyhounds over a period of 15 years. According to him, it was a “favour to society.”

When Smith’s heinous canine crimes came to light, worldwide media attenion brought huge damage to the dog racing industry in the UK as well as a number of other newspaper articles about greyhounds being slaughtered in others parts of the UK.

This shocking news contributed to a huge fall in dog racing attendance which caused a half dozen major tracks to close in the UK. It also caused most of the other tracks to cut some of their race nights for financial reasons.

While David Smith is to blame for his unspeakable crime, the bigger crime lies with the dog racing industry for seeking out such a solution in lieu of adoption. And the biggest crime of all is about the greyhound racing industry’s lack of accountability and ongoing mistreatment of race dogs.

Learn more about how despicable greyhound racing is in the UK.

I always thought the British as more civilized than our low life kennel operators who take dogs across state lines and get them shot for $10/per dog. No matter which continent we’re on, dog racing sucks everywhere.

Tags: Greyhound Racing, International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

The Phillipines would be another international greyhound racing holocaust.

Read this article where a politico is saying there’s nothing cruel about greyhound racing.

In another article, a politico is saying that when the racing career of dogs is over the dogs can be watch dogs or police dogs. Clueless about greyhounds.

Their minds are not made up yet but they think this will boost tourism. All it will do is boost bloodshed and animal cruelty.

Greyhound Crusaders/SWAP team UK are EXTREMELY concerned about the Phillipines introducing greyhound racing to their country. We have already done several international appeals on this and we are asking for your help once again please.

They are asking all our national and international supporters to please write to the authorities below urging them not to introduce greyhound racing. We cannot imagine the fate of these poor dogs and it is imperative we do everything within our power to stop this.

Please give them this website address www.greyhoundaction.org.uk so they can see the plight of the racing greyhound in the UK. Educate them on the mass suffering and slaughter of greyhounds that are used simply as disposable commodities.

Please tell them that Jamaica has refused to have greyhound racing in their country and that they should follow suit as greyhound racing is frowned upon worldwide and will damage their public relations if they go ahead with it.

Greyhound racing is already in decline in many parts of the world as more and more people learn through educational campaign’s that this is a cruel sport. Please tell them we are in the 21st century and using animals for human entertainment must be confined to the history books.

Phillipine Tourism authority- info@philtourism.gov.ph
president of the Republic of the Philippines with the online form below, please keep all correspondence polite.

Please write a polite message and explain that greyhound racing is a cruel sport where animals still die and there are other more humane ways to promote tourism.

 Our hero Muhatma Ghandi once said: The future depends on what we do in the present and The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Wise words from dear ‘Ghandi’ who lost his precious life trying to change the world, therefore let’s do all we can to follow his dream. Thank you for your support, each and everyone of us makes the difference.

If you want more email addresses, please send a message to the email link in the top border and we’ll provide.

Thank you. This is urgent.

Tags: International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

Thank dog!

The greyhound community does not need any more Guam debacles.

Read the good news.

Please continue to speak out against the horrors of greyhound racing whether it be in the existing U.S. or internationally.

Tags: Good News, International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

Here’s another article about the efforts of the rescue group in Guam and the United States rescue groups.

According to the article, the Guam greyhound situation has raised concern globally, with greyhound rescue groups around the world networking to help save the greyhounds. A simple google search of “Guam greyhounds” brings up sites not only from the United States, but also Japan, Ireland, Spain, Korea, England, Netherlands, and Belgium — all talking specifically about the Guam greyhounds in their respective languages.

Last week there was a segment on ABC-TV and NPR.

Greyhound Network News also offers more info as well as Guam Greyhounds.

Tags: International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »

Help!

Guam greyhounds are in dire straits and need to come to the United States NOW!

Look at these photos – they are inhumane

Read the sad stories.

Watch the ABC video footage.

Donate money! You can use Paypal or send a check directly to Greyhound Protection League who is orchestrating the bills. 

Send to:  Greyhound Protection League, PO Box 669, Penn Valley, CA 95946 (USA)

This message came to me from Pat G.:

View the photos of these beautiful, docile creatures that must be flown out of Guam soon or face a certain death. Many generous organizations and people  have paid to have these greyhounds spayed/neutered, treated for dental and costly medical procedures–(the photos reveal why this is necessary) –and have already flown more than 50 to Los Angeles. 

From there the greyhounds have been transported to greyhound rescue groups in California, Nevada and soon to be New Mexico for adoption. 
 
Unfortunately the money we have already spent to save them is coming to an end.   This leaves perhaps 100 greyhounds, all spayed, neutered, and vetted in Guam with limited time. 

We must raise additional funds quickly and get them out of Guam.  
 
These are very difficult times for all, but, if you are able – please write a check to the Greyhound Protection League (a 501 c 3 tax-exempt organization) and write Guam Greyhounds on the subject line (for $10, $20, $50, $100… whatever you can) and send it to: 
 
       Greyhound Protection League
       P.O. Box 669
       Penn  Valley, CA 95946
 
All monies will be used to bring these loving creatures here before it is too late. 
 
Thank you for reading this, and for anything you are able to do. Please link to this message and crosspost and forward it to everyone you know. Don’t wait for someone else to do something.
 
Pat Getz

Tags: Greyhound Racing, International Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
No Comments »