The Irish Greyhound industry has been stained by the graphic pictures of blooding that secured seven convictions for animal cruelty earlier this year but behind that scandal more trouble is brewing as animal care workers accuse the industry of gross cruelty and neglect. Donal MacIntyre, the BBC reporter who exposed the Blooding practises, reports on the allegations.

The Irish Times, Everyone knows that greyhound racing has financial problems - few enough know about its accounting problem - it has failed to account for the thousands of greyhounds that have retired from the sport. An average of 11,000 dogs come and leave greyhound racing every year according to a spokesperson for the Irish Greyhound Stud Book. Discounting for natural wastage and some stud dogs there should be about 100,000 dogs enjoying comfortable retirement after hectic competitive careers - but where are they?

Are they looked after by caring and loving owners after their three or four year racing careers and allowed to live out their natural lives of about 15 years? Or are they variously abandoned, put down, bludgeoned to death, sent for vivisection or exported to race in appalling conditions in Spain when they have served their useful purpose? - as animal care workers maintain.

Ireland is the world leader in greyhound breeding, exporting more than 9,000 dogs per year around the globe. It is a multi-million pound industry and many livelihoods depend on it. In those countries where Irelands mostly export, like Britain and the US, huge resources are pumped into looking after retired greyhounds. The Retired Greyhound Trust in Britain admits to only scratching the surface by helping to home over 1,000 greyhounds every year there and the US has homing schemes at most greyhound tracks - but Ireland, the biggest breeder, has none.

'Greyhound racing is a dirty game - we should know we pick up the pieces. It's a bloody industry - an industry that has consistently failed to take responsibility for the 'living tools' of its trade,' so says Anne Shannon who in 1965 tried to set up a sanctuary for retired greyhounds.

Nearly 30 years after she failed because of lack of support and finance there still is no refuge for retired greyhounds in Ireland.

Kildare dog warden, Frank Mitchel asks the question 'Where have all the old dogs gone?' He says that he has known owners and trainers and been in kennels with 30 dogs and 'there's not an old dog there - it begs the question, doesn't it'. Around the country the situation is the same.

'We get quite a number of greyhounds,' says Alan Tuohy of the Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 'Our busiest days are when the sales are on. If the dog doesn't make the grade, a lot of owners bring them here to be put down. If they are not doing the business they're not wanted - it's as simple as that.'

The society distributes leaflets at the sales to encourage the owners to have the dogs put down humanely rather than risk them being abandoned like many others that have failed on the track. 'Let's face it, the lucky ones are put down. It is painful to put down a healthy and friendly greyhound just because it's not fast enough but that's the way it is,' Tuohy says.
The chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Ciaran O'Donovan, concurs with that dismal perspective. 'There is a huge problem with unwanted greyhounds. We produce a huge surplus of them and when they have finished racing, or are not good enough to start, they tend to be dumped, or put down or sent to race in Spain where the greyhound is treated even worse than in Ireland.'

O'Donovan calls on the greyhound industry to set up refuges. 'It is nothing short of callous to exploit the greyhound until it's stopped racing - the responsibility for the care of the greyhound doesn't stop there,' he insists.

Those shouting loudest about the treatment of greyhounds in Ireland are those outside the country, in the US or Britain, many of whom have to look after the fall-out from Ireland's role as the leading greyhound producer and exporter in the world. Ireland breeds 25,000 dogs a year and exports about 10,000 of those.

'Every decision in a greyhound's life is conditioned by economics - if it is too slow as a pup it will be put down, if it gets injured while racing it will be similarly discarded and when the dogs get too old to be competitive - they are often abandoned, put down, or maybe sent for vivisection or a slightly worse fate - exported to Spain,' Louise Coleman, the head of the American based Greyhound Friends, explains.

Her concerns are borne out on the ground by kennel hands who have seen the situation at the coalface. 'I have seen litters culled when they have failed to deliver in the first schooling trials. If they don't make the grade they are got rid of, maybe drowned and if they're lucky put down by a vet.'

The evidence which I have gathered indicates that most of those 100,000 dogs meet a very sorry end. They are mostly put down, some are abandoned, some are drowned and bludgeoned by owners not willing to pay vet fees, some go for vivisection and some 400 go to Spain for racing every year. As most trainers and owners testify - very few dogs are good enough to be retained for stud and very few are kept as pets.

'We have come across the most disturbing cases involving greyhounds of all ages,' says Marion Webb, who dealt largely with the greyhound problems while chairwoman of the ISPCA. 'I picked up an ex-racer in the worst condition I have ever seen. It did nothing but sleep, was covered in sores with all its legs infected. It was dreadful, I could see every bone in its body.'

Marion Fitzgibbon, who runs an animal welfare group in Limerick relates a similar tale. 'We picked up one greyhound on New Year's Day last year in a local dump which was being eaten alive by rats. She have been savaged by rates, cuts and infections and was starving. She was most likely an ex-racer but we couldn't be sure because her ears were bitten to shreds by rodents.'
Welfare concerns are most acute around greyhound tracks, a fact which Marion Webb says in no coincidence. 'Clearly, that's where the problem is generated and that's where the mess ends up.'

They Brandywell track in Derry shows that problems across the border are no different. Standing on the grass where Derry City play at weekends and the dogs play on weeknights, Mark Dean, a full-time officer with the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, tells a horrifyingly familiar story.

'We have found greyhound graves with three or four dogs, heads bludgeoned to death and with the ears cut off to prevent identification.' He is reluctant to admit that other greyhounds have been found put down with injections of baking soda or braking fluid - for fear of giving other dog men ideas.

'Its nearly impossible to get a home for a greyhound in Ireland. We have had to get homes in Boston and in England because we have had no luck here. People just don't see them as pets,' says Marion Fitzgibbon. 'I am ashamed by how we treat our greyhounds - I despair. These dogs have raced their hearts out and are then often left to fend for themselves - it is a disgrace and worse it is subsidised by the Government.'

Injuries play a huge role in the early retirement of dogs and the running of dogs who are carrying injuries that are masked by anti-inflammatories is common, according to owners and trainers. Leading greyhound veterinarian, Paddy Sweeney estimates that the traditional track design in Britain and Ireland with the long straights and the tight bends mean that at least 10 per cent of all dogs racing are carrying injuries. That means that nearly 3,000 dogs are running in pain on Irish tracks.

Recently, the Irish Society for the Abolition of Blood Sports brought to the attention of the Gardai an incident where an injured dog was allowed to run in the Irish Cup meeting last February. After it won, the sporting press lauded the achievement and declared it all the more remarkable as the dog was injured. The dog was found to have tested positive for drugs. The Council claims that this is proof that animal welfare considerations rank very low in the priorities of greyhound people.

And one would have thought that in Ireland like elsewhere it would be compulsory to have a vet in attendance at all race meeting to ensure the fitness and health of the racers - but because of financial trouble only the major tracks can afford to have a vet in attendance.

'If it were financially viable, there should be vets at all tracks', according to Bord na gCon's deputy chief executive, Pat Holland. Bord na gCon is 'finding the going a bit tough'. But economics hold little sway with vet Thomas Downey. He says the only way to enforce welfare at tracks is to 'have legislation guaranteeing the welfare of the animals. Greyhound racing is like any other sport involving animals - vets should be involved.'

Another ominous exit point for Irish racers is vivisection. Universities, medical research laboratories and veterinary schools are all popular destinations for the affable greyhounds. The medical establishments contacted in the course of this investigation variously say that the greyhound's big heart and cardiovascular system make it ideal research material. Perhaps an American animal research sales company's literature is more revealing.

'Having been handled extensively in their racing careers these animals are extremely tractable. They are friendly, lead easily, and stand quietly for bleeding and other non-invasive procedures.'

The document ends with the following illuminating note: 'Each of these dogs has had an unsuccessful racing career. Were they not purchased for research they would be euthanased at the track by their handlers.'

Queen's University Belfast has been one of the most precocious buyers of ex-racers. One of their experiments signalled the end for 110 greyhounds, the majority of them bought in the Republic.

In response, Queen's say: 'There are strict Government regulations concerning the treatment of animals under research conditions, and Queen's University Belfast complies with these regulations in all respects. The University is open to unannounced inspections at any time by Home Office inspectors. All inspections of the University carried out by such officials have been found to be completely satisfactory in all respects.'

Students in UCD veterinary school have also told of doing research on ex-racing greyhounds. A spokesman for the veterinary school confirmed that the college buys ex-racers for student training purposes.

Corrie Mehigan admitted earlier this year that they use the dogs for dissection and demonstration purposes only. 'We euthanise the dogs, put them to sleep before we use them for dissection. The others we use for demonstration, to show the students the circulation and body parts of an animal. The dogs are put down afterwards.'

Bord na gCon's John Quirke says in response that they would investigate all instances of ex-racing dogs going for research. 'We would look very dimly on ex-racers going for vivisection and would investigate the matter to see if any action should be taken against the greyhound suppliers,' he said.

The last sad exit from the track is the Spanish trade. Despite claims by the World Greyhound Federation, whose current spokesperson is Bord na gCon's Pat Holland, that conditions have improved at the Spanish tracks after a huge controversy two years ago, we have discovered that dogs continue to be housed in appalling conditions.

Following the scandal about the export of Irish dogs to Spain, Bord na gCon halted the involvement of its agents in the gruesome trade and called in the World governing body to make recommendations. Investigations showed that, despite Spanish claims that all the recommendations have been implemented, greyhounds were in poor condition, poorly fed, with little medical supervision and no bedding.

Undercover welfare investigators observed conditions at Valencia and put a lie to the claims that the conditions had improved. The track kennels were brimful with 500 dogs - most Irish, and most in shoddy condition.

The dogs were kept in metre-long cages for up to 23 hours a day, kept muzzled, foraging for scraps of food on the kennel floor which is already over-run with rats.

Despite the ban on the involvement of its agents in the trade, a huge number of private sales continue to supply the Spanish market. A promise by the World Greyhound Federation to check to see if all recommendations were implemented was due to take place last year but never did, according to Pat Holland, without any further explanation.

And at greyhound sales around the country the main agent for the Spanish trade, John Shields, is afforded a warm welcome. He says Irish and English governing body bans on the sale of dogs to Spain have no effect.

Shields adds: 'Some seem to equate Spanish owners with cruelty, but even in Ireland I've known many cases where they've had dogs that had been no good, and where they've just tied a rope around their necks and thrown them in the river.'

Animal rights groups say that these cases are not unique but a feature of an industry which has no safety net for retired, injured or slow dogs.

One track-hand at Dublin track explained: 'It wouldn't be unusual if a dog was injured or didn't run well that it would be kicked out of the car on the way home. Doggie men are hard men and a lot wouldn't care.'

Overbreeding serves to increase the pressures on welfare agencies in the Irish industry's export outlets, particularly the US and Britain.

Close to 10,000 dogs a year are unaccounted for in Britain but are believed to be put down by their owners. In the US the figure is over 50,000.

We are proud of the way Irish greyhound owners treat their dogs. Often putting down the dogs after racing is the best option but I have seen dogs sometimes 13 and 14 years old being looked after,' Pat Holland says.

In a unguarded moment, one of Ireland's leading trainers pointed at a slow greyhound in his kennels. The young pup was friendly and lively but slow. 'Ah, sure the only place for that dog is in the ground'. The dog was gone on the next visit. And the suspicion is thousands of dogs have suffered a similar fate.

Greyhound racing is based on the systematic culling of hearty racing dogs which have out-lived their usefulness. It is doubtful that the greyhound public is aware that 90 per cent of the racers it sees charging towards the line are sent to early graves. It is doubtful too that the great tax paying public are aware that they are the biggest shareholders in greyhound racing with the Government's involvement via Bord na gCon. It surely is for the Government and greyhound owners to justify their involvement in an industry which accepts the untimely death of 100,000 dogs. Call it sport, call it entertainment but don't call it fair that thousands of dogs race under sentence of death.

http://www.greyhoundrescue.co.uk/news/noheaven.htm