The Order of Malta is being urged to end its greyhound track fundraising. On its Facebook page in October, the Order of Malta's Clonmel branch stated: "We are delighted to announce that we will be holding a fundraising night at the Clonmel Greyhound Track to support our ongoing expansion into Community Care." It is incredible, after all the latest revelations in the media about greyhound racing cruelty, killing and doping, that any charity would consider associating with this shameful industry. While the work of the Order of Malta in alleviating human suffering is to be applauded, it is a great shame that the charity doesn't seem to care about animal suffering. This is the same charity which volunteers at the hare coursing cruelty festival in Clonmel every year, despite the obvious suffering on display. When ICABS sent a tweet to Order of Malta showing footage of a hare being severely mauled at the event, their response was to block us. A petition urging the Order of Malta to stay away from coursing has been signed by more than 2,300 people. Among the comments from those who signed are: "You are either compassionate to all life or you are not compassionate at all", "Compassion should be felt for all sentient beings, so surely the Order of Malta should make a stand against events that involve cruelty" and "Order of Malta, please discontinue to encourage this 'sport' with your attendance at hare coursing" No charity should align with greyhound racing, particularly when track fundraisers are directly supporting the greyhound industry (through ticket sale commissions and revenue from gambling and food/drink sales on the night). We are appealing to the Order of Malta to follow the good example of the Hope Foundation and Parkinson's Assocation of Ireland and reject greyhound track fundraising. ACTION ALERT Urge the Order of Malta to say NO to greyhound track fundraising and stop volunteering at Clonmel's hare coursing cruelty festival. Order of Malta Ireland, St John's House, 32 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Tel: +353 (0)1-6430000 Email: info@orderofmalta.ie, chancellery@orderofmalta.ie, sub-priory@orderofmalta.ie, omac@orderofmalta.ie, Clonmel@orderofmalta.ie Leave a comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/clonmelomac/ https://www.facebook.com/OrderofMaltaIRL/ Tweet to: @OrderOfMalta @OrderofMaltaIRL