POLITICAL FOCUS: Alan Kelly TD (Tipperary), the newly elected leader of the Labour Party...
In June 2016, Alan Kelly abstained/was not present in the vote on Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan’s bill which sought to ban cruel hare coursing. The bill was defeated by 114 votes to 20 (with the remaining 24 TDs abstaining/not voting).
In March 2013, Alan Kelly TD voted against amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill which sought to secure a ban on some of Ireland’s worst acts of cruelty to animals – foxhunting, hare coursing, digging out, terrierwork, ferreting, badger culling, fur farming and the use of animals in circuses.
Alan Kelly, Committee of Public Accounts debate, 19 September 2019: “We are at a critical juncture for the [greyhound] industry. As somebody who supports greyhound owners, trainers and those who act in a very responsible way, I believe we are at a crossroads for the industry and the future of the industry is at stake. For those who participate in it and those who do everything appropriately and properly and look after the welfare of dogs, I would like this industry to be sustainable.”
In 2018, he voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations which granted €84 million of taxpayers’ money to horse and greyhound racing. He did not register a vote in December 2019 when another €84 million was granted to horse and greyhound racing.
In 2019, Alan Kelly TD described as “deeply worrying” and “absolutely shocking” the fact that the Department of Agriculture was not told about the damning Preferred Results report during 14 meetings held between the Irish Greyhound Board and department officials. The report which cost the taxpayer €130,000 was completed in 2017 but was not furnished to the Department until 24th May 2019 when it became clear that its sickening contents were to be highlighted on the “RTÉ Investigates” documentary.
The report found that the “culling of dogs is out of control”, with around 6,000 greyhounds killed every year because they are not fast enough to win races. “The conclusion that large numbers of dogs are culled based on their performance would appear to be indisputable,” it stated. Speaking at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on 19 September 2019, Deputy Kelly told the Department of Agriculture’s Assistant Secretary, Kevin Smyth: “The fact that the Department wasn’t told about the report – if that doesn’t set off alarm bells in your department, well then there is certainly larger issues in the department.”
At a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee in February 2017, Alan Kelly TD, expressed “huge concerns in relation to this [greyhound] industry”, saying he was “not too sure how many people have confidence in Bord na gCon”. “The fact that the accounts from 2015 are not up at the moment obviously, I presume, has set off alarm bells in the Department of Agriculture,” he stated. “This is an organisation that gets an incredible amount of money. This is an organisation that has loads of questions to answer.” He also raised the issue of the drugging of dogs (to make them run faster or slower) – “an awful lot of people have spoken to me about this, about the prevalence of drugs, etc.”
ACTION ALERT
Contact Alan Kelly TD and urge him to update the Labour Party's outdated animal welfare policies to include support for a ban on hare coursing and foxhunting and an end to the massive government grants that are keeping dog-killing greyhound racing afloat (more than a quarter of a billion euros since 2001, including €16.8 million for 2020).
A majority of Irish citizens are in favour of a ban on bloodsports. A Red C poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports has shown that 77% are in favour of a ban on coursing, while just 9% disagree with a ban. The same poll found that 77% are also in favour of a ban on foxhunting, while a two-thirds majority want an end to state grants to greyhound racing.
Alan Kelly TD
Leader, Labour Party
Tel: 067 34190
Email: alan.kelly@oir.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alankellytd/
Twitter: @alankellylabour