While the government approved more massive increases in funding to horse and greyhound racing, the amount granted to struggling animal welfare groups has been cut, it has emerged. On 20th December, a week after 105 TDs greenlighted a €64 million euro pay-out of taxpayers' money to horse racing and €16 million to greyhound racing, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed announced details of his Department's 2016 grants to animal welfare organisations. The comparison is striking. While funding to horse racing saw a €4.8 million increase and the greyhound industry received an additional €1.2 million, the money paid out to groups dealing with Ireland's animal cruelty crisis was cut by €80,500. See https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/pressreleases/2016/december/title,104657,en.html The latest figures show that 137 animal groups received just €2,460,500 - that's down from €2,541,000 to 140 groups in 2015. This paltry sum, which is nowhere near adequate to deal with the myriad of animal welfare problems around the country, amounts to less than 4 per cent of the amount handed over to the horse and dog racing gambling industries - both of which Minister Creed enthusiastically supports. Speaking as a guest of honour at a Horse Racing Ireland event in December, he pledged to push for more taypayers' money to be diverted to the industry. He is also a supporter of greyhound racing, co-owning a racing greyhound named Swift Starlet (whereabouts unknown), and praising dog racing as "part of the social fabric of our country". It is an outrage that with so much animal cruelty in Ireland, the government chooses to prioritise the funding of racing industries which are contributing to the problem. ACTION ALERT Please join us as we appeal to Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and Finance Minister Michael Noonan to stop squandering scarce public funds on gambling industries and to redirect the money to more deserving causes. Michael Noonan Minister for Finance Email: michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie CC: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,michael.creed@oir.ie,andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie (Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed, Minister of State Andrew Doyle) Telephone: +353 (0)1-6764735 An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2 Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020 Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie Tweet to @EndaKennyTD Michael Creed TD Minister for Agriculture Department of Agriculture Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Email: michael.creed@oir.ie Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510. Fax: +353 (0)1-661 1013. Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd Tweet to @creedcnw Andrew Doyle TD Minister of State, Dept of Agriculture Email: andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie Tweet to @ADoyleTD Contact your TDs and urge them to stop using scarce public money to fund gambling industries. Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=32&disp=mem Write to your TDs at: Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: +353 (0)1-618 3000 or 1890 337 889. Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics.