Greyhound racing is providing a major cash injection to cruel hare coursing, an Irish Greyhound Board report has revealed. The "Economic and Financial Significance of the Irish Greyhound Industry" report (published in November 2017) shows that the Irish Coursing Club is earning more than three quarters of a million euros from greyhound registrations and microchipping. As the Irish Coursing Club, and not the Irish Greyhound Board, holds the greyhound stud book, all greyhounds used in track racing are registered with the ICC. According to the Irish Greyhound Board: Greyhound matings, greyhound litters and adult greyhounds must be registered with the Irish Coursing Club and pups must be earmarked and microchipped. Details of the large sums being channeled into coursing are revealed in the greyhound board report as follows: - "Total mating registrations with the ICC cost an estimated €90,000" - "Litters [registrations] are estimated at €50,000" - "Earmarkings and Microchipping at €290,000" - "Adult greyhounds must be registered and named with the ICC. This costs an average of around €25 per greyhound. Estimated costs for 14,000 greyhounds is €350,000." Total: €780,000 It is clear from this that greyhound racing is helping to keep coursing alive. The bloodsport - which a majority want banned - involves snatching thousands of hares from the wild and using them as live lures for greyhounds to chase. The hares are terrorised while desperately running for their lives and there are injuries and deaths due to maulings. Hares released back to the wild are at risk of later dying from stress-related capture myopathy. Greyhound racing and hare coursing are intrinsically linked. The Irish Greyhound Board's official functions include "the control, promotion and operation of greyhound racing [and] the overall control of coursing". Agriculture Minister Michael Creed is on record as stating: "[The Irish Greyhound Board] is the statutory body with responsibility for the improvement and development of the greyhound industry, greyhound racing and coursing" and "under the provisions of the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, the regulation of coursing is chiefly a matter for the Irish Coursing Club subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon [Irish Greyhound Board]." As revealed by ICABS in February, among those on the board of the Irish Greyhound Board are a former Irish Coursing Club committee member, a former hare coursing club secretary and a Managing Director at Bank of Ireland Finance whose wife co-owns a coursing greyhound - https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/1590695917712627 The Irish Coursing Club is not only receiving substantial amounts of money from those involved in greyhound racing but also directly from the taxpayer-funded Irish Greyhound Board itself. For example, in 2015 it was revealed that the IGB paid over €100,000 to the coursers (for DNA sampling services and advertising in the Sporting Press - the Irish Coursing Club's "greyhound and coursing newspaper"). Going greyhound racing not only supports a cruel industry in which dogs are being injured, doped, mutilated, dumped and killed but also a bloodsport which causes terror, injury and death to the timid Irish Hare - a species which wildlife experts are warning is now "in trouble", with numbers declining. We are renewing our appeal to members of the public to reject greyhound racing and to GAA/sports clubs and schools to stop fundraising at tracks. ACTION ALERT Say NO to the greyhound industry - don't attend races or fund-raisers held at greyhound tracks (these are a significant source of funding for the greyhound industry). Distribute our "6 reasons to say NO to greyhound racing" leaflet outside greyhound tracks to encourage people to show compassion and boycott greyhound racing. You can download the leaflet at http://www.banbloodsports.com/ln170616.htm or order copies by emailing info@banbloodsports.com Encourage your local animal protection groups to join calls for an end to greyhound racing, given the cruelty and killing involved. The cruel and crumbling greyhound industry has received nearly a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money since 2001 (including €16 million for 2018). Urge Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to end funding to the greyhound industry and instead direct the money to charities and other deserving causes. Email "Stop funding the cruel greyhound industry" to taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie, paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie, minister@per.gov.ie An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2 Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020 Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie Tweet to: @campaignforLeo Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/ Paschal Donohoe TD Minister for Finance Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie, minister@per.gov.ie Phone: +353 (0)1 6045810 Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/ Tweet to @Paschald Please sign and share our other petitions Stop supporting the cruel greyhound industry https://www.change.org/p/stop-supporting-the-cruel-greyhound-industry GAA: Stop club fundraisers at greyhound tracks https://www.change.org/p/gaa-stop-club-fundraisers-at-greyhound-tracks