Outcry over greyhound racing's poor track record
Sickening scenes in an RTE exposé featuring Irish dogs sent to Pakistan have sent sponsors of the sport running for cover, writes John Mooney.
The Sunday Times, July 7 2019
The terrified boar squeals as it flees the greyhounds chasing it to its death. Wild boar are powerful animals but they cannot outrun greyhounds, which are bred to sprint at high speed over short distances. Pig hunting is popular in districts around Lahore, a Pakistani city once synonymous with cricket but now associated with jihadist violence.
The scene is taken from a video uploaded to YouTube, one of hundreds posted by Pakistani hunting groups which show greyhounds pitted against wild boar, wolves and even porcupines. The greyhounds suffer horrific injuries in the fights, which are filmed to advertise kennels. In one video a greyhound yelps in agony as its owner pulls porcupine quills out of its chest.
Among the dogs used are some exported from Ireland to Pakistan, India and China, where they compete on the racetrack or in the field. They are among up to 6,000 dogs discarded each year because they are too slow or old to race in Ireland by an industry which receives an annual state subvention of €16.8 million.
The government is now under pressure to reform that industry following the broadcast of an RTE Investigates documentary which showed how greyhounds are being doped, abused and ill-treated. The Irish Greyhound Board (IGB), the semi-state organisation which regulates the sector, has since lost sponsors. On Friday, Connolly’s Red Mills, a manufacturer of animal feed products, joined Barry’s Tea and FBD Insurance in announcing its intention to withdraw from sponsoring dog racing.
The IGB says the greyhound industry is worth €300m to the economy each year.
Jim Power, an economist who published a report on the economics of the sector in 2017, says it could still make a positive contribution to the economy - but only if it were cleaned up.
“This latest controversy is going to create large funding issues going forward,” he said. “Sponsors are already pulling out and the government really faces two choices - close it down or clean it up.”
Power’s report found the industry was reliant on state subventions for its survival, but could be credited with creating 5,058 full-time and part-time jobs, many in rural Ireland. Attendances at racetracks have remained stable.
[ICABS NOTE: The 5,058 jobs figure has been described as “farcical”. Although it appears in the Jim Power report, the source of the figure is the IGB itself. The only evidence of jobs in the IGB’s latest annual report are 125 full time staff at the Irish Greyhound Board and its subsidiaries and 100 race night casual staff.” See https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/2102721869843360
“Everything I said about its economic contribution and viability was predicated on it being well regulated and ensuring the welfare of the dogs was given priority. Obviously, that never happened,” said Power.
Few believe the IGB is capable of leading a reform process, however. Tony Walsh of the Irish Greyhound Breeders Federation believes the time has come to disband it.
“I have no confidence in the ability of the IGB, or the minister for agriculture, to deal with any of these issues. The industry is as straight as a €9 note. When trainers are caught doping dogs, nothing happens to them, or the fines imposed are miniscule,” said Walsh.
“Dogs test positive the whole time. In most cases they continue racing and winning prize money while the trainers await the outcome of a hearing. There are dogs banned from running in the UK winning prize money here. The system is a farce.”
Rita James of Caged Nationwide, a greyhound welfare group based in Manchester, suspects the latest controversy could ultimately represent the industry’s death knell.
“Irish people abhor cruelty to animals but I don’t think they fully understood just how bad things were for greyhounds until they watched RTE Investigates. I don’t believe Irish people are happy to see their taxes being used to prop up the greyhound industry and everything it involves,” said James, who organises protests to stop exports.
In 2016, the government allocated €14.8 million to the industry but increased the subvention to €16 million in 2017 to make up for a shortfall in sponsorship revenue. The IGB gets €16.8 million this year.
“The Irish Government is now in the spotlight. This has become political,” said James. “The politicians are suggesting they knew nothing about the cruelty, doping and greyhound exports to places like Pakistan, but we’ve been writing to them about it for years. They all knew.”
“We protested outside the agriculture minister Michael Creed’s office. We even paid for an advertising campaign on the side of buses. They can’t say they didn’t know.”
The IGB insists it does pursue trainers who give banned substances to their dogs. It said 5,288 tests were carried out last year and the testing regime can now detect banned anabolic steroids which may have been administered a considerable time before a greyhound is sampled. A spokesman said it supported exports only to countries with a strong animal welfare code, but it was powerless to stop breeders sending dogs to Pakistan.
“The IGB currently has no control of events outside Ireland and has no statutory function regarding the regulation of greyhound exports. The movement of all dogs between EU member states is currently set on a European level,” it said.
The Department of Agriculture said it took any allegations of breaches of animal welfare rules seriously. “The greyhound sector has undergone a series of reforms in recent times, most notably when the Greyhound Racing Act 2019 was signed by the president in May. This legislation strengthens the legal basis for the industry, with a view to fortifying the integrity of the greyhound racing sector and improving provision for greyhound traceability and welfare,” it said.
The department is due to meet with the IGB this week but is not expected to reduce its financial support. When Creed was asked on RTE Radio’s CountryWide programme yesterday if he would continue to provide public funds to the IGB, he said he expected the body to use the new act to pursue wrongdoers and improve animal welfare. Funding, he stressed, came with terms and conditions. “If nothing happens, in 12 months’ time we’ll be in a different place,” he said.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/outcry-over-greyhound-racing-s-poor-track-record-5kgn5nvg6
URGENT ACTION ALERT
Say NO to the cruel greyhound industry - don't attend greyhound races or fundraisers/hen parties/office parties held at greyhound tracks
STOP THE STATE FUNDING FOR GREYHOUND RACING
Contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe now and demand an end to all state grants to greyhound racing.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
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Paschal Donohoe TD
Minister for Finance
Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie; minister@per.gov.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1 6045810
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