There are renewed calls on the government to ban greyhound racing after it emerged that a greyhound suffered a heart attack and died at Shelbourne Park stadium on Saturday (17 August 2019).
The 2-year-old dog, named Ballymac Syd, died after finishing third in a Boylesports-sponsored derby race.
“Unfortunately the night ended on a sour note for the unfortunate Ballymac Syd,” the Greyhound Star website has reported.
The race report by Graham Holland (trainer of Clonbrien Hero - the dog who failed drug tests for a metabolite of cocaine three times in 2017) stated: “I realised that something was the matter when Shane Dowling shouted me. I had seen it before, the poor dog was having a heart attack. We managed to get him to the van and I started compressions but the tongue had already gone blue. He died shortly afterwards. A lovely dog and a sad end to the evening.”
The Irish Greyhound Board clearly doesn’t want the public to know about this latest horror. There is no mention on the IGB website of the heart attack or the dog dying. Incredibly, in a notice posted on the IGB website today - three days after Ballymac Syd died - the dog is listed among three dogs "withdrawn from the second round of the Boylesports Derby”. “In Heat 3, Ballymac Syd will be a non-runner from trap four,” the IGB website states.
The IGB’s entry for the “2019 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby Round 1 Heat 15” race only shows that Ballymac Syd finished third with prize money of €0.
Ballymac Syd is one of the many, many victims of the nasty greyhound industry and the latest to die from a heart attack.
Last year, at least two greyhounds died from heart attacks at tracks, sickening Irish Greyhound Board statistics show. The fatalities occurred during races at Clonmel and Curraheen Park tracks.
The IGB death data shows that on 29th June 2018, a greyhound died from a “suspected heart attack”. The greyhound in question is believed to have been SevenHeads Flyer - the only dog racing that day at Curraheen Park who has not raced since. It was the first and final race for the 1-year-old dog who finished second in the The Beech Lodge Care Facility 525 race.
The previous month, another 1-year-old greyhound suffered a heart attack and died during a race at Clonmel track. Responding to a Dail question from then TD, Clare Daly, the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed confirmed that “Darty Talk” died after suffering a heart attack.
“Bord na gCon has informed me that on the 4th May 2018 the greyhound 'Darty Talk' competed in the seventh race at Clonmel track,” Minister Creed (who has shamefully approved millions of euros in funding for greyhound racing) stated. “The report from the Bord na gCon Stipendiary Steward officiating that night, indicated the dog led for most of the race but collapsed and died approaching the winning line. The vet on duty confirmed a 'heart attack' as the cause of death.”
As was the case with SevenHeads Flyer, it was Darty Talk’s first and final race.
Race footage on the Irish Greyhound Board Youtube channel shows the moment the animal collapses https://youtu.be/EAX_ZeVgvIA?t=35s
Details of the race on the IGB website give no indication whatsoever that Darty Talk died. According to the IGB race results, she finished the race in fifth position, with a time of 29.91 seconds and zero prize money.
Another greyhound died from a heart attack at Kilkenny stadium in October 2011. The IGB website shows that 3-year-old SOLDIER LADDIE “did not finish” the Kilford Arms Hotel A2 525 Final race. The dog’s owner commented online: “Just wondering has anyone heard of a dog getting a heart attack during a race. My dog got one last night, then broke his neck in the fall.”
How many more dogs have to die before the Irish Government announces an end to the state funding that is keeping this cruel industry afloat?
As revealed in the recent RTE Investigates documentary, 6,000 greyhounds are mercilessly killed every year because they are too slow to win races - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM In addition, dogs suffer injuries and are killed by track vets. In the past four years alone, 1,559 greyhounds have been injured and 506 were killed.
Greyhounds are also dying in dog pounds around Ireland. 53 greyhounds were destroyed in pounds last year, bringing to 2,782 the number of greyhounds killed in pounds in the past nine years.
ACTION ALERT
Say NO to the cruel greyhound industry - don't attend greyhound races or fundraisers/hen parties/office parties held at greyhound tracks
RTE is currently considering whether or not it will broadcast the semi-final and final of the 2019 Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby. With this latest heart attack death and the thousands of greyhounds killed every year - which RTE itself exposed - it is unthinkable that the station would ever again include greyhound racing in its "sports" coverage.
Join us in urging RTE to make an announcement this week that it will permanently end its coverage of greyhound racing.
Tel: +353 (0)1 208 3111
Email: info@rte.ie
Comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ExploreRTE/
Tweet: @RTE @RTE2 @RTESport @RTEmcbennettd Please drop greyhound racing from your "sports" coverage
STOP THE STATE FUNDING FOR GREYHOUND RACING
Since 2001, the Irish Government has paid out around a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money to greyhound racing, including €16.8 million for 2019. Following the shocking RTE Investigates revelations about cruelty and killing, it is time for these grants to be finally ended. Not a single cent more of public funds should end up in this shameful industry. Contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe now.
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
Tweet to: @LeoVaradkar
Leave a comment on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
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
Email “I support an end to all state funding to the cruel greyhound industry and a ban on hare coursing” to all Fine Gael TDs
maria.bailey@oireachtas.ie; sean.barrett@oireachtas.ie; pat.breen@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; corcorankennedy@eircom.net; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; michael.darcy@oireachtas.ie; Jim.Daly@oireachtas.ie; john.deasy@oireachtas.ie; Pat.Deering@oireachtas.ie; Regina.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; frances.fitzgerald@oir.ie; peterm.fitzpatrick@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; enda.kenny@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Kyne@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; Tony.McLoughlin@oireachtas.ie; Mary.MitchellOConnor@oireachtas.ie; Dara.Murphy@oireachtas.ie; Eoghan.Murphy@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; tom.neville@limerick.ie; michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie; kate.oconnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O'Donovan@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; noel@noelrock.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Email “I support an end to all state funding to the cruel greyhound industry and a ban on hare coursing” to all Fianna Fáil TDs
billykelleher@eircom.net; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; Bobby.Aylward@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; johncurranff@gmail.com; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; john.brassil@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; mattie.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; coper@eircom.net; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; fiona@fiona.ie; declan.breathnach@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; kevin.okeeffe@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; escanlonmcc@eircom.net; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; james@jameslawless.ie; shane.cassells@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; margaret.murphyomahony@oireachtas.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eugene.murphy@oireachtas.ie; jack.chambers@outlook.com; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; lisa.chambers@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; pat.casey@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; frankorourke1@gmail.com
Visit the Oireachtas website for more telephone numbers and other contact details for TDs
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/32
Please sign and share these other petitions
Irish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Industry
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euro-to-cruel-greyhound-industry
Ireland - Ban cruel hare coursing
www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing
GAA: Stop club fundraisers at greyhound tracks
https://www.change.org/p/gaa-stop-club-fundraisers-at-greyhound-tracks
Tell Gain Pet Nutrition to Stop Sponsoring Greyhound Racing
https://www.change.org/p/jimtracy-glanbia-ie-tell-gain-pet-nutrition-to-stop-sponsoring-greyhound-racing
Contact the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, and urge her to permanently stop licensing cruel hare coursing.
Email: josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie or
Phone: +353 (0)1 631 3800
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://facebook.com/JosephaMadiganFG
Tweet to: @josephamadigan
TELL SPONSORS TO STOP THEIR SPONSORSHIP.
Boycott businesses which continue to support cruel greyhound racing and/or coursing
Please get in contact with Glanbia and ask it to permanently end all sponsorship/support of greyhound racing and hare coursing.
Jim Bergin
CEO, Glanbia
Glanbia House,
Kilkenny, Ireland
Telephone: +353 (0)56-777 2200 or Tel: 1890 321 321
More phone numbers at: https://greyhound.gainanimalnutrition.com/contact-us/
Email: corporatecomms@glanbia.com; info@gainanimalnutrition.com; jfox@glanbia.ie; seantraynor64@outlook.com; rigneyfam@iolfree.ie; imaunsell@glanbia.ie; jimtracy@glanbia.ie
Tweet to: @GlanbiaPlc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GAINpetnutrition/
Urge Boylesports and Ladbrokes to immediately end their sponsorship
BoyleSports
Tel: 1800 22 00 66
Email: care@boylesports.com
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boylesports/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoyleSports
Ladbrokes
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladbrokes/
Twitter @Ladbrokes ?@LadbrokesCare
Appeal to the Kerry Group (the company behind Pure sunflower/soya spread, Dairygold, LowLow, etc) to stop sponsoring greyhound racing.
Kerry Group
Phone: +353 (0)66 718 2000
Prince’s Street, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Email VIA: https://www.kerrygroup.com/help/contact-form/
30 Supervalu supermarkets around Ireland have sponsored greyhound racing over the past decade - https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/1857546281027588 It's time for Supervalu to take action to stop its local stores from supporting greyhound racing. See sickening footage from Enniscorthy track of a greyhound suffering a bad fall at the end of a race sponsored by a Supervalu supermarket - https://www.igb.ie/videos/videos/?raceid=ECY_2018_08_23_02 (forward to 30 seconds)
SuperValu Head Office
Musgrave Limited,
Ballycurreen, Airport Road, Cork
Tel +353 (0) 21 4522100
Email: supervalu@musgravegroup.com; group@musgrave.ie; mrpi@musgrave.ie
Comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SuperValuIreland/
Tweet to @SuperValuIRL
ALSO CONTACT THESE COMPANIES WHICH SUPPORT GREYHOUND RACING IN 2019
(Source: Irish Greyhound Board)
https://www.igb.ie/talking-dogs/igb-finalises-classic--feature-events-calendar-for-2019/
Marshes Shopping Centre Dundalk
www.facebook.com/MarshesShoppingCentre/
Tweet to: @MarshesShopping
Telephone: (042) 939 5250
Flaherty Markets Galway
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Flaherty-Markets-230607914545890/
Email: info@flahertymarkets.com
Telephone: (091)756000
Dublin Coach
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DublinCoach/
Tweet to: @DublinCoach1
Email: info@dublincoach.ie
Telephone: (01) 465 9972
QuickPark.ie (car park at Dublin Airport)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/quickparkDublinAirport/
Email: info@quickpark.ie
Telephone: (01) 8621977
Kasko dog food
Email: information@kasko.ie
Telephone: (062) 61240
Thurles Fresh Milk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thurlesfreshmilk1/
Telephone: 0504 22657 / HQ: 0504 91900
Speedrite dog food
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NuttsAboutPets/
Email: sales@nuttsaboutpets.ie
Telephone: (057) 915 3572
Casey's Caravan and Camping
Telephone: (058) 41919
Lee Strand
www.facebook.com/leestrandmilk/
Tweet to: @LeeStrandMilk
Email: info@leestrand.ie
Telephone: (066) 712 1084
Kerry Group
Telephone: (066) 718 2000
Best Car Parks
Email: info@bestcarparks.ie
Telephone: (01) 878 2074
Comerford Cakes (Comerford Brothers Ltd.)
Suppliers of Bridge Bakery cakes and buns to Lidl Ireland and UK. Telephone: (045) 431 203