“2019 was the year when we saw just how tenacious a grip the greyhound industry has over our politicians. The revelations of horrific cruelty and malpractice seemed to count for nothing once the rural TDs came under pressure from greyhound owners and trainers” - Read John Fitzgerald’s Letter to the Editor in today’s Sunday Independent...
Stop supporting greyhound racing
Sunday Independent, 5 January 2020
Sir - 2019 was the year when we saw just how tenacious a grip the greyhound industry has over our politicians.
In June, an RTE documentary exposed the gruesome fate which awaits many dogs whose running days have ended or that under-perform. It also spotlighted doping and the shady export of greyhounds to jurisdictions where they may end up being cooked alive.
The programme provoked public outrage but, as if the industry were completely above reproach, the Government - the same Government which stopped cheques going to the FAI - yet again awarded it more than €16 million of taxpayers' money.
The revelations of horrific cruelty and malpractice seemed to count for nothing once the rural TDs came under pressure from greyhound owners and trainers.
Without State funding, this industry would lie in ruins. Coursing fields and greyhound racing tracks nationwide could be re-designated as football pitches or building sites for much-needed housing.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co Kilkenny
ACTION ALERT
STOP THE STATE FUNDING FOR GREYHOUND RACING
Another €16.8 million of scarce public funds has been approved for greyhound racing for 2020. Since 2001, greyhound racing has received more than a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money.
Please contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and demand an end to state funding to greyhound racing. Tell them to redirect the funds to the many deserving charities, health and homeless groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.
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
CONTACT ALL TDS AND URGE THEM TO STOP SUPPORTING THE FUNDING
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please write your own personal letter)
Dear Deputy,
I am writing to urge you to please stop supporting the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations.
The regulations will channel another €84 million of taxpayers’ money into the horse and greyhound racing gambling industries in 2020, bringing to more than one and a quarter billion euros the amount handed over since 2001.
Much of the money given to horse racing ends up as prize money in the pockets of wealthy horse owners and trainers, while the funding for greyhound racing continues despite plummeting attendance at tracks due to shocking revelations about cruelty and killing.
If you saw the "RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives" documentary, you will understand why there should be absolutely no support given to this shameful industry. The programme revealed that 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough to win. We were shown horrifying scenes of greyhounds being delivered to knackeries to be shot in the head. One dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM
The programme also highlighted the illegal practice in the greyhound industry of doping dogs to make them run faster or slower to influence the outcomes of races. Also shown were greyhounds with their ears chopped off or burned with acid (to remove identity tattoos before being dumped) and the hellholes that await Irish greyhounds exported to China and Pakistan.
The Irish public is shocked and disgusted at the revelations, which have sparked multiple, ongoing protests outside tracks and calls for a ban on greyhound racing.
A RED C opinion poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and Greyhound Action Ireland shows that two out of every three Irish adults agree that the government should stop funding greyhound racing [66% Agree, 16% Disagree, 18% Don't Know, Of those stating an opinion, 80% of these agree that the Irish Government should stop funding greyhound racing while 20% disagree.] An opinion poll conducted by TheJournal.ie also found that an 80 per cent majority want the government to permanently end the grants. Petitions urging the government to stop the funding have been signed over 300,000 times.
It is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE that scarce public funds have been pumped into these gambling industries. It is time for this to be stopped and for the money to be redirected to the many deserving causes crying out for funding.
Please stop supporting the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations.
Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Address]
Email the letter 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 the letter 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
Email the letter to all Labour Party TDs
brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; joan.burton@oireachtas.ie; alan.kelly@oir.ie; jan.osullivan@oir.ie; willie.penrose@oireachtas.ie; brendan.ryan@oir.ie; sean.sherlock@oir.ie
Visit the Oireachtas website for telephone numbers and other contact details for all TDs
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/32
Please sign and share petitions
Stop supporting the cruel greyhound industry
https://www.change.org/p/stop-supporting-the-cruel-greyhound-industry
Ban Blood Sports in Ireland Now
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
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
Sinn Fein: Support a ban on cruel hare coursing
https://www.change.org/p/sinn-fein-support-a-ban-on-cruel-hare-coursing