Thank you to Westmeath County Councillor Hazel Smyth for pushing for an end to state funding to cruel greyhound racing.
The Green Party councillor stated on Friday that she has “asked for funding to be ended as part of the negotiations regarding the programme for government”.
She condemned as “terrible” the Irish Greyhound Board’s latest injury and death figures which show that among the 119 greyhounds who died at tracks around Ireland last year was a dog who fell at the end of a race at Mullingar stadium and suffered a broken neck.
Last year, Councillor Smyth said she was "saddened by reports of the awful treatment of greyhounds”, stressing that “this is not something that should be supported by our taxpayers' funds.”
Since 2001, the Irish Greyhound Board has received more than a quarter of a billion euros in government funding, including €16.8 million for 2020. It’s time for this to finally stop.
Councillor Smyth has previously expressed support for a ban on foxhunting and hare coursing, denouncing them as “antiquated forms of entertainment and activities, which are both cruel and vicious”.
She is among the vast majority of Irish citizens who want the government to ban bloodsports and stop propping up cruel greyhound racing with taxpayers’ money. A RED C opinion poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports found that a two-thirds majority want the funding scrapped, while 77 per cent want foxhunting and hare coursing outlawed.
ACTION ALERT
Please contact the leaders of Fine Gael, the Green Party and Fianna Fail today and urge them to ensure that an end to greyhound racing funding and a ban on bloodsports is included in the Programme for Government.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
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
Eamon Ryan
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Micheál Martin
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Leave a comment on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Email Fine Gael TDs and urge them to back a ban on bloodsports and an end to state funding for greyhound racing
JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie,Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie,joe.carey@oireachtas.ie,david.stanton@oir.ie,colm.burke@oireachtas.ie,michael.creed@oireachtas.ie,Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie,joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie,richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie,Eoghan.Murphy@oireachtas.ie,Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie,Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie,emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie,neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie,josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie,colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie,leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie,jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie,Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie,hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie,Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie,bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie,Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie,charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie,kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie,Patrick.O'Donovan@oireachtas.ie,peter.burke@oireachtas.ie,fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie,alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie,michael.ring@oireachtas.ie,helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie,damien.english@oireachtas.ie,frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie,paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie,Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie
Please sign and share the petitions
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
Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRkXOvbUPNNjMc6LShwiiXBfnDAPbykf
Witness the cruelty of fox hunting in Ireland
http://www.banbloodsports.com/camp-fh.htm
Watch the award-winning “RTE Investigates: Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” on the RTE Player https://www.rte.ie/player/movie/rt%C3%A9-investigates-greyhounds-running-for-their-lives/104051751967 or on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM
SEE ALSO:
There are renewed calls for a ban on greyhound racing after shocking new statistics reveal that another 119 greyhounds were killed at tracks around Ireland last year. Among the victims are greyhounds who suffered BROKEN NECKS AND LEGS and others who COLLAPSED AND DIED OF HEART ATTACKS
https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/photos/a.463548137094083/2973662682749270/
Disturbing video footage has surfaced showing a greyhound being carried away injured after suffering a bad fall at a track https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/2971489162966622
The Irish Greyhound Board has deleted from its website a shocking video of a greyhound falling at the start of a race and crying out in agony
https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/2963507253764813
Attendance at greyhound tracks around Ireland has continued to plummet in 2020 and the decline is predicted to "CONTINUE OR ACCELERATE", a new report has revealed
https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/2903522683096604
Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports