Greyhound Racing Ireland is shamefully continuing to claim on its website that a greyhound was “REHOMED” despite knowing that the unfortunate animal was exported to China, a country where greyhounds are beaten, boiled alive and hung on hooks at meat markets.
According to the GRI website, the Irish greyhound named Leonas Skylark was “rehomed” but it has emerged that the dog actually ended up in China where animal welfare laws are non-existent.
Further to a recent Dail Question, Greyhound Racing Ireland told Joan Collins TD that “the greyhound referenced in the Parliamentary Question was notified to Greyhound Racing Ireland in 2017 as having been exported to China in the past. On investigation at that time it transpired that notification of this relocation to China was given to the Irish Coursing Club in November 2014.”
The GRI representative went on to state that information appearing on the Greyhound Racing Ireland website “reflects data held by the ICC [Irish Coursing Club] at a point in time”. Referring to the ICC as “the body authorised in statute for the registration of greyhound ownerships, transfers and are keepers of the Irish Greyhound Stud Book”, she maintained that “direct data transfer is undertaken by the ICC to Greyhound Racing Ireland on a very frequent basis”.
Earlier this year, details for Leonas Skylark were changed on the Greyhound Racing Ireland website from “Owner: Mr Peter Connolly” to “Owner: Rehomed” - this despite the fact that both the Irish Coursing Club and Greyhound Racing Ireland were both aware that the dog had been exported to China.
In a letter to Deputy Collins, GRI stated: “The Welfare of Greyhounds Act, 2011, does not apply to persons outside the State who purchase greyhounds from Ireland. If breaches of Section 10 of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act, 2011, by the seller are identified by Greyhound Racing Ireland and the offence was committed within the previous 12 months, then Welfare Officers will issue a fixed payment notice.”
The Greyhound Racing Ireland website shows that before export, Leonas Skylark was used in racing at Shelbourne Park, Limerick, Thurles Park and Galway tracks. He was also trialled at Kilkenny track. His last race in Ireland was at Shelbourne Park on 6th November 2014 where he finished joint-first.
Later that month, he was exported to China. According to UK greyhound campaign group, Caged Nationwide, "Leonas Skylark was sold to the Chinese breeding industry, specifically to the city of Jining in the Shandong province."
What happened to Leonas Skylark after that is unknown. A listing for him remains on a Chinese greyhound database website which includes a photograph dated 2016.
Is he still alive or did he meet the same horrific fate of other dogs in China?
These latest sickening revelations cast further doubts on Greyhound Racing Ireland’s “rehoming” claims. They follow similar revelations earlier this year relating to a greyhound which the GRI website had claimed was “Rehomed-As-Pet” but who was actually exported for use in cruel coursing in Pakistan, a country which has been condemned for its appalling treatment of animals.
In February, the Mail on Sunday reported that the greyhound named Granard Swift - one of hundreds of Irish greyhounds disgracefully exported to Pakistan - was not rehomed but “bought by a purchaser with a U.S. address, shipped to the UK, and then transported on to the Rajpur Coursing Club in Pakistan”
In his article, journalist Ken Foxe outlined that Greyhound Racing Ireland had initially refused to release a related internal report under Freedom of Information and “did so only after an internal review was sought”. See documents at https://www.thestory.ie/2021/02/02/official-report-into-how-greyhound-listed-as-rehomed-in-ireland-ended-up-coursing-in-pakistan-finds-no-animal-welfare-issues/
Addressing the fact that the greyhound had been listed on its website as “rehomed as pet”, Greyhound Racing Ireland said that a “transfer of ownership” form was received by the Irish Coursing Club on 29 May 2020 and “rather than a transfer to a new owner, the transfer was classified as ‘rehomed as pet’ on the ICC system in November 2020” and this then appeared on the GRI website through a direct feed.
Despite being 6,500 kilometres away in Pakistan, the Irish Coursing Club website put the greyhound’s location as Tipperary. Greyhound Racing Ireland blamed this on an online registration system that automatically used Tipperary as the location for animals classed as being “rehomed” or “retired as pet” because this was the county in which the Irish Coursing Club has its head office.
But Granard Swift was neither rehomed nor retired as a pet. Instead she was sold to a Mr Mohsin Noon, described by Greyhound Racing Ireland as “the major party involved with the Rajpur Coursing Club in Pakistan”. It acknowledged that the individual in Ireland who sold/transported the greyhound “was aware that Mr Noon was purchasing the greyhound for coursing purposes in Pakistan and that the greyhound would spend its time in Pakistan during her coursing career there.”
Massive grants from the Irish Government are sustaining greyhound racing and all its associated cruelty and killing. It’s time for the government to withdraw all funding from this despicable activity which causes so much suffering and death to Irish dogs.
ACTION ALERT
STOP THE STATE FUNDING FOR GREYHOUND RACING
Another €19.2 million of scarce public funds has been granted to greyhound racing for 2021. Since 2001, greyhound racing has received more than a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money. Please contact your local TDs and demand that they oppose the funding.
Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details for TDs https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33
Urge the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to stop the funding and back a ban on cruel greyhound racing
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
Alan Kelly TD
Leader, Labour Party
Tel: 067 34190
Email: alan.kelly@oir.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alankellytd/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alankellylabour
Please sign and share 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
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
Please support our campaign with a donation
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SEE ALSO
Mail on Sunday uncovers sickening details about “rehomed as pet” greyhound exported to Pakistan
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/mail-on-sunday-uncovers-sickening-details-about-rehomed-as-pet-greyhound-exported-to-pakistan/
Watch RTE’s award-winning "Greyhounds Running For Their Lives" documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM