Limerick County Council is being urged to remove greyhound racing from its Limerick.ie website and stop presenting the gambling, dog-killing activity as “family-friendly”.
“Considering the suffering and death inherent in greyhound racing and the growing opposition to the activity, it is very surprising that Limerick County Council is continuing to promote it,” ICABS stated in a message to the council.
Referring to the inclusion of greyhound racing in the “Family Friendly Things to Do” section of its website, we added: “It is particularly inappropriate to recommend it as a ‘family-friendly’ activity. Parents and children visiting Limerick Stadium (a gambling venue) may witness the upsetting sight of greyhounds falling and crying out in agony with injuries such as broken legs and wrists.”
Limerick County Council was told that Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland have stopped promoting greyhound racing, due to the suffering and death, and fears that it damages Ireland's reputation as a tourist destination https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/shane-ross-immoral-dog-racing-will-deter-tourists-982nwhwb9
Also brought to the Council’s attention was the fact that Limerick Stadium is one of the worst in Ireland for injuries and deaths. Greyhound Racing Ireland statistics show that, over the past six years alone, 277 greyhounds suffered injuries there and more than 80 were killed by a track vet. This includes 21 injuries and 4 deaths last year, plus a greyhound who collapsed and died after a race in November with a “suspected heart attack” https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2019/03/10/greyhound-injuries-and-deaths-at-limerick-stadium/
Many more are also killed because they don’t make the grade. As revealed in RTE’s award-winning "Greyhounds running for their lives" documentary, around 6,000 dogs are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough to win. The programme included horrifying scenes of dogs being delivered to a knackery where they were shot in the head and dumped into a skip. One dog was seen writhing on the ground as his merciless owner drove away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM
ACTION ALERT
Urge Limerick County Council to show compassion for the dogs and remove greyhound racing from its Limerick.ie website.
Limerick City and County Council,
Merchants Quay, Limerick
Tel: 061 556000
Email: customerservices@limerick.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Limerick.ie/