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A greyhound found dead in a canal in England with a sandbag tied to her neck was an Irish greyhound who was used in racing at Limerick and Galway tracks.
BBC News reported in July that “a dog tied to a sandbag was found dead in an East Yorkshire canal....The female greyhound was recovered from Beverley Beck by a local animal volunteer, the RSPCA said. A length of rope connected the dog's neck and the weight.” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-62154261
“The body of the three-year-old dog was found on 18 June [2022] near Waterside Road in Beverley, where the canal meets the River Hull,” it added, quoting an RSPCA spokesperson as saying that the greyhound, who was microchipped, had been "passed from pillar to post".
It was confirmed this month that the greyhound was Irish dog, “GLYNNSCROSSCHRIS”.
The Greyhound Racing Ireland website shows that before being exported to the UK, she was used in six races in Ireland. Her first race was on 19 December 2020 at Limerick Stadium. In January, February and April 2021 she was used in three races at Galway Stadium. In May 2021, she finished last in a race at Limerick stadium before her final race here the following month. That was at Galway track where she finished first. In October 2021, she was seen in a trial at Derry stadium.
On 7th November, after export to the UK, she was trialled at Kinsley track. Between then and 15 March 2022, she was used in nine more trials before the first of five races at the same track (with prize money totalling £185). In the first race on 22 March 2022, she finished second last. Her final race was on 6th May 2022, finishing fourth.
Six weeks later, her body was found.
The latest edition of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s “Calendar” publication provides details about a 6 October 2022 GBGB Disciplinary Committee Inquiry which “considered the report of a Local Inquiry by the Stipendiary Steward on the 1 August 2022 into the death of a greyhound GLYNNSCROSSCHRIS which was owned and trained by professional greyhound trainer Jeff Scott (who is attached to Kinsley Stadium) allegedly in breach of Rules 18, 152 (i) & (ii) and 174 (vi) of the GBGB Rules of Racing regarding the re-homing of the dog.”
At the meeting, the GBGB Director of Regulation, “summarised the very considerable documentation concerning the circumstances of Jeff Scott allegedly re-homing GLYNNSCROSSCHRIS with a person named to the Committee (‘Person A’) and a dog identified as GLYNNSCROSSCHRIS being found shortly thereafter in a canal at Beverley.”
“After some discussion concerning Person A’s age (80 years old) and cluttered small bungalow with no provision to accept a greyhound, Mr Scott accepted that in retrospect Person A could not act as a responsible carer for the dog, although he claimed to have rehomed three other dogs with him since 2017. In the event, according to his statement to the GBGB investigation, within hours of receiving it from Mr Scott, Person A had passed the dog to travellers. Person A told the GBGB investigation that the greyhound was a brown and white dog, when in fact it was a blue bitch. The fact that Person A could not remember the correct colour or sex of the dog was not attributable, in the Committee’s view, to Mr Scott’s jokey deliberate misdescription.”
It emerged that a signature on the retirement form related to GLYNNSCROSSCHRIS had been forged.
“The Green Form (Retirement etc of the Greyhound) was dated some eight days before the dog had been found, to the knowledge of Mr Scott,” the Calendar report continued. “The form bore a signature for Person A. But as Mr Scott admitted, this was a forgery: Person A had not signed the form. Mr Scott also admitted that submitting the form with this forged signature was an act of dishonesty on his part. On the evidence, the Committee were unconvinced that GYLNNSCROSSCHRIS had passed through the hands of Person A at all.”
The Committee also heard evidence in relation to the rehoming of other greyhounds by Scott over a 5-year period where the Green Forms were “inappropriately completed”.
“He alleged that a number of the dogs stated on the forms to be rehomed had not in fact been rehomed but in fact sold on,” it noted. “Efforts to trace a number of the greyhounds rehomed by Mr Scott over the period had so far proved unsuccessful and the Committee were unconvinced by Mr Scott’s statement that many of the dogs were in the possession of ‘flappers’ as well as travellers who were unwilling to co-operate with officers of GBGB because of alleged intimidation. Mr Scott had so far failed to direct any of the GBGB’s investigators to the 'rehomed' dogs.”
The Committee “considered both the written and oral evidence of Mr Scott to be inconsistent and in parts not credible” and that “his actions had been very prejudicial to the reputation of greyhound racing”. They found him in breach of Rules 18, 152(i) & (ii) and 174 (vi) of the GBGB Rules of Racing. He was fined £1,000 and disqualified indefinitely.
Read the full Disciplinary Committee report at
https://gbgb-prod-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/21081446/Calendar-21-October-2022-Vol-14-No-21.pdf#page=7
ACTION ALERT
Don’t go greyhound racing or attend events at tracks.
Urge Battersea to join RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Bluecross, Scottish SPCA and other groups in calling for and end to greyhound racing in the UK.
Email: info@battersea.org.uk
Tel: 0800 001 4444.
Tweet: @Battersea_ @CEO_Battersea
Please join us in urging the Irish Government to STOP the massive grants that are propping up cruel, dog-killing greyhound racing. Since 2001, Greyhound Racing Ireland has received €309 million in funding, including €19.2 million for 2021 and €17.6 million for 2022. Another €18.2 million has been allocated in Budget 2023. This is unacceptable and must be stopped.
Please contact your local TDs and urge them to oppose this 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
Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/