Greyhound racing is an industry we can well do without and that no dog deserves - Read John Fitzgerald's Letter in this week's Avondhu and please scroll down for action alert...
An industry I don't feel sorry for...
Letter in The Avondhu, Sept 22nd 2023
Dear Editor,
While not normally wishing to hear that a business of any kind is in trouble, I can’t say I was overly disappointed to learn that Greyhound Racing Ireland’s pre-tax profits have fallen 63pc to just over €1m.
This is an industry that treats dogs as commodities - greyhounds are considered “livestock”- and not as other canines that we take for walks or let run when and where it’s safe to do so.
They are bred to perform in a fiercely competitive game that doesn’t tolerate failure or under-performance in a racing dog.
I’d ask the industry to take stock of itself, of what it does to a creature that belongs on a couch or in the garden, or playing with other dogs - not cooped up in a compound awaiting the next high-pressure engagement on the track, or making a long journey to South Asia to be served up as a dish; or being led on that last lonely walk to be lethally injected or shot, prior to being dumped in a remote patch of our countryside.
It’s an industry we can well do without and that no dog deserves.
And that’s only the racing end of it. There’s also hare coursing, a national horrorfest that subjects both dogs and hares to a form of cruelty that most countries have outlawed.
I’m sure all those well-meaning people in the industry will find alternative hobbies and/or employment…when the dogs stop running for their lives.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co. Kilkenny
ACTION ALERT
Don’t attend greyhound races or fundraisers/hen parties/office parties/other events held at greyhound tracks.
Join us in demanding an end to the Irish Government’s massive grants to greyhound racing – more than €328 million handed over since 2001, including €19.2 million for 2021, €17.6 million for 2022 and €18.2 million for 2023. Without this funding, greyhound racing would collapse. Contact the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Finance Minister now.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Tanaiste Micheál Martin TD
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Michael McGrath TD
Minister for Finance
Email: michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; minister@per.gov.ie
http://www.facebook.com/michael.mcgrath.1614
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mmcgrathtd
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
HELP THE HARES: Contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan and urge them to show compassion, respect the wishes of the majority and revoke the coursing licences they shamefully granted.
Email “Revoke the 2023-24 licences for cruel hare coursing” to minister@housing.gov.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie
Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Malcolm Noonan TD (Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3148 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
Watch RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” documentary
https://youtu.be/ZYTb2qBjlMM