99 greyhounds KILLED at races in first 9 months of 2023

Mise à jour sur la pétitionIrish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Racing99 greyhounds KILLED at races in first 9 months of 2023

Irish Council Against Blood SportsMullingar, Irlande

31 oct. 2023

[Note: Any donations made through Change.org go directly to Change.org. If you wish to donate to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports to support our campaigns, you can do so at https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports Thank you]

99 greyhounds have lost their lives at races around Ireland in the first nine months of 2023, shocking Greyhound Racing Ireland statistics reveal.

The sickening figures show that between January and the end of September, 201 greyhounds suffered injuries during races and 93 of them were “euthanised by track vets”. Six more greyhound deaths were recorded as “racing fatalities”.

The injury and death data was obtained by Paul Murphy TD further to a Dail Question to Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue.

The 6 fatalities included a greyhound who died of acute heart failure at Limerick Stadium on 26 January 2023, a greyhound who sustained a broken neck and died at Mullingar track on 22 April 2023, a greyhound who “collapsed and died” at Shelbourne Park Stadium on 29 April 2023, a greyhound who suffered a “possible heart attack causing greyhound to hit wall” at Lifford track on 30 July 2023 and a greyhound who “ruptured master vessel in thorax” and died at Shelbourne Park on 25 August 2023.

The results of “post mortem examinations to hand that were carried out at UCD in 2023” reveal that:

• “The cause of death was not clear from gross examination” (Report of 30th January 2023)
• “The main finding in this case was the large amount of hemorrhage in the abdominal cavity which appeared to originate from the peri-renal area of the left kidney. The hemorrhage was acute and significant enough to have resulted in the death of the dog. The cause of the hemorrhage is unclear” (Report of 26th February 2023)
• “Indication of acute heart failure” (Report of 28th February 2023)
• “Cause of death uncertain based on histologic findings” (Report of 15th August 2023)
• “No cause of death identified” (Report of 12th September 2023)

The 93 greyhounds who were euthanised had suffered injuries including: fractured/broken legs/hocks/wrists/elbows/metatarsal, carpal joint injury, complete ruptured of gastroemius tendon, dislocated toes and ruptured collateral ligaments of toes, laceration to shoulder, left foreleg haemorrhage, muscle abrasion, spinal damage, suspected spinal injury, swollen wrist and torn achilles.

The greyhounds who were treated had suffered injuries including: fractured hock/elbow/leg/metatarsal/stopper bone/toe/wrist, bad abrasion, biceps tendon injury, cut between toes/paw/leg, cut skin on neck, deep wound, dislocated toe, dislocation of tibia tarsal joint, displaced hock, fractured central tarsal, haematoma right triceps, injured nail/paw/toe/wrist/hock/tendon, lame left leg, muscle cramp, possible pelvic injury, shoulder dislocation, small superficial cut on back leg with bruising, sore hip, sore left front leg and wrist, split web, stunned, suspected torn cruciate, suspected hock fracture, swollen wrist, tender shoulder blade, toe abrasion, torn gracilis, wound on leg/knee/paws/metacarpal, etc.

At some race meetings, two or more greyhounds lost their lives – two were killed at Galway Stadium on 10 February 2023, two were killed at Youghal track on 13 February 2023, two were killed at Newbridge track on 24 March 2023, two were killed at Limerick Stadium on 13 April 2023, two were killed at Mullingar track on 22 April 2023, THREE greyhounds were killed at Enniscorthy track on 26 June 2023, 2 were killed at Galway track on 8 July 2023, 2 were killed at Waterford track on 22 July 2023 and 2 were killed at Kilkenny track on 15 September 2023.

The tracks with the highest number of injured greyhounds destroyed were Limerick (10) and Youghal (10), followed by Shelbourne Park 9), Newbridge (8), Enniscorthy (7), Clonmel (7), Waterford (7), Galway (7), Kilkenny (6), Cork (5), Dundalk (5), Mullingar (4), Lifford (3), Thurles (3) and Tralee (2).

When the six additional fatalities are taken into account, the worst tracks in the country for deaths were Limerick Stadium (11), Shelbourne Park (11) and Youghal (10).

The track where the most injuries occurred (resulting in death or treatment) was Galway Stadium (27), followed by Shelbourne Park (23), Youghal (18), Limerick (16), Enniscorthy (15), Cork (13), Mullingar (13), Lifford (13), Waterford (12), Thurles (12), Clonmel (9), Newbridge (8), Tralee (8), Kilkenny (7) and Dundalk (5).

In relation to the percentage of injured greyhounds who were destroyed, Newbridge and Dundalk tracks were the worst, with 100% of injured dogs “put to sleep”. At Newbridge track, all 8 injured dogs were killed and at Dundalk, all 5 injured dogs were killed.

These were followed by Clonmel 78% (7 put to sleep, 2 treated), Limerick 67% (10 pts, 1 fatality, 5 treated), Youghal 55% (10 pts, 8 treated), Waterford 58% (7 pts, 5 treated), Galway 48% (13 pts 14 treated), Enniscorthy 46% (7 pts 8 treated), Shelbourne Park 43% (9 pts, 2 fatalities, 12 treated), Cork 38% (5 pts 8 treated), Mullingar 33% (4 pts, 1 fatality, 8 treated), Lifford 25% (3 pts, 1 fatality, 9 treated), Thurles 25% (3 pts, 9 treated), Tralee 25% (2 pts, 6 treated), Kilkenny 0% (0 pts, 7 treated).

The January to September 2023 figures bring to 3,251 the number of greyhounds known to have been injured and 1,159 the number killed in racing at Irish tracks since 2014.

More greyhounds suffer and die at trials and sales events. In its reply to Deputy Murphy, GRI stated that up to the end of September 2023 “10 greyhounds were recorded as having been injured in trials and sales events”, adding that “ONE dog was euthanised following a trial”.

This does not tally with a response from GRI to Joan Collins TD earlier this year. She was told that up to the end of April 2023, “7 greyhounds sustained serious injury whilst running [in trials]” and that TWO of these greyhounds were “euthanised”. These two greyhounds had suffered hock injuries at Galway track on 10 March 2023 and at Waterford track on 5 April 2023

It was not specified if they were killed by a vet or a non-vet. The 8 other injured greyhounds had suffered hock injury (4), foreleg injury (3) and hind leg (1). At least five of these were “treated at vets”, meaning prolonged suffering for the dogs as they were taken from the tracks and transported away before they received treatment.

There is no requirement for vets to be present at trials. Greyhound Racing Ireland has previously stated that “a veterinary surgeon is not on duty for official trials or unofficial trials, but the contact details of nearby veterinary clinics are posted in the weigh room of each of the Greyhound Racing Ireland licensed stadia.”

Download the Greyhound Racing Ireland injury and death statistics for January to September 2023 (pdf)
https://banbloodsports.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/injuries-and-deaths-at-races-and-trials-january-to-september-2023.pdf

The Greyhound Racing Ireland figures do not include the greyhounds injured at tracks and later killed elsewhere, or the thousands of greyhounds who are killed behind the scenes every year because they are not fast enough to win races.

As revealed in the award-winning “RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives” documentary, thousands of greyhounds are killed behind the scenes every year simply because they are not fast enough. It included disturbing scenes of dogs being delivered to a knackery where they were shot in the head and dumped in a skip. One shot dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

A damning report which Greyhound Racing Ireland attempted to hide, revealed that around 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year because they don’t make the grade. The report estimated that, for example, a total of 17,962 greyhounds were culled in 2013, 2014 and 2015. They were killed for “failure to produce qualifying times”, “failure to produce desired entry level times” and for an “unacceptable decline in performance”.

How many more dogs have to suffer and die before the Irish Government stops the massive grants that are keeping greyhound racing afloat? A RED C opinion poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports confirmed that a two-thirds majority want the funding stopped (with just 16% in favour of it continuing), while petitions urging the government to end the funding have more than 400,000 signatures.