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Kerry Camogie Club is being urged to say NO to greyhound track fundraising. The club is planning a “Night at the Dogs” fundraiser at Kingdom greyhound stadium this weekend.
In a message to the club and the president of the Camogie Assocation, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports highlighted suffering and death at the Tralee track.
"212 greyhounds sustained injuries there and 90 died or were killed by a track vet over the past nine years alone," we stated. "This includes 16 injuries and 7 deaths last year."
"At races around Ireland since 2014, at least 3,251 greyhounds suffered injuries and 1,159 died or were killed," we added.
Also brought to their attention was the annual killing of thousands of greyhounds who don't make the grade.
As exposed in the award-winning “RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives” documentary, an estimated 6,000 are killed annually 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
The programme featured a damning report which Greyhound Racing Ireland attempted to hide. This 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”.
Greyhound racing is responsible for so much suffering and death that many of the biggest animal welfare charities in Ireland, the US and the UK are calling for it to be ended. They include the RSPCA, Dogs Trust UK, Blue Cross, Woodgreen Pets, GREY2K USA, the League Against Cruel Sports and Scottish SPCA. Here in Ireland, Dogs Trust has also announced that it wants to see greyhound racing ended as soon as possible. The CEO of the ISPCA, meanwhile, has stated that the society “supports a winding down of greyhound racing in Ireland”.
Track fundraisers are a major source of income for the cruel greyhound industry - tracks take a 30-40% commission on ticket sales and they profit from food/drink/gambling on the night. Such fundraisers are helping to keep the dying greyhound industry afloat.
Kerry Camogie Club and the Camogie Association are also being asked to consider the inappropriateness of choosing what is a gambling venue to host a club fundraiser. With under-16s being offered free entry to the track, junior members of the club will be exposed to an environment where placing bets is normalised. This is at odds with the GAA’s stated concerns about the growing problem of gambling addiction in Ireland and it undermines efforts to steer youngsters away from gambling.
ACTION ALERT
Join us in our appeal. Contact Kerry Camogie Club and the Camogie Association today.
Email: pro.kerry@camogie.ie; uachtaran@camogie.ie
Kerry Camogie
X: https://twitter.com/kerrycamogie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kerrycamogie3/
Camogie Association
3rd Floor,
Westward House,
Russell Street,
Dublin 1
D01 F300
Phone: 01 865 8651
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialCamogieAssociation
X: @officialcamogie
Instagram: @officialcamogie