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Enniscorthy Credit Union has been reminded about the awful cruelty and killing in greyhound racing ahead of a planned “Night at the Dogs” tomorrow, 25 July.
A notice in a local newspaper states: "To celebrate our 60th anniversary, the board of directors invite members to join us on Thursday 25 July 2024...First race 8pm.”
The credit union is encouraging members to attend what it calls a “Family Fun Night at the Dogs”, with “free admission” tickets being given out in the branch.
In an appeal, ICABS pointed out that “greyhound racing is certainly not family-friendly - greyhound tracks are gambling venues where dogs suffer and die.”
Adults and children lured to tracks may witness the very upsetting sight of dogs falling, breaking limbs and crying out in agony.
At races around Ireland in the past ten years, at least 3,485 greyhounds suffered injuries and 1,290 were killed.
At Enniscorthy greyhound track since 2015, 197 greyhounds suffered injuries and 56 died or were killed by a track vet. This includes 23 injuries and 9 deaths last year and 11 injuries/2 deaths in the first six months of 2024. The injuries included fractured wrist, fractured hock, dislocated toes, ruptured collateral ligaments of toes, cut leg and cut paw.
The full horrors of greyhound racing were exposed in RTE's award-winning "Greyhounds Running For Their Lives" documentary. The programme revealed that around 6,000 dogs are killed behind the scenes every year simply because they are not fast enough to win races. It included horrifying scenes of dogs being delivered to knackeries to be shot in the head. 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, 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”.
The Irish public is shocked and disgusted at the revelations, which have sparked calls for a ban on greyhound racing.
“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,” we outlined in our appeal to Enniscorthy Credit Union. “They include the RSPCA, Dogs Trust UK, Blue Cross, Woodgreen Pets, GREY2K USA, the League Against Cruel Sports and Scottish SPCA. Here in the 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 group 'supports a winding down of greyhound racing in Ireland'.”
Enniscorthy Credit Union has also been asked to consider the inappropriateness of encouraging families to come to what is a gambling venue.
“Youngsters will be exposed to an environment where placing bets is normalised,” we stated. “With growing concerns about Ireland's gambling addiction crisis, this undermines efforts to steer minors away from gambling.”
ACTION ALERT
Contact Enniscorthy Credit Union and urge them to show compassion and stop supporting cruel, dog-killing greyhound racing.
The Manager
Enniscorthy Credit Union
Abbey Square
Enniscorthy
Tel: +353 (0)53 9233 835
Email: info@enniscorthycu.ie; online@enniscorthycu.ie; info@creditunion.ie
Irish League of Credit Unions
Tel: +353 (0)1 614 6700
X: https://twitter.com/creditunionie
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