Surgical artificial insemination is a “barbaric and invasive procedure used on greyhounds”

Petition updateIrish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound RacingSurgical artificial insemination is a “barbaric and invasive procedure used on greyhounds”

Irish Council Against Blood SportsMullingar, Ireland

18 Sept 2025

Surgical artificial insemination is a “barbaric and invasive procedure used on greyhounds” which “must be banned” - Speaking in Dail Eireann on 15 July 2025, Sinn Fein TD Dessie Ellis asked when that ban will be introduced.

“This highly controversial procedure, is already banned in the UK, and involves making a cut in the abdomen of a greyhound and inserting semen directly into the uterus,” Deputy Ellis stated. “The process must be distressful for the dog as it is anaesthetising the female greyhound and making a small incision in her abdomen in order to lift the uterus out. The semen is then injected directly into the uterus using a fine needle. The uterus is then placed back into the body of the greyhound and the wound is stitched up. The procedure also involves injecting semen extracted from deceased dogs.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z_cCcAYBiw

He cited disturbing figures from 2023 which show that in the previous ten years, almost 5,000 greyhound litters were born in Ireland following surgical artificial insemination. In the past four years alone, more than 500 surgical artificial inseminations were performed on greyhounds used in racing and hare coursing.

“The vast majority of people are not aware of this practice,” he went on to say. “I was not even aware of it for a long time myself. When you explain this to people, they cannot understand how such a practice could take place, how any dog, greyhound or otherwise, could have their uterus taken out, injected and then put back in. It just does not add up. It is just totally and utterly barbaric.”

Responding on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Fianna Fail TD Robert Troy stated: “I have to admit honestly that I was unaware of this practice until I was asked to cover this Topical Debate this evening...You have asked a very fair question tonight in terms of when we can expect the conclusions and findings of a public consultation that has been closed for more than 12 months and will that public consultation feed into the legislative changes you are asking for. The honest answer is ‘I don’t know’. You have asked a fair question and I will relate that back to the Minister who has asked me to deputise for him this evening. I will ask for the him or his officials to come back directly to you with an answer to that fair question.”

ACTION ALERT

Join us in contacting Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon to demand an urgent ban on surgical AI on all dogs, including greyhounds.

Martin Heydon TD
Minister for Agriculture
Tel: 01-618 3017
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie; martin.heydon@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/martinheydonfg
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