This shocking picture, taken earlier this month, shows a man throwing a live greyhound off the pier at Hartlepool, County Durham, England, into the freezing North Sea. A family witnessed the incident and reported it to police. Sadly, this is typical of what awaits many greyhounds once their racing days are over or their owners’ tire of them. Coincidentally, Ireland’s government plans to hand over a €16 million subsidy to the country’s greyhound industry despite knowing the fate that awaits the unfortunate dogs. The Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS) is asking people to send messages to the Irish parliament, urging that this funding is withheld in view of the widespread cruelty and corruption that besets this appalling industry. Here is the ICABS statement: The government is poised to hand over another massive €16 million in funding for the cruel greyhound industry. This month, TDs will have an opportunity to vote on this funding. Using the template letter below, or a personal letter of your own, please join us in urging TDs to vote against the funding. With numerous revelations in the past 12 months about cruelty, doping, injuries and killing of greyhounds, our politicians should not hesitate to say NO to further funding. Since 2001, the greyhound industry has received nearly a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money. Such funding should be redirected away from a cruel and crumbling gambling industry and into struggling community groups, health bodies, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc. Following is a sample letter…or you may wish to send a brief message. Below you’ll find the email addresses of Irish members of parliament…in lists. Just email your message to your own email address, having pasted the lists (one list at a time) into the “blind backup copy” (BBC) line. SAMPLE LETTER Dear Deputy, I am writing to urge you to vote against the proposed additional €16 million in funding for the greyhound industry. This is an industry which is not only cruel - dogs are injured/mutilated/dumped/killed - it is also doing untold damage to Ireland's international reputation. In the summer, the case of a greyhound which tested positive for cocaine on three occasions generated a massive amount of negative media coverage around the world. The ongoing export of Irish greyhounds to countries such as Pakistan and China, where little or no animal welfare standards exist, is similarly denting our image. The Irish public is increasingly rejecting greyhound racing - evident in a 50 per cent fall in track attendance and a 58 drop in sponsorship. This has been accelerated by a string of revelations (Prime Time, Drive Time, Claire Byrne Live, etc) exposing the injuries, killing and doping of greyhounds. Minister Andrew Doyle's presentation of a farcical "Personality of the Year Award" this week to a greyhound trainer who was fined in February after a greyhound tested positive for a prohibited substance will further hasten the industry's demise. The greyhound industry is undoubtedly a dying industry and it is wrong for the government to squander taxpayers' money on propping it up - particularly when there are so many community groups, health bodies, sports clubs, animal rescue centres and charities crying out for funds. I urge you to please vote against the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2018. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Lists of Irish TDs (members of parliament) List One gerry.adams@oireachtas.ie, bobby.aylward@oireachtas.ie, maria.bailey@oireachtas.ie, sean.barrett@oireachtas.ie,mick.barry@oireachtas.ie, richard.boydbarrett@oireachtas.ie, john.brassil@oireachtas.ie,declan.breathnach@oireachtas.ie, pat.breen@oireachtas.ie, colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie, tommy.broughan@oireachtas.ie,james.browne@oireachtas.ie, richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie, pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie, peter.burke@oireachtas.ie, joan.burton@oireachtas.ie, mary.butler@oireachtas.ie, catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie, thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie, jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie, dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie, sean.canney@oireachtas.ie, ciaran.cannon@oireachtas.ie, joe.carey@oireachtas.ie, pat.casey@oireachtas.ie, shane.cassells@oireachtas.ie, lisa.chambers@oireachtas.ie, jack.chambers@outlook.com, michael.collins@oireachtas.ie, niall.collins@oireachtas.ie, joan.collins@oireachtas.ie, catherine.connolly@oireachtas.ie, ruth.coppinger@oireachtas.ie, marcella.corcorankennedy@oireachtas.ie, simon.coveney@oireachtas.ie, barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie, michael.creed@oireachtas.ie List Two sean.crowe@oireachtas.ie, david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie, john.curran@oireachtas.ie, clare.daly@oireachtas.ie, jim.daly@oireachtas.ie, michael.darcy@oireachtas.ie, john.deasy@oireachtas.ie, pat.deering@oireachtas.ie, pearse.doherty@oireachtas.ie, regina.doherty@oireachtas.ie, stephen.donnelly@oireachtas.ie, paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie, timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie, andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie, bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie, dessie.ellis@oireachtas.ie, damien.english@oireachtas.ie, alan.farrell@oireachtas.ie, frances.fitzgerald@oireachtas.ie, michael.fitzmaurice@oireachtas.ie, peterm.fitzpatrick@oireachtas.ie, charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie, sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie, kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie, patthecope.gallagher@oireachtas.ie, noel.grealish@oireachtas.ie, brendan.griffin@oireachtas.ie, john.halligan@oireachtas.ie, simon.harris@oireachtas.ie, michael.harty@oireachtas.ie, sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie, seamus.healy@oireachtas.ie, danny.healy-rae@oireachtas.ie, michael.healy-rae@oireachtas.ie, martin.heydon@oireachtas.ie, brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie, heather.humphreys@oireachtas.ie, paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie, billy.kelleher@oireachtas.ie, alan.kelly@oireachtas.ie, enda.kenny@oireachtas.ie, martinkennysf@gmail.com, gino.kenny@oireachtas.ie List Three sean.kyne@oireachtas.ie, john.lahart@oireachtas.ie, james.lawless@oireachtas.ie, michael.lowry@oireachtas.ie, marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie, josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie, catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie, micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie, charlie.mcconalogue@oireachtas.ie, marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie, helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie, michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie,finian.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie, john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie, joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie, tony.mcloughlin@oireachtas.ie, denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie, mary.mitchelloconnor@oireachtas.ie, kevin.moran@oireachtas.ie, aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie, michael.moynihan@oireachtas.ie, imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie, eugene.murphy@oireachtas.ie, paul.murphy@oireachtas.ie, eoghan.murphy@oireachtas.ie, dara.murphy@oireachtas.ie, catherine.murphy@oireachtas.ie, margaret.murphyomahony@oireachtas.ie, Denis.Naughten@oireachtas.ie, hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie, tom.neville@oireachtas.ie, carol.nolan@oireachtas.ie, michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie, eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie, caoimhghin.ocaolain@oireachtas.ie, eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie, sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie, donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie, aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie, darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie, jonathan.obrien@oireachtas.ie, jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie, kate.oconnell@oireachtas.ie, willie.odea@oireachtas.ie, patrick.odonovan@oireachtas.ie, fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie, kevin.okeeffe@oireachtas.ie, fiona.oloughlin@oireachtas.ie, louise.oreilly@oireachtas.ie, frank.orourke@oireachtas.ie, jan.osullivan@oireachtas.ie, maureen.osullivan@oireachtas.ie, willie.penrose@oireachtas.ie, johnpaul.phelan@oireachtas.ie, thomas.pringle@oireachtas.ie, maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie, anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie, michael.ring@oireachtas.ie, noel@noelrock.ie, shane.ross@oireachtas.ie, eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie, brendan.ryan@oireachtas.ie, escanlonmcc@eircom.net, sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie, roisin.shortall@oireachtas.ie, brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie, brid.smith@oireachtas.ie, niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie, brian.stanley@oireachtas.ie, david.stanton@oireachtas.ie, peadar.toibin@oireachtas.ie, robert.troy@oireachtas.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie, mick.wallace@oireachtas.ie, katherine.zappone@oireachtas.ie