Barry's Tea has apparently ignored calls for it to stop supporting the cruel greyhound industry and is set to sponsor more racing this summer. According to the Irish Greyhound Board website, one of the events at Cork's Curraheen Park track this June will be the "Barrys Tea Open 750" Barry's Tea is one of the greyhound industry's biggest supporters, having sponsored races at Curraheen Park for years. The 2017 Barry's Tea Open 750 race offered over €9,000 in prize money while in 2016, more than €8,000 was on offer. After the race last June, Barry's Tea director, Tony Barry, was photographed presenting a trophy to the owner of the winning greyhound. In continuing to sponsor greyhound racing, Barry's Tea is disregarding the animal cruelty inherent in the greyhound industry, including injuries and deaths at tracks and the dumping and killing of greyhounds no longer considered quick enough to win. In the past three years alone, over a thousand greyhounds have suffered injuries at tracks around Ireland and 385 were destroyed by track vets. This includes 69 injuries reported at Curraheen Park and 23 dogs destroyed. Meanwhile, at least 2,649 greyhounds have been destroyed in Irish pounds in the past eight years. In addition, thousands of greyhounds go missing each year, presumed killed when found to be too slow. One Irish trainer remarked online: "I've seen dogs being shot. It has to be done as there's too many of them to rehome." A former chairman of the Irish Greyhound Board meanwhile admitted on Cork's 96 FM that he believes it is "absolutely" okay for thousands of dogs to be killed and that racing couldn't exist without the destruction of dogs. Some of the industry's horrors were highlighted on RTE's Prime Time last year - Limerick Animal Welfare's Marion Fitzgibbon told viewers: "We believe there are probably 10,000 greyhounds put to sleep every year. They can be killed in all sorts of fashions. We've had so many instances of finding them shot, ears cut off, drowned." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIUkAGa708s Thumbs down to Barry's Tea for disregarding the suffering and killing in greyhound racing and ignoring appeals to end its sponsorship. ACTION ALERT Urge Barry's Tea to stop sponsoring greyhound racing. Barry's Tea, Kinsale Road, Cork, Ireland Tel: +353 21 491 5000 Email: info@barrystea.ie Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barrystea Tweet to @barrysteatweets OTHER COMPANIES SUPPORTING GREYHOUND RACING https://www.igb.ie/racing/features-and-classics/ BANK OF IRELAND FINANCE COMERFORD CAKES IRISH INDEPENDENT TRACYS HOTEL WATERFORD KERRY GROUP KASCO GAIN FEEDS RED MILLS DUBLIN COACH / QUICKPARK.IE BEST CAR PARKS TEXACLOTH THURLES FRESH MILK FLAHERTY MARKETS GALWAY HEALTHCARE & TRANSPORT SERVICES BOYLESPORTS LADBROKES