Marshes Shopping Centre in Dundalk has ignored calls for it to stop sponsoring greyhound racing at a track where dogs suffer and die.
Despite being told about all the injuries and deaths of dogs in greyhound racing, the shopping centre is continuing to sponsor racing. Last weekend at Dundalk stadium, one of the races was the “Marshes Shopping Centre Ladies Day A3/A4”, with €465 in prize money - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsAfcqADRPc Tomorrow, 12 April, the centre’s name is attached to another race at the track.
Dundalk stadium is one of the worst tracks in Ireland for greyhound injuries and deaths. Over the past four years alone, 110 greyhounds suffered injuries there and 47 were killed by a track vet.
Marshes shopping centre has sponsored greyhound races at Dundalk stadium for at least the past decade. In May 2018, it sponsored the "Marshes Shopping Centre, Dundalk S2 400" race and in July 2017 the "Marshes Shopping Centre A4/A5 Bitch 525 Final". In 2015, the Argus newspaper reported that "the night’s greyhound racing will commence at 7.30pm with the Marshes Shopping Centre Dundalk International, an invitation-only race over 550 yards with a total prize fund of €37,000 and the richest one-off greyhound race in Ireland and the UK."
Marshes Shopping Centre's support for this track comes at a time when the public is increasingly rejecting greyhound racing - evident in a 50 per cent fall in track attendance in recent years, and a 58 per cent drop in sponsorship.
ACTION ALERT
Join the appeal to Marshes Shopping Centre to show compassion and stop supporting a stadium where dogs suffer and die.
Tel: +353 (0)42 93 95250
Email administration@marshesshopping.com
Comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MarshesShoppingCentre/
Twitter https://twitter.com/marshesshopping
Don’t attend greyhound races or fundraisers/hen parties/office parties held at greyhound tracks.
Join us in demanding an end to the government’s massive grants to the greyhound industry – €16.8 million for 2019, bringing to over a quarter of a billion euros the amount handed over since 2001. Contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe now.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: @campaignforLeo
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/
Paschal Donohoe TD
Minister for Finance
Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie; minister@per.gov.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1 6045810
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/
Tweet to @Paschald
INJURIES AND DEATHS AT DUNDALK TRACK
2018: 11 injuries, 6 deaths
2017: 44 injuries, 10 deaths
2016: 23 injuries, 15 deaths
2015: 32 injuries, 16 deaths
REPORTED GREYHOUND INJURIES AND DEATHS AT IRISH TRACKS
At tracks around Ireland in the past four years, 1,559 greyhounds suffered injuries and 506 were killed. The Irish Greyhound Board figures are based on “reported” injuries and deaths, suggesting that the actual number could be even higher. They do not include the greyhounds injured at tracks and later killed elsewhere, or the thousands of greyhounds who go missing each year – presumed killed when found to be too slow to win races.
2018: Injuries: 353. Deaths 121
2017: Injuries: 357. Deaths: 124
2016: Injuries: 427. Deaths: 139
2015: Injuries: 422. Deaths: 122