"Mrs Doyle says NO!!!": It's a thumbs down to Barrys Tea from actress Pauline McLynn, whose much loved Mrs Doyle character is synonymous with tea drinking.
Pauline posted a photo of herself in a supermarket "NOT choosing Barry's Tea because of it's shameful sponsorship of greyhound racing."
"Mrs Doyle says NO!!!" she declared. "I hope you do the same, as well as boycotting all companies that sponsor the abomination of greyhound racing."
Pauline added: "The minute Barry's Tea stop sponsoring the corrupt and cruel industry of greyhound racinga, forever, we can all go back to drinking their product - simple."
A big thank you to Pauline McLynn for joining calls on sponsors to reject this despicable dog-killing industry.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157843436012494&set=a.10150140290502494
Barrys Tea has said it is considering an end to its sponsorship, but six days after the RTE Investigates programme shocked the nation with its revelations about cruelty and killing, the company has yet to make a definite announcement.
Last month, Barry's Tea ignored calls for it to scrap the sponsorship and on 22nd June, it was behind the €9,000 “2019 Barry's Tea Open 750 Stake Final” at Curraheen Park track in Cork.
Curraheen Park is one of the worst tracks in Ireland for greyhound injuries and deaths. Over the past four years alone, 97 greyhounds have been reported injured there and 36 were destroyed by a track vet. Among the victims at Curraheen Park was a dog who died of a “suspected heart attack” last June.
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.
Last May, shocking footage surfaced showing a greyhound crashing out of a race sponsored by the company. In the video, 2-year-old Moorstown Venus can be seen falling badly and hurtling towards the track-side barrier during the "2018 Barry's Tea Open Stake Round 1 Heat 2" race - See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjwuQtGe7PQ&t=25s
In continuing to sponsor greyhound racing, Barry's Tea is disregarding the cruelty inherent in the greyhound industry, including injuries and deaths at tracks, the dumping and killing of greyhounds no longer considered quick enough to win and the export of greyhounds to countries with little or no animal welfare laws.
Since 2015, at least 1,559 greyhounds have suffered injuries at tracks around Ireland. 506 of these dogs were killed by track vets.
Meanwhile, at least 2,729 greyhounds have been destroyed in Irish pounds in the past eight years.
RTE's shocking "Greyhounds Running for Their Lives" programme revealed that 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year in Ireland because they are not quick enough to win races. The programme showed greyhounds whose ears had been chopped off (to remove identity tattoos) and greyhounds shot in the head and dumped in a skip. It also highlighted how Irish greyhounds continue to be exported to countries like China - sickening footage showed a greyhound who was hacked to death by a man with a meat cleaver, a greyhound thrown into a barrel of boiling water and boiled alive and caged greyhounds being abused at a meat market.
ACTION ALERT
Urge Barry's Tea to show compassion for the dogs and permanently end its sponsorship of greyhound racing.
Barry's Tea,
Kinsale Road, Cork, Ireland
Tel: 021 491 5000
Email: info@barrystea.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/barrystea
Tweet to @barrysteatweets
OTHER COMPANIES SUPPORTING GREYHOUND RACING IN 2019
(Source: Irish Greyhound Board)
Glanbia / Gain Dog Food
Red Mills
Marshes Shopping Centre Dundalk
Boylesports
Flaherty Markets Galway
Dublin Coach / QuickPark.ie (car park near Dublin Airport)
Kasko dog food
Thurles Fresh Milk
Speedrite dog food
Rose of Tralee
Casey's Caravan and Camping
Lee Strand
Kerry GAA Supporters
Kerry Group
Best Car Parks
Ladbrokes
Healthcare and Transport
Comerford Cakes