Compassion News

March for Greyhounds

March for Greyhounds - 18 November 2006
 
Several Greyhound Compassion members joined Saturday's March for Greyhounds in London.  About 200 people joined the march which snaked its way from Whitehall Place to Speakers' Corner, via  Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly and Park Lane.  
 
The march was organised in response to public outcry following revelations in the Sunday Times in July 2006 about David Smith (of Seaham, County Durham) having culled 10,000 ex-racing greyhounds over the last 15 years and buried them on his land.  According to the Sunday Times, he killed each one using a bolt-gun to the head, in return for £10 per dog.  A second investigation published in the Sunday Times revealed that Leigh Animal Sanctuary (Manchester) had been killing ex-racing greyhounds by allowing unqualified staff to administer a lethal injection into the chest of the dog.  The sanctuary charged £35 for each euthanasia.  According to trainers interviewed at the time, Leigh Sanctuary had been putting down healthy ex-racers for years.  They estimated that thousands of ex-racing greyhounds, once past their sell-by date, had been killed there.
 
The aim of the march was to raise the public's awareness about the cruelty associated with greyhound racing and called for the government to take steps to end the slaughter. 
 
The march culminated in a rally and vigil at Speakers' Corner.
 
The British government's preference is for welfare standards to be regulated by the greyhound racing industry itself.  However, if the racing industry cannot put its house in order by 2008, the government  has given a firm commitment to appoint an outside regulator. 
 
Past performance is often a predictor of future success and this understandably means that many greyhound rescuers are sceptical about the effectiveness self-regulation.  Therefore, yesterday's speakers (including Annette Crosbie OBE) and the gathering agreed to make the "March for Greyhounds" website a repository for evidence about every rescued greyhound.  Over time, case histories, photographs, veterinary reports and statistics will build up on the website and by 2008 it will be clear to the government that self-regulation is not the way forward.
 
While the government continues to earn £70 million in tax revenue annually from greyhound racing, there is no incentive for it to bring about an end to this cruel industry.  It is down to every one of us as greyhound advocates to disseminate the facts, showing the industry up for what it is.  Already attendance at greyhound racing tracks is declining - down 4.4% in 2005 compared with 2004.  During the World Cup, attendances were down by up to 23% at some tracks and the industry has not fully recovered.  They are calling it the "World Cup hangover".  Only through a decline in demand, will we see the demise of the industry. 

Sunday Times front page article 16.07.06

Sunday Times article (page 7) 16.07.06

Sunday Times editorial

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