Greyhounds - The Slaughter of the Innocent

[raydp]

More and more people are becoming aware of the desperate plight of Greyhounds worldwide, but more help is desperately needed.

On Sunday, my wife and I did a sponsored walk to raise funds for our local Greyhound rescue centre Kerry Greyhound Connection - finding homes for Irish greyhounds. This is a registered charity dedicated to the rescue of Greyhounds from Kerry in Ireland. Unfortunately, there is a persistant belief in Ireland that Greyhounds are unsuitable to be kept as pets. This has been confirmed to me by my son's wife and other Irish aquaintances. As a result, few dogs are re-homed in Ireland and have to be brought over to the UK to be fostered in Norfolk.

If anyone could help by visiting the site above, they can see what is being done and if they could possibly, make a donation via the PayPal button in the left column, it would be greatly appreciated.

The above site is nothing to do with me apart from my wish to see more of these lovely dogs saved.

Should you wish to read an article detailing the problem and the dreadful fate that can befall un-rescued Greyhounds, I have put a page up on one of my sites here: Greyhounds as Pets ? Why Adopt a Greyhound? | My Greyhound Space

Any help would be appreciated, however small. If anyone would consider publicising this cause through their list as well, that would be great.

I hope this post doesn't break any forum rules as it's for the dogs - not me.

Ray

[Kay King]

It's sad to see the same wrong beliefs about these lovely dogs continue on and on.

They make marvelous pets and often are quite the couch potato - happy to just lounge around and very friendly. People seem to think the high acitivity level of racing indicates a nervous or hectic animal - and that's just not the case with greyhounds.

The only caution is they are sight hounds and not a dog you allow off leash in unfenced areas as their instinct is to chase what they see moving and all the training in the world will not change instinct.

Reminds me that I need to add an article about greyhounds to my pooch site!

kay

[artwebster]

This is one of those areas where the lack of control over a sport leads to the most apalling abuse of animals.

It beggars belief that it is accepted by ALL the greyhound racing bodies that they have no responsibility for the welfare of dogs that have finished their racing life.

The even worse aspect of this is that most greyhounds can be tracked back to an owner - but abused greyhounds never are. There is some sort of lunacy in the dog racing arena that accepts that you can abuse a breeding bitch by keeping her pregnant all year round, you can cull the weakest of a litter by any means that come to mind and that you have no responsibility to even try to look after a retired greyhound.

Spain is gradually improving, I'm happy to say, but so much more needs to be done.

[Michael Motley]

Originally Posted by artwebster

This is one of those areas where the lack of control over a sport leads to the most apalling abuse of animals.

It beggars belief that it is accepted by ALL the greyhound racing bodies that they have no responsibility for the welfare of dogs that have finished their racing life.

The even worse aspect of this is that most greyhounds can be tracked back to an owner - but abused greyhounds never are. There is some sort of lunacy in the dog racing arena that accepts that you can abuse a breeding bitch by keeping her pregnant all year round, you can cull the weakest of a litter by any means that come to mind and that you have no responsibility to even try to look after a retired greyhound.

Spain is gradually improving, I'm happy to say, but so much more needs to be done.

this is how breeders handle their 'livestock'. its not a pet to them, it is a 'unit' capable of making so many pups and therefore so much money.

[SMazinTX]

I've rescued and had several greyhounds in my life. They do, indeed, make great pets and are some of the best dogs I ever had.

My next dog will be a greyhound.

[Michael Motley]

There is a big greyhound rescue down here and I know a few people that have taken in old racing dogs and they all say that an old racing greyhound is not a dog for everyone. They all say the dogs are very 'twitchy' around people, not good at all with kids and just have psychological issues in general from a life of being a racing dog.

I suppose if you are so inclined, dont have kids and just want to save a dog, they arent bad, but i wouldnt expect this dog to be an awesome family pet.

[HeySal]

I am posting this without reading -- I saw the title, it was almost more than I can bear on it's own without more info. Sadly, I know in the back of my head what some of that info is.

If I had MY way, there would be no animal abuse, because I feel that anyone who would kill a dog for any reason other than because it was uncontrollably dangerous or because it was just too ill to be allowed to suffer - well, that person should have their head blown off - no ifs, no excuses, no second chances. We have almost 7 bil people on this earth and getting rid of those with the severely sick mentality that another life is only here to service their own greed needs very badly to be kicked off the planet.

The more I hear of this sick, twisted mentality in humans, the more I pray that we become an extinct species.

[Michael Motley]

Originally Posted by HeySal

I am posting this without reading -- I saw the title, it was almost more than I can bear on it's own without more info. Sadly, I know in the back of my head what some of that info is.

If I had MY way, there would be no animal abuse, because I feel that anyone who would kill a dog for any reason other than because it was uncontrollably dangerous or because it was just too ill to be allowed to suffer - well, that person should have their head blown off - no ifs, no excuses, no second chances. We have almost 7 bil people on this earth and getting rid of those with the severely sick mentality that another life is only here to service their own greed needs very badly to be kicked off the planet.

The more I hear of this sick, twisted mentality in humans, the more I pray that we become an extinct species.

Yeah, but you have that point of view because you live in the west and thats how you were raised. In other parts of the world they were raised differently and they see animals such as dogs differently. In some places they are food. They are no more wrong or right than you are, they just have been raised different. They probably think you're just as crazy for petting food