Dead Greyhounds found in Limerick quarry

Cocolola

I came across this story this morning, Greyhounds shot and dumped in a quarry.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local/greyounds-shot-and-dumped-at-county-limerick-quarry-1-3718617

Also Limerick Animal Welfare have put pictures up on their Facebook page, I'll only link it though in case you don't want to see as they are quite upsetting. You may have to like their page first to see the photos I'm not sure.


If this turns out to be related to the racing industry (and it probably will) I hope that this will force the government to pass stricter tracing of the dogs onto the owners and trainers but I somehow doubt it. Maybe it will wake some people up to the fact that their "Nite at the Dogs" supports this cruelty. I am sick of local charities having race nights to fundraise since the greyhound stadium opened up in Limerick.

Sorry there's not much point to this thread except for me to vent.

star-pants

Cocola as per the new 'copyright' - you cannot quote full articles but you can link to the article. As per our charter, you cannot discuss rescues/welfare groups etc. so I have removed the facebook links.

Cocolola

Thanks Star-pants. I'm actually mortified , I completely forgot about the charter in my angry haste to type the post up

Apologies, I'll remember in future.

Irishchick

Some people seem to think that greyhounds disappear into some magical realm in the sky where they retire in peace and luxury.

Maybe this will be a taste of reality. I don't have a problem with anyone who races a hound and keeps it as a pet after its career but alas that rarely happens.

golden8

That is one of the reasons why I don't go to the dogs or horse racing.

Autosport

I hope to god that they find the owners of those dogs and fine the bejesus out of them and ban them from ever owning another animal :mad:

meoklmrk91

The owner didn't cut the dogs ears off, usually this done after they have been killed to prevent them from being identified by the tattoos on the ear flap. On one the photos of one of the dogs that was shot recently the tattoo is visible.

Under section 8 of the Welfare of Greyhounds act the person who did this could face a fine or up or 6 months in prison. They can be prosecuted by the Gardai, the local authority(In this case Limerick County Council), the Irish Greyhound Board or the Club. The Welfare of Greyhounds act is quite new, only being signed into law last October so this would be the perfect arena for it to be put into action to show the Greyhound Industry that they cannot treat these dogs in whatever manner they wish and get away with it. Even if the Gardai or the local authority don't decide to prosecute then I would hope that the IGB would due to the bad press they are getting over this, although I must admit they have handled this quite well.

I sincerely hope that the person who did this is made an example of, they really and truly deserve it. If there is any provisions for it I also think they should be banned from owning any animal for the rest of their lives. This should be a wakeup call to the Irish public, these are just a tiny percentage of the Ex-Racers who are killed each year and if their owner had not been too careless to bury them then they would never have been found, considering how many greyhounds go missing each year there must be thousands like them.

Bullseye1

Some people are just beyond redemption.

carfiosaoorl

Its hard to believe that people get away with this kind of ****. The laws in this country are sickeningly weak. I know its slightly OT but my parents had a springer spaniel bitch that had been used to nurse greyhound puppies. Once the puppies weaned the breeder had no use for her. When my parents got her she was in an awful state. They fixed her up though and she was their pet for 6 yrs before she died. Its awful to think what her life was like before that:(

Discodog

As far as I am aware it is not illegal to kill your own dog or someone else's dog with their permission. The only offence would be the dumping of the bodies. When you consider how many Greyhounds are used in the racing industry there is bound to be a huge "wastage". For every litter of puppies there will be those that are not "worth" keeping. The industry see no issue with those excess dogs being killed.

So the owners are given carte blanche to kill their surplus dogs & they will seek the cheapest way of doing this. In the UK one man killed thousands of Greyhounds on his farm, many were Irish dogs. This is also why 672 Greyhounds were killed in our Dog Pounds during 2010. At the end of the day a bullet or a trip to the Pound is cheaper than a visit to the Vet.

The Greyhound industry invest a lot of money in advertising & PR to hide the real cost of racing. They refuse to provide welfare figures or to collect/collate them. They know that many people would boycott racing if they knew the real cost.

The government gave in to pressure from the industry & have allowed it to continue self regulation. There will be no improvement whilst the State publicly endorse & support the industry - the IGB is a State Board.

golden8

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0412/1224314640213.html

Hopefully justice will pervail.

magentas

^^^Here's hoping

planetX

golden8 wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0412/1224314640213.html

Hopefully justice will pervail.

It won't because as Discodog wrote the only crime here is one of inappropriate disposal of bodies. There will be no justice for greyhounds until the public stop supporting the industry by going for nights at the dogs. Hopefully the story might make a few more people wonder what happens behind the scenes.

Vince32

Disgraceful !! I feel sick just thinking about it..

Those poor dogs, after years of faithful service... treated like that...

There is a space reserved in hell for this person, and I hope he gets there soon

Discodog

As far as I can see there is nothing in the Greyhound Welfare Act to prevent an owner from shooting his dogs or getting someone else to do it. The IGB code of practice doesn't prevent it either.

In my opinion the comments by the IGB in the article are simply PR & I bet that no one gets prosecuted. It may be a case of "I gave them to a man to shoot & he said that he would bury them".

From a legal standpoint it might also depend on who owns the quarry.

It seems amazing that neither the Act nor the Guidelines deal with euthanasia - clearly they don't want the topic in the open.

magentas

planetX wrote: »

It won't because as Discodog wrote the only crime here is one of inappropriate disposal of bodies. There will be no justice for greyhounds until the public stop supporting the industry by going for nights at the dogs. Hopefully the story might make a few more people wonder what happens behind the scenes.

Spot on planetX, supply and demand...
If people get to thinking what goes on in the industry and what actually happens to these dogs when their racing careers are over or if they're not good enough to make the cut for racing, it might just make them think twice about supporting the industry in the first place.

Greyhounds must be one of the most used and abused animals in Ireland.
And a night at the dogs is so glam:rolleyes:

Discodog

Also bear in mind that the IGB & the industry do not see any non tattooed dog as anything to do with them.

Autosport

It still makes me sick, those poor dogs deserve better

meoklmrk91

As discodog said it is not illegal to kill any dog. However how you do it is key in the legality side of it.

From section 8 of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act.
(h) the keeping, breeding or rearing, training, racing or coursing of a greyhound in such a manner as to avoid unnecessary suffering,

From section 23
(1) Where after the veterinary examination of a greyhound, it is the opinion of a welfare officer that the greyhound is in such pain or distress or state of acute neglect or so severely injured or diseased that it would be in the interests of the welfare of the greyhound, or the safety, health or welfare of other animals or persons it might come into contact with, to have it receive immediate veterinary treatment or be humanely destroyed, the welfare officer may seize and detain the greyhound for either such purpose.

It could be argued that they are were not humanly euthanised and therfore suffered unnecessarily and that is what they could be prosecuted for as well as for illegal dumping, a rep of the IGB said that the owners could be liable for substantial fines and up to 6 months in prison, this was stated on a story on the 6.01 news this evening which can be seen 28 minutes into the program on the RTE player for anyone that is interested.

Discodog

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

From section 23
(1) Where after the veterinary examination of a greyhound, it is the opinion of a welfare officer that the greyhound is in such pain or distress or state of acute neglect or so severely injured or diseased that it would be in the interests of the welfare of the greyhound, or the safety, health or welfare of other animals or persons it might come into contact with, to have it receive immediate veterinary treatment or be humanely destroyed, the welfare officer may seize and detain the greyhound for either such purpose.

It could be argued that they are were not humanly euthanised and therfore suffered unnecessarily and that is what they could be prosecuted for as well as for illegal dumping, a rep of the IGB said that the owners could be liable for substantial fines and up to 6 months in prison, this was stated on a story on the 6.01 news this evening which can be seen 28 minutes into the program on the RTE player for anyone that is interested.

Unfortunately I disagree. That section is referring to an animal that is found in a bad condition. Here we may be talking about healthy animals being killed because they are surplus to requirements. Shooting would often be instant & humane dependant on the number & positioning of shots.

The industry produces thousands of surplus dogs. They would never introduce legislation that prevents the killing of these dogs. They might argue that, if they did so, it could lead to more dumping of live animals.

I have contacted the IGB for clarification regarding the penalties mentioned in the RTE news. It is very unusual for a Greyhound story to receive this much publicity. The IGB have gone on record to say that there will pursue the matter so they will be under scrutiny. But why would they mention that some owners can be traced - surely that it just tipping them off in advance ?

meoklmrk91

Discodog wrote: »

Unfortunately I disagree. That section is referring to an animal that is found in a bad condition. Here we may be talking about healthy animals being killed because they are surplus to requirements. Shooting would often be instant & humane dependant on the number & positioning of shots.

The industry produces thousands of surplus dogs. They would never introduce legislation that prevents the killing of these dogs. They might argue that, if they did so, it could lead to more dumping of live animals.

I have contacted the IGB for clarification regarding the penalties mentioned in the RTE news. It is very unusual for a Greyhound story to receive this much publicity. The IGB have gone on record to say that there will pursue the matter so they will be under scrutiny. But why would they mention that some owners can be traced - surely that it just tipping them off in advance ?

The words unnecessary suffering and humanly destroyed are the key words here, I know that section 8 refers to how the animal in question is kept and how the judge interprets the law when it is put into action. Everyone is going to interpret it differently. I agree that shooting while not the nicest way of destroying an animal is certainly far from the cruellest and if done correctly there would be no suffering what so ever.

It is a very grey area and I am just stating the facts, I don't know whether the owners have done anything illegal apart from dumping I am just saying that this what they could face etc.

My guess as regards to the IGB tipping off those responsible, as soon as the story broke those who did it knew that they would be held accountable for what they did as the ears had not been cut off, probably not to this extent however with all the media coverage etc. I would be surprised if the IGB wanted to help the owners in anyway, publicly of course, as they could be portrayed in a very poor light.

It will be an interesting case to watch, what they are charged with etc. The IGB rep said that it was disgusting and stated what they could be charged with under the act. So they do seem to be at least publicly giving support to the investigation. My guess is they are waiting until media coverage dies down, a slap on the wrist of those responsible and that will be it.

ISDW

planetX wrote: »

It won't because as Discodog wrote the only crime here is one of inappropriate disposal of bodies. There will be no justice for greyhounds until the public stop supporting the industry by going for nights at the dogs. Hopefully the story might make a few more people wonder what happens behind the scenes.

This is what needs to happen, education. When we started our dog club, Tails 'n' Trails, bear in mind, it is a dog club, full of people who love their dogs, and want to get out and have fun exercising their dogs, we were thinking of fundraising ideas. One of our members suggested a night at the dogs, as its a great fundraiser. I and another committee member immediately said no, and explained why not. He was shocked at what we were saying, as he had absolutely no idea about the welfare issues surrounding the industry. This is someone who takes fantastic care of his own dogs.

g'em

Hi folks, I know this is a high profile story and a very emotive one at that, I'm sure there are a lot of people here who are very upset it.

However, unsubstantiated comments, hearsay or slander against the IGB will not be tolerated - this is not trying to quell your ability to speak freely, simply that we do not wish to leave boards.ie open to legal proceedings.

Thank you

Discodog

Past history does not suggest a likelihood of any action in this case. The ICC offered a €20,000 reward in the Hare Video case here.

http://www.irishcoursingclub.ie/

Yet no action was ever taken despite the film makers publishing a statement & providing their names here. They also say that they have forwarded their details to the Gardai

http://www.huntsabsireland.org/harevideostatement.htm

ISDW wrote: »

One of our members suggested a night at the dogs, as its a great fundraiser.

This is a common problem. Derek Mooney on RTE features pro animal content, like their current bird nesting topic, yet they organised & promoted a night at the dogs.

The reason that racing is slowly dying out in the UK is down to dedicated volunteers who lobby at race meets & the celebrities like Annette Crosbie ( Mrs Victor Meldrew) who support a ban on racing. It is a matter of education & basic common sense.

It is impossible to have Greyhound racing without producing a huge amount of unwanted dogs. There is no way of producing a litter where every pup is a potential race winner. Owners will not feed & care for an unwanted dog & there are not enough rehomers. So mass euthanasia has to be a part of racing. Nowhere in the Guidelines or the Greyhound Act is there any mention of the obligation to keep & care for unwanted dogs.

Barry Coleman, the Welfare Officer of the IGB, confirmed that even with retired racers it is perfectly acceptable to euthanase once they can no longer race. He also confirms that it is acceptable for Greyhounds to be handed in to Pounds.

(Note to Mods: This is confirmed in an email to me from Barry Coleman - copy available. The email does not contain any confidentiality clause or conditions).

In animal welfare we promote the principle that a dog is for life & that you are responsible for that animal during the course of it's natural life. The Greyhound industry accept & allow for unwanted dogs & ex racers to be killed rather than cared for.