Support Adrian And Greyhound Gap!

A wonderful man by the name of Adrian Whitehouse is getting a special mention today. What he plans to do in the name of greyhounds everywhere is very special, if a little insane! He is climbing... Mont Blanc! One of the most dangerous mountains in the world! And all in aid of Greyhound Gap.

Greyhound Gap is one of the many charities that is set up to help rescue and rehome greyhounds and does a fantastic job. It deserves all the support it can get so Adrian deserves a massive pat on the back and a good few kisses from the hounds! For more information, go to Greyhound Gap. The naews article is highly entertaining and you can get to the rest of the site from there. If you want to make a donation then go to the Just Giving page here.

Mad! Absolutely mad, but the guy has a heart of gold!

An Awesome Greyhound Adoption Group To Support

Hi all!

Just a quick update on the Stop The Greyhound Slaughter Facebook cause today - It really is doing incredibly well! As of this minute, we have 1,163 members. Please keep on inviting everyone you can and take a look at the aims if you have yet to join.

There was another great comment written on the wall a few days ago from a wonderul lady called Karen. It is written below in full:

Hi, I have 2 ex racers and they are fab, I also volunteer for a trust that works hard by trying to educate the public what wonderful pets they make when they have finished their racing career. The trust also has tight guidelines on how the dogs are kept and their welfare whilst in the racing enviroment. Also we dont put dogs down they can stay in the kennels until a 'forever' can be found. We are also do homechecks and follow up visits and phone calls.

Please support the cause of re-homing more greyhounds and hopefully the suffering of greys may stop one day.

This is close to my heart as Perry Bar is local to me. It is located in the West Midlands just a few miles up the road. Take a look at the great work RGT does day in, day out and you'll see just how much they need our support.

NB - This is more of a personal request because the people that work there do a great job of looking after the greyhounds and finding homes for them. However, The RGT in general is responsible for misrepresenting figures to suit their own ends and support greyhound racing. Anyone wishing to help should be aware of that on a more national level. It pays to remember that you should hear all "facts" from both sides before making your own mind up.

Another Horror Story...

It never fails to amaze me that, despite repeated reports of greyhound slaughter and greyhound abuse, owners and trainers continue to dispose of "unfit" greyhounds for research purposes and expect to get away with it. Daniel Foggo of UK newspaper The Times has uncovered yet another kennels that sells perfectly healthy greyhounds to a research facility for £30, and sometimes actually gives them away, to be dissected.

This time it is the University of Liverpool that is accepting the "gift". What was the problem with the greyhounds that were sold? They were too slow for the tracks and therefore could not make their owners money.

This greyhound abuse has got to stop! How many more perfectly healthy animals have to be put down for no apparent reason before something is done about it? You can find the full article here.

The breeder mentioned, Mr Pickering, gives away his greyhounds for slaughter when they are as young as one year old. Please read this article on greyhound abuse and pass on the link. The more people that are educated the better!

Adopt A Greyhound!

It's been a while since I updated you all on the progress of the Facebook cause, Stop The Greyhound Slaughter, and I am delighted to say that it is going extremely well. We now have 1,136 members, which is the highest number of any of the greyhound causes on Facebook at the minute! We have also recently taken the cause onto MySpace as well so no matter which social networking site you are on, you can join! Just click on the links for the relevant one: MySpace or Facebook.

A comment was posted on the wall of the Facebook cause a few days ago to highlight a fantastic website that is concerned with greyhound adoption. Here was the post:

I used to volunteer for and still support 'Greyhounds in Need' in the UK. Galgos are adorable dogs and its just so sad and heartbreaking how they they are treated. I've had the pleasure of meeting one Galgo called Pedro, such gentle dogs - it truely is heartbreaking. I now work for this charity - Adopt A Greyhound. I still fully support and love Greyhounds in need. Galgo's 4 ever!

I've taken a look at the site and it is definitely worth a few minutes of your time. The work they do for greyhound adoption is fantastic! Thanks for the link Kelly!

In Memory Of Rusty

Something different for today's blog is definitely in order as a result of an eventthat occurred four years ago. A greyhound called Rusty was found barely alive in the Welsh mountains after being tourtured and shot after sustaining a toe injury that meant his greyhound racing career was over. Rusty is one of many, but he touched the hearts of all greyhound lovers that knew him or heard his story.

As such, he deserves a fitting memorial. This poem that was sent through to me by Trudy at Greytexploitations fits the bill perfectly. It is by Sue Stoddart and tells you everything you need, but probably don't want, to know:

His owners paid ten pounds to end poor Rusty's life,
His killer took the money, he didn't think twice.
He was raced three times that week with an injured toe,
Because of the injury, his racing times were slow.
His owners said, "get rid of him we can't do with this",
The trainer said "just leave him here, I will do the biz".
Poor trusting Rusty went along with this man,
He thought he was going home, and jumped into the van.
Little did he know this was to be his last day,
And that his poor mutilated body was to be dumped so far away.
With both his ears hacked off, a crude bolt gun to his head,
His killer turned his back, and left poor Rusty for dead.
A lonely walker found him lying in the grass,
It was poor Rusty's whimpering that stopped him walking past.
In spite of his misery and injuries he still continued to wag his tail,
Not once did he show aggression, or even admit a wail.
Even now he still showed trust in the human race,
The vet shook his head sadly, as he looked at Rusty's gentle face.
So the vet inserted the needle, that would end Rusty's suffering at last,
He knew his abuse was over, he would not have to remember his past.
But your death will not be in vain dear Rusty; we will keep your memory alive,
And your murderer has been caught and punished, and brought to the public eye.
So rest well dear Rusty, free from suffering and pain,
No more will you know abuse, or ever race again.

*Dedicated to Rusty, who was mutilated by Andrew Gough and left to die on a lonely welsh mountain on the 4th April 2004

You can find the full story at Stop The Greyhound Slaughter, but be warned that it does make for extremely gruesome reading in places.

Call To Action: The Facts The Industry Hides!!!!!

It never fails to amaze me how blinkered and blinded some people are about the plight of greyhounds all over the world. Whilst some people will eagerly criticize me for my views, I pride myself on always remaining open minded. I will actively listen to anyone that has anything to say on the topic of greyhounds, whether I agree or not, but there is one thing that I cannot stand - the willingness of some to actively cover up how many of these beautiful creatures are slaughtered year after year.

The press against the mistreatment of greyhounds is slowly but surely growing and those in the racing industry have responded ferociously to it. Whilst I will admit that I do feel some sympathy for those that do treat their dogs well, I do not appreciate the sentiments of Lord Lipsey, the chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board. He has accused people like me of attempting to "...propagate fiction about what happens to greyhounds when they retire from racing with parts of the article inaccurate and highly offensive".

I would just like to reinforce the fact that everything I have ever published on here has a firm foundation in fact. The brutal treatment of greyhounds is inexcusable, as is burying your head in the sand Lord Lipsey! I will continue to publish the truth, but people like him give us further grounds to fight.

The full link to Lipsey's comments can be found here, but an extract appears below:

The fact is that when their racing career is over most greyhounds will live out a happy retirement. Less than 10,000 greyhounds are now coming into licensed racing each year. Almost 4,500 are re-homed annually by the Retired Greyhound Trust - twice as many as five years ago. Approximately a further 3,500 find homes either with their owners, their trainer or through other re-homing charities. Some of the others will continue their careers on independent tracks or will return to their native Ireland. Some are euthanased, because, for example, they are temperamentally unsuitable for re-homing or for health reasons. The rules lay down that this be done by a registered vet and anyone doing otherwise risks a ban from the sport and even prosecution

In response, the APGAW report of 2007 concluded that

...an average of 2,478 British bred dogs were earmarked by the NGRC but never made it to NGRC tracks... we must assume that a significant number of these youngsters are destroyed each year

It is important to bear in mind that Irish greyhounds make up 75% of those racing here, so this number only deals with aroud 25% of the greyhounds that are put to sleep for no apparent reason. If that number is taken as gospel for Ireland as well then 7,434 more greyhound puppies are slaughtered. My greyhound, Molly, was one of those Irish puppies once. I couldn't imagine not having her now, but she could have been one of the unlucky ones. This makes me angry, but Lipsey's comments anger me more because...

Approximately a further 3,500 find homes either with their owners, their trainer or through other re-homing charities. Some of the others will continue their careers on independent tracks or will return to their native Ireland. Some are euthanased, because, for example, they are temperamentally unsuitable for re-homing or for health reasons

The NGRC completed the retirement of 18,864 greyhounds in 2007. That is a massive number, but they have yet to disclose exactly what has happened to all of them. They have the data that records the fate or fortune of these 18,864 greyhounds. So 3,500 are re-homed elsewhere, but what happened to the rest of them? Even is some of that number are raced independently, which they shouldn't be if they have officially retired (yet another loophole), why on Earth are some returned to Ireland? Almost16,000 greyhounds were brutally slaughtered there last year.

Believe it or not, there is actually an option for euthanasia on the retiremnt forms too. Three of the reasons that could be given for putting a greyhound to sleep are listed below:
1. Injury not treated on economic grounds
2. No home or retirement place could be found
3. Unsuitable as a pet
The options would be laughable were it not so tragic. Putting ananimal to sleep is supposed to be

in the interests of the animal experiencing significant suffering with a poor prognosis for recovery.

This means that numbers 2 and 3 do not count as viable reasons. As such, they have been unlawfully killed.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Lipsey's comments are concerned. Read them for yourself. After reading that rubbish I am just thankful that I have my beautiful girl here wth me now, and it makes me more determined to do something about the rest...

An Amazing Greyhound Video!

Hi all!

I hope I find you well. I'm back from a wonderful break and raring to get started on greyhound issues on this blog once again! I'm hoping to post at least two or three times a week from now on to get the ball rolling so please tell anyone you think may be interested about this blog and spread the word! Also, anyone who has anything to say and add to the sentiments expressed here is more than welcome to contact me at savegreyhounds@googlemail.com because I actively want to express the thoughts and feelings of you here.

Anyway, thanks to Greytexploitations I have a wonderful video that any greyhound loer will definitely want to see. It highlights just how good a pet a greyhound can make. Of course, some of the images shown are representative of only some greyhounds out there. This is worth remembering because not all greyhounds are good with other animals! Some are shown with cats for example. Molly, my beautiful girl, hates them and chases them every chance she gets!

You can find the video at YouTube by following the link.

Enjoy!