So I don’t know if you ever read Dogs Today magazine. The greyhound world has been fair thrown into turmoil by an article written by their vet following a horrific incident where an elderly couple’s little dog was killed by a pair of greyhounds. The vet, Emma Milne, treated the dog and was obviously incredibly upset by the incident. In the article, however, she goes on to question whether we should rehome greyhounds at all. To make matters worse, in an open letter on her website, she went on to say that she feels greyhound racing should be banned, calling it ‘an industry using animals for human entertainment’ and questioning ‘an industry that sets out to make a breed that is designed to chase and kill’.
Well, being a wordy sort of gal, obviously I fired off a letter to the Editor, Beverley Cuddy. I said firstly that I was sorry that Emma had received hate mail from greyhound lovers. That’s just base and inexcusable and doesn’t do anybody any favours, however that I had to doubt the wisdom of singling out a breed when, obviously, any breed will chase and kill another animal - I’m afraid that’s not exclusive greyhound territory. I also said that I’ve fostered ’non-chasing’ greyhounds such as Louis (Lethal Party) who went on to be rehomed with cats and small dogs. The responsibility for this, and any other incident of one dog killing another, lies solely with the idiotic owners who do not keep their dogs on leashes and firmly under control.
I told Beverley that we, as greyhound lovers, fight an ongoing battle (especially here in Ireland) with people who do not view greyhounds as pets, but more as ‘livestock’ and that whether it was intentional or not, Emma has added to this problem with her ill-advised comments. Adding in her response that ‘greyhound racing should be banned’ is also ill-informed and inflammatory. Although I’m no expert, I would worry that without legitimate racing, as with any sport, many people would lose their livelihoods, and the dogs, which genuinely enjoy the racing (nothing better than seeing a perky greyhound with tail going like the clappers after it’s run a race!), would end up being bred and raced ‘underground’ and unregulated with catastrophic results.
I know many greyhound owners and trainers, such as the lovely M and his family, and they’re good people who love their dogs. Sadly it’s the odd bad penny that gets all the press. I went on say that greyhounds often get a very rough deal and that I hoped that Dogs Today would continue to give a balanced view of the greyhound as a pet, and even offered to give an insight into greyhound ownership.
Happily, I got a very nice email from Beverley this morning directing me to her blog where she had written in depth about the article. I’ll let you read it but I’ll just quote the following:
We should have picked the piece up as a knee-jerk reaction to a horrible series of events.
It was like allowing the mother of an abducted child to write an article on paedophiles. Emma was far too close to the story and needed to have had time to cool off - or for us to interject some balance.
I have to say, I’m well impressed. Sometimes you just expect people to close ranks around their own, but Beverley was brave enough to say ‘no, hang on, this isn’t right’ and I’m sure she’ll appease a lot of people. In the mean time, Dogs Today, with the article in it, is circulating for the entire month. And I just wonder what damage it will do to the hard work put in every day by greyhound rehomers like Jen, and every retired greyhound waiting patiently for a loving home.
So lets hope not so many people will read the article.
Comment by Foreigner — April 2, 2008 @ 11:15 am
Comment by Deborah — April 2, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
As commented by others on Beverley’s blog - let’s hope she has a full edition of the magazine dedicated to Greyhounds as pets and commending the hard work and dedicated devotion given to these animals by rehoming centres.
Comment by Taffy's Mum — April 2, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
Deb: You’re spot on, it’s a great night out and the doggies love it. There are some unsavoury people in the industry, but the IGB are working hard on the welfare side, with a new welfare section on their website written by…you guessed it…our Jen!
TM: Well said. I’ll be really interested to see the next edition, won’t you?
Comment by englishmuminireland — April 2, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
It’s they way the individual dog has been bought up, and trained as a puppy ….
As to banning Greyhound racing .. again, laughable.. I am sure that some greyhounds are mis-treating by the breeders.. the same as horse probably are .. but that is the fault of the greeding/irrisponsible humans…..
makes me mad …. maybe they should learn from the animal lovers around such as EM, and Bugs (again, advertising her blog, sorry EM), but shows how loving both EM andf Bugs are about thier animals … just because there are idiots out there…… they are a tiny minority
Comment by Moon — April 2, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
Comment by englishmuminireland — April 2, 2008 @ 7:58 pm
Comment by Moon — April 2, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
Comment by SUSAN B — April 3, 2008 @ 5:08 am
Comment by englishmuminireland — April 3, 2008 @ 9:14 am
Comment by englishmuminireland — April 3, 2008 @ 9:16 am
Ten thousand greyhounds retire each year. What would vet Emma do, kill them all with her own fair hands?
Comment by Jay — April 3, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
Comment by englishmuminireland — April 3, 2008 @ 8:30 pm
[...] yesterday, Hubby and I decided to consult our greyhound guru, lovely M the trainer, top greyhound geezer and keeper of that most wondrous of hounds, Irish Sprinter of the Year, [...]
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