Cover Stories Spring 2002

Greyhound Racing Spreads to South Korea

Seoul: The opening meeting of greyhound racing as a recreational sport is scheduled for April 13 at a new racetrack outside this populous Southeast Asian city. The first shipment of greyhounds, number unknown, were flown to Seoul from Sydney, Australia on March 4.

The Australian TWM Communications Group, headed by Tim Michael, will be supplying greyhounds to Spa Corporation, which will conduct racing events. The dogs will be resold to multinational companies such as Hyundai and Samsung to race under their company logos. The companies will race their dogs against one another on Corporate Sports Days. There is no legalized betting in Korea.

Michael's business partner, Charlie Riccio, will be in Seoul to represent Australia. "The principal of the club, Mr. Taek Ho Shin, has planned a huge international meeting to open the track and representatives from America, Italy, Ireland, Russia, and Vietnam also will be attending," Riccio said.

Riccio anticipates that greyhound racing will become popular in the Korean culture, adding that there are already plans for another four tracks to be built. "This venture has the potential to be the biggest operation of its kind and within two or three years we could be exporting up to 3,000 greyhounds a year to the Koreans," Riccio said.

Source: The (Sydney) Sunday Telegraph: John Davis

Action: Dogs are openly sold for human consumption in Korea. Readers are urged to write letters to Australian greyhound racing officials asking them to stop the export of greyhounds to Korea and Vietnam. A list of contact names and add-resses can be obtained online at www.ameurogreyhoundalliance.org. Readers without Internet access may write to GNN for the list of contacts.