International News Summer 2004

ASIA
Vung Tau, Vietnam: According to an Aug. 12 news brief in The Saigon Times, Sports and Entertainment Services in Vung Tau has suspended greyhound racing following the death of an unreported number of greyhounds. Tainted dog food distributed by Effern Foods is suspected as the cause of death. The company is recalling the food in Vietnam and several neighboring countries. There are 600 greyhounds kenneled near the Vung Tau track.

Source: The Saigon Times

AUSTRALIA
Hobart, Tasmania: The RSPCA is searching for the person responsible for cutting off the tattooed ear of a racing greyhound and burying the dog alive under large rocks and a sheet of tin. The dog was found Sept. 23 by a young man after he heard whimpering coming from a popular dumping area near New Norfolk. The dog was an older female with a black body, white chest, white fur under her chin and two white "socks" on her back feet. Other greyhound remains also were found at the dump site.

RSPCA Tasmania Chief Animal Welfare Officer Graeme Lewis said the RSPCA was determined to catch the culprit, who faces a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and/or 18 months in jail under Tasmania's Animal Welfare Act of 1993. Lewis said the dog had obviously outlived its "usefulness" for greyhound racing or breeding.

"When the young man discovered her, she was suffering immensely and near death," Lewis said. "He then put the dog out of her misery. He is extremely distressed and traumatized by what he found." Lewis said he was confident the dog's owner would be traced through DNA testing and tattoos on the dog's remaining ear.

Animal activists Greyhound Action Australia claim the incident highlights the dark side of a sport that breeds and discards up to 15,000 greyhounds a year in Australia. GAA coordinator Emma Haswell said the killing highlighted an unspoken practice in the industry. Haswell, a former veterinarian, first became aware of international campaigns against the Australian dog racing industry while living in the UK last year.

Sources: The Mercury: Kane Young, Charles Waterhouse; The Age: Lorna Edwards

EUROPE
Belfast, Northern Ireland: The Animal Welfare Federation Northern Ireland (AWF) has voiced strong opposition to a proposed greyhound racetrack in Newtonards, stating that the industry is responsible for a greyhound "holocaust." AWF estimates 14,000 greyhounds are killed or abandoned across Ireland annually. The group based its statistics on estimates from the Irish SPCA, which claims that Ireland is the foremost greyhound breeding country in the world, with more than 20,000 greyhounds born each year. Many Irish greyhounds are exported to the UK and the U.S., and some to Spain and elsewhere. [The U.S. greyhound racing industry is the largest breeder of racing dogs; 5,171 litters, approximately 33,700 individual greyhounds, were produced in 2003. - Ed.]

AWF chairman Norman McCombe, speaking before city councillors Aug.25, said, "Before they die, these gentle dogs are often the victims of harsh treatment, cruelty, neglect and abuse. They are even maimed to eliminate the tattoos that identify the dog and its owner. Without radical reform of this industry, the construction of new racetracks should not be allowed."

Stephen Philpott, chief executive of the Ulster SPCA, voiced similar concerns about greyhound racing. "I would like to know what happens to the greyhounds when they retire. Something must happen to them. Last year we handled 4,000 dogs through our shelters and only two were greyhounds."

AWF, which represents a large number of animal sanctuaries and welfare groups in Northern Ireland, has gathered 3,500 local signatures against the proposed track and about 2,000 more from a web-based petition that includes signatories from the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Scandinavia. GNN readers may sign the petition online at: http://tinyurl.com/6oo8u

Source: Belfast Telegraph: Ben Lowry

Caerphilly, South Wales: A hearing was held Aug. 23 at Blackwood Magistrates Court for Andrew Gough, 28, the man accused of shooting a racing greyhound in the head with a captive bolt gun and cutting off its ears before leaving the dog to die on Fochriw Mountain in the Rhymney Valley. Gough pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.

The black male greyhound with distinctive white markings, who was discovered by a passerby in early May, had to be euthanized due to the extent of his injuries. It was later determined the dog had raced in South Wales under multiple names, including Last Hope, Charlie and Rusty. [See Summer 2004 issue of GNN for details. - Ed.]

Gough's trial was initially set for Oct. 10 but was postponed until Nov. 22. Gough failed to show up, however, and the magistrates proceeded without him, convicting him in abstensia of animal cruelty. A warrant was issued for Gough's arrest and no bail will be allowed when he is found.

Veterinarian Timothy Ingham, who treated Last Hope at his Cardiff clinic, testified that the dog "was responsive to me and turned his head and wagged his tail." When asked about what Last Hope would have experienced, Ingham answered, "Prolonged and extreme suffering."

Last Hope's owner John Hurley and trainer Mark Emmett testified against Gough. When shown photographs of the dog's body, both men admitted they had paid Gough to kill Last Hope because of the dog's poor performance at the Warwick track April 25. The owners of the three Welsh greyhound tracks banned Hurley and Emmett from racing their dogs at Welsh racetracks.

Addendum: Gough surrendered at Blackwood police station Nov. 30. He was sentenced Dec. 22 in Caerphilly Magistrate's Court to six months in jail and banned from keeping animals for life. Gough plans to appeal the conviction. Victor Watkins, chairman of the bench, said, "This was a deliberate and odious attack on a vulnerable dog to end its life and to render its identity unrecognisable. This was carried out to such a shocking degree that it's totally unacceptable in a civilized society."

[For more information about this case see the website of Greyhound Rescue Wales: www.greyhoundrescuewales.co.uk]

Sources: South Wales Echo;
The Western Mail; BBC News;
The Mirror: Richard Smith;
South Wales Argus

For comprehensive coverage of the international dog racing industry, visit the website of England-based Greyhound Action: www.greyhoundaction.org.uk