RE.Measuring the greyhound massacre

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Measuring the Greyhound Massacre

 

Just how many dogs are put to death by the British greyhound racing industry?

 

Greyhound racing seems to be surrounded by figures - trap numbers, starting

prices, prize money, profit and loss accounts. But one figure which the

racing industry never publishes, and doesn't even bother to calculate, is the

figure for the number of greyhounds killed every year, either because they

are " not good enough " for racing or because their racing days are over.

The only such figure we have ever come across from the greyhound racing

industry appeared in 1999 in a letter to the Herne Bay Times from Simon

Marcantonio of the British Greyhound Racing Board, who said that " only " 500

greyhounds a year were killed when their racing careers were over. We don't

think many members of the public would consider the word " only " to be

appropriate to a figure of 500 dogs killed - and it's pretty obvious

anywaythat Marcantonio just plucked the figure out of the air in an attempt

tocounter claims by anti-racing campaigners.

Sadly, the true figure is massively higher than 500, as our calculations

below will show.

So how can we come to some sort of estimate of how many dogs are killed?

We can start out by trying to work out how many greyhounds are born

everyyear.The National Coursing Club and the Irish Coursing Club keep records

of how many greyhound litters are registered each year in Britain and

Ireland. According to figures published in 2001, 696 litters were registered

in Britain and 3,731 in Ireland during the preceding 12 months.The general

consensus amongst those involved in greyhound rescue seems to be that

greyhound litters comprise 8 pups, on average.Therefore, the figures would

indicate that approximately 5,500 (8x696=5,568)greyhounds are born every year

in Britain and 30,000 (8x3,731=29,848) in Ireland.There is also bound to be a

considerable number of unregistered litters,where greyhounds are bred for

such purposes as hunting, rough coursing and unlicensed racing - so the total

number of greyhounds born annually in the British Isles could quite easily

exceed 40,000.

Individual greyhounds are also registered (at just a few months old), and

when the figures for these are examined, a very disturbing situation

emerges. From the 696 British litters, 4,165 pups were registered. This is an

averageof only 6 pups per litter - so what has happened to the other 2 pups

per litter? About 1,400 pups seem to have gone missing.

In Ireland 20,694 pups were registered from the 3,731 litters, an average of

just over 5.5 per litter, meaning a shortfall of more than 9,000 pups.Where

are these missing puppies - a total of almost 10,500 altogether?

We only have to ask ourselves, is it likely that greyhound breeders, who are

in business to make a profit, are going to allow weak puppies or runts of

litters to remain alive?

Are such people going to put their hands in their pockets to pay for food,

bedding etc. for dogs which will never be any good for racing and which

they'll never be able to sell?

The majority of dogs which race on British tracks are imported from Ireland,

as the greyhound racing industry in Britain is much bigger than it is in the

Irish Republic.

There are about 20 tracks in Ireland, where as in Britain there are over

30 " official " tracks (operating, supposedly, under the rules of the

NationalGreyhound Racing Club - NGRC) and about 25 independent or " flapping "

tracks. Because the independent tracks are smaller operations than the

" official " tracks, it seems safe that the industry is about twice as big in

Britain as it is in Ireland.

Therefore, of the estimated 40,000 greyhounds bred annually in the British

Isles, it would seem that the British industry is responsible for about

25,000 (taking account of the fact that a small percentage of dogs are bred

for coursing rather than racing).In order to run on the " official " tracks,

dogs have to be registered again,with the NGRC, and such registrations

totalled 9,938 in 2001.There is no way of finding an exact figure for dogs

entering racing on independent tracks in the same year, but we can safely say

this amounts to less than 5,000 additional dogs, given that the independent

tracks are fewer and smaller-scale, and taking into account that many NGRC

registered dogs also run on independent tracks (despite this being forbidden

by NGRC rules). So if less than 15,000 of the 25,000 dogs bred annually for

the British tracks get as far as actually racing, what has happened to the

other 10,000?

 

According to the greyhound racing industry, about 75% of dogs running on

British tracks originate in Ireland. According to many greyhound rescues,the

figure is nearer 90%.If we use the lower figure of 75%, then only 3,750 of

the estimated 15,000dogs entering racing annually in Britain are British in

origin. But, based on the litter registration figures from the National

Coursing Club, about 5,500 greyhounds are bred in Britain every year. So what

hashappened to the 1,750 British dogs which obviously don't make it as far as

the track?

If the figure of 90% is used instead, this shortfall of British dogs becomes

4,150! Another indication of the scale of the greyhound slaughter comes from

the statement of a vet at the World Conference of Greyhound Federations

(WCGF) held in London in 1998, who admitted to destroying, on average,

nine,healthy, young dogs a week at the Nottingham track. If the same thing is

happening at all the other 31 " official " stadiums, that would mean that a

total of about 15,000 dogs are being destroyed a year by vets at these

tracks. Seeing as NGRC registration figures indicate that less than 10,000

dogs begin their " careers " at " official " tracks every year, the figure of

15,000 must include thousands of dogs destroyed before they even enter

racing.

In addition, the figure of 15,000 doesn't take into account the thousands of

dogs " put to sleep " by other vets or killed by other methods.

The Retired Greyhound Trust, set up some years ago by the greyhound racing

industry in response to disquiet about the number of greyhounds abandoned and

killed, claims to find homes for about 2,000 dogs per year. This figure is

open to suspicion. As many of these dogs are actually homed for the RGT by

other greyhound rescues and it has been claimed that some dogs are counted

twice in the figures if they are returned to the RGT and then homed again.

However, for the sake of argument, we shall say 2,000. To this must be added

the number of non-RGT dogs homed by other rescues.This is unlikely to be more

than 2,000 as there are less of these rescues than there are RGT branches.

Then there are the dogs which continue to be looked after by their

" owners " when they are no longer able to race. It is impossible to arrive at

an exact figure for these, but it is unlikely to be more than a few

thousand.The racing industry would have us believe that almost all the

approx. 10,000 dogs which " retire " from racing on " official " tracks every

year are looked after by their " owners " or trainers when their racing days

are over.

Greyhounds can easily live to be at least 12years old, so if the industry

claims are to be believed, at any one time there would be 100,000 ex-racing

greyhounds in the country.

All this without taking into account the thousands of dogs which don't even

make it to the race track. Also, almost all greyhounds which are seen out and

about, being taken for walks etc. are not with their original " owners " but

with people who have got them from rescues.

Sadly, it seems quite clear to us that at least 20,000 of the 25,000 dogs

bred annually for racing in Britain end up being " put to sleep " or killed by

other, more horrific, methods in order to avoid veterinary fees.This amounts

to the killing of 50 greyhounds every day!

The " official " tracks, being, in general, much bigger operations than the

independents, are no doubt the cause of the major part of this slaughter -

and we would estimate that each NGRC track is responsible, on average, for

the deaths of at least 500 greyhounds every year.This ties in with the

statement of the vet (mentioned above) at the WCGF, because if 9 greyhounds

are being destroyed every week at each of these tracks, the total comes to

450 per track every year, without taking into account dogs killed elsewhere.

 

Any wonder why the racing industry doesn't keep records or publish figures

for the number of dogs that are killed!

 

We welcome any constructive comments on the figures or estimates we have

mentioned above and we are very keen to receive any additional information.

 

We have no intention of exaggerating the extent of the slaughter - even one

greyhound killed would be one too many. We just want to cut through the

racing industry's veil of secrecy and arrive at something near the truth.

 

Greyhound Action, PO Box 127, Kidderminster, DY10 3UZ Tel: 01562 745778

Fax: 0870 138 3993E-mail: <A

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