Appeal for Australia

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MessageAppeal for Australia

 

Donations urgently needed to save greyhounds down-under from torture and

death!

Australia is the worst country in the world for greyhounds. Please help us

build a greyhound protection movement there.

 

We reproduce (below) an article from Australian publication The Age.

 

Every year thousands of greyhounds are killed in Australia. Due to over

breeding and short racing 'careers' there is a huge surplus of greyhounds

with the majority of the dogs being slaughtered or ending their days being

cut open in vivisection laboratories.

 

Australian RSPCA figures provide evidence that many greyhounds are " disposed

of " through horrific methods such as drowning, shooting and beating - and

some have even been buried alive. Thousands of puppies that fail the grade

are routinely killed and many dogs are abandoned with little hope of finding

a home.

 

Recent investigations have revealed that the Australian greyhound racing

industry and other callous individuals are supplying an enormous number of

ex-racing greyhounds to universities, veterinary schools and vivisection

laboratories for the purpose of experimentation and dissection.

 

Greyhounds Australasia, which is the ruling body for dog racing in

Australia, claim they are against the supply of greyhounds for vivisection,

but they have refused to take action to protect the dogs from this barbaric

fate.

 

As if the Australian greyhound racing industry didn't have enough blood on

their hands, they have been heavily involved with the exportation of

greyhounds to Asia and the promotion of greyhound racing in several Asian

countries.

 

Racing and breeding is already underway in Vietnam, Macau, Korea and

Shanghai, using mainly dogs imported from Australia, and there are plans to

create a network of dog tracks throughout the Philippines and Cambodia.

These are countries notorious for the barbaric torture and slaughter of dogs

for human consumption, where there is no hope or opportunity of rehoming

greyhounds that are considered " surplus' to requirements " .

 

More info can be found on the Australia section of our international website

at http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/iaustraliaintro.html

 

Despite all this, there has not, until quite recently, been any organisation

in Australia concentrating its efforts on protecting greyhounds and putting

an end to the Australian dog racing industry.

 

Happily, our international section has now been successful in setting up a

branch of Greyhound Action in Australia, which carried out its first demo

against the greyhound racing industry in Melbourne quite recently. However,

the Australian anti greyhound racing is only very small at present and a big

effort needs to be made to recruit more supporters.

 

Thousands of leaflets, posters and other publicity and educational materials

have to be produced and funds are urgently needed in order to do this.

 

So, if you can help with a donation, please, please do so.

Cheques, postal orders and money orders should be made payable to Greyhound

Action International and sent to Greyhound Action International, Australia

Appeal, PO Box 127, Kidderminster, DY10 3UZ, England.

 

Tony Peters, Greyhound Action

www.greyhoundaction.org.uk

 

Brutalised greyhound found buried alive

By Lorna Edwards

October 6, 2004

 

Greyhound Action Australia's Emma Haswell, with her greyhound Gracie, says

many of the dogs are destroyed by foul means.

 

The brutal live burial of a greyhound near Hobart has prompted a campaign to

ban greyhound racing in Australia.

Animal activists Greyhound Action claim the incident highlights the dark

side of a sport that breeds and discards up to 15,000 dogs a year in this

country.

The Tasmanian RSPCA is investigating the case. The greyhound was heard

whimpering in bushland two weeks ago. It was found buried under a sheet of

tin and rock with its ear cut off to remove registration tattoos. It was

later put to sleep.

Other greyhound remains were found at the bushland dumping ground.

Tasmanian RSPCA's chief animal welfare officer Graeme Lewis said yesterday

he was confident the dog's owner could be traced through DNA testing and

tattoos found on the dog's remaining ear.

" Greyhound racing has had a bad name - deserved or otherwise - for some time

and this sort of thing doesn't help, " he said yesterday.

Greyhound Action Australia coordinator Emma Haswell said the killing

highlighted an unspoken practice in the industry.

She said there were people who loved greyhounds but many greyhounds were

destroyed by foul means.

Ms Haswell, a former vet, first became aware of international campaigns

against the Australian industry while living in the UK last year.

Many dogs that weren't killed when their racing careers were over faced

being used for experimentation in Australian universities or were exported

to Asian countries where some ended up on dinner plates, she said.

But the racing industry's peak body, Greyhounds Australasia, yesterday

vigorously denied the accusations of barbarity and said the industry was

appalled by the Hobart incident.

Greyhounds Australasia chief executive Geoff O'Connor said claims of

laboratory experiments and abuse after exportation to Asia lacked evidence.

While the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service did not keep figures on

the number of greyhounds sent to Asia, Mr O'Connor said his organisation had

instituted a passport system to make dog exporters more accountable.

Retired Australian dogs are exported to the fledgling greyhound racing

industries of China, Macau and Vietnam but animal activists claim there is

no accountability for their welfare once their two-year racing careers are

over.

Greyhound Action claims many find their way into the illegal dogmeat trade.