A major Clare charity that saves greyhounds from knackeries, by re-homing them, is calling for more action on welfare and problem of over-breeding.
The Clare Greyhound Sanctuary works with a range of international organisations to re-home Irish dogs who are deemed to be unsuitable for sport.
Recent revelations suggest that despite the efforts of rescue services, thousands of healthy dogs are put down every year.
A major investigation by Prime Time shed light on the activities of a number of greyhound breeders revealing significant over-breeding and the knock-on issue of the euthanising of thousands of healthy animals who don’t make it on the race track.
In this county, the Clare Greyhound Sanctuary work to re-home as many of those dogs as possible – mainly placing them in new homes overseas.
Petra Meyer who runs the facility has this message for the authorities.
The Irish Greyhound Board meanwhile have vowed to introduce a raft of new welfare protection measures, including a full traceabilty scheme, which is currently being developed.
They’ve also boosted funding for organisations including the Clare Greyhound Sanctuary and are working towards full re-homing of all retired greyhounds under its current strategic plan.
Ger Dollard, CEO of the IGB says rogue operators aren’t welcome in the industry.
Greyhound owners in this county have responded with alarm to the Prime Time revelations saying the behaviour of a minority are giving responsible operators a bad name.
Leonard McNamara has been working with greyhounds for 45 years and is former Chairperson of the Ennis/Clarecastle Coursing Club.
He believes the vast majority of owners in this county dedicate themselves to the welfare of 2-3 greyhounds and they want to see rogue operators kicked out of the sector:
The Irish Greyhound Board have recently established a 24/7 helpline for those who want to report welfare concerns. It can be reached at 061 448100. Emails can be sent to [email protected].
