Greyhounds, a Soapbox
Jul. 18th, 2006 10:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaelieYes, this is a soapbox.
Most of my friends and family know that I have a greyhound. My husband got him for me for an anniversary present two years ago this November, and although the adoption agency was worried that I might be unpleasantly surprised, Matt knows me well and has known that I had wanted one since my early college days. To that end for the six or seven months prior to the adoption, he prepared the house for our hound's arrival.
I have been fond of the breed since I first read about them while working at a book store. I stumbled across a book about them that I was supposed to be shelving, and fell in love. That was also when I found out what happens to them when they are retired from racing, or if they don't make the cut.
I'm a farm girl. I have a realistic viewpoint on the fate of animals for food, but this is another matter. Pets in general are another matter, even, but in my heart, greyhounds are a special case.
Thousands of these hounds are born each year, raised and trained to run, give their heart and soul to the chase, live and breathe for the full out run their bodies have been bred over the centuries to do. They give their all, and when they are injured, or when they have grown too old at three years, their fate is not as pretty as the fates of other athletes. And heaven forbid a hound fail training!
Well, in Great Britain, the fate of these hounds has come to light with a vengeance over the past few weeks. An exposé article uncovered a man who, over the past decade, has been paid by various breeders in the racing industry to permanently retire their old racing hounds. He is vilified and will become the fall-guy, but it is the industry itself that should be attacked.
The people against the slaughter of these hounds are proposing a fix to the symptom, not the problem: "A new code of practice proposed under the animal welfare bill would restrict the killing of greyhounds to vets using lethal injections."
I think this law, should it pass, will result in the racing industry using even less humane methods of ridding themselves of the greyhound. I fear they will simply abandon them, or throw them out of the back of a moving vehicle, or some other equally horrifying method of 'losing' a dog.
I think the laws should address other issues, such as a restriction on the number of hounds that are bred each year, and more effort in finding homes for hounds that are ready to be retired.
Anyway, here are some links to the stories:
BBC News: Racing watchdog probes dog deaths
Times Online: Revealed: the man who killed 10,000 dogs
Most of my friends and family know that I have a greyhound. My husband got him for me for an anniversary present two years ago this November, and although the adoption agency was worried that I might be unpleasantly surprised, Matt knows me well and has known that I had wanted one since my early college days. To that end for the six or seven months prior to the adoption, he prepared the house for our hound's arrival.
I have been fond of the breed since I first read about them while working at a book store. I stumbled across a book about them that I was supposed to be shelving, and fell in love. That was also when I found out what happens to them when they are retired from racing, or if they don't make the cut.
I'm a farm girl. I have a realistic viewpoint on the fate of animals for food, but this is another matter. Pets in general are another matter, even, but in my heart, greyhounds are a special case.
Thousands of these hounds are born each year, raised and trained to run, give their heart and soul to the chase, live and breathe for the full out run their bodies have been bred over the centuries to do. They give their all, and when they are injured, or when they have grown too old at three years, their fate is not as pretty as the fates of other athletes. And heaven forbid a hound fail training!
Well, in Great Britain, the fate of these hounds has come to light with a vengeance over the past few weeks. An exposé article uncovered a man who, over the past decade, has been paid by various breeders in the racing industry to permanently retire their old racing hounds. He is vilified and will become the fall-guy, but it is the industry itself that should be attacked.
The people against the slaughter of these hounds are proposing a fix to the symptom, not the problem: "A new code of practice proposed under the animal welfare bill would restrict the killing of greyhounds to vets using lethal injections."
I think this law, should it pass, will result in the racing industry using even less humane methods of ridding themselves of the greyhound. I fear they will simply abandon them, or throw them out of the back of a moving vehicle, or some other equally horrifying method of 'losing' a dog.
I think the laws should address other issues, such as a restriction on the number of hounds that are bred each year, and more effort in finding homes for hounds that are ready to be retired.
Anyway, here are some links to the stories:
BBC News: Racing watchdog probes dog deaths
Times Online: Revealed: the man who killed 10,000 dogs
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-18 04:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 02:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-18 05:31 pm (UTC)Breeders/Owners should be held to a high standard and watched carefully. Track owners need to take part in this.
Maybe a registration process for breeders/owners could be established, or if one exist, improving it. You're not registered and/or found in non-compliance with all governing rules...you don't race, your hounds are then put up for adoption. Chips implanted in all hounds, used in the registration process...Tracking active racers, retired racers and bitches.
Violations for:
Excessive breeding (puppy farms).
Breeding without a license. Racing more than the allowed number of hounds.
Failure to change status of hound from active to retired.
And so on.
Heavy fines for all violations. Find ways to stick to their bottom line. Simply passing laws won't get the industry's attention...hitting them in the purse will.
It may all sound far-fetched...but something can be done.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 02:20 pm (UTC)Of all the pure-bred dogs in the world, I think that the greyhound is the only one currently with a three year "expiration" date. :-/