RTE Investigates programme on greyhound racing industry

ILoveYourVibes

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

This hound looks the perfect weight. You should see three ribs, according to my vet.

You just looked that up online.

No its the whole body condition. And it was a vet and a greyhound trainer who identified the picture online as being underweight.

You can't look up something online and get a description. It takes years of experience to be able to identify these things.

I wouldn't have posted it had i not seen a vet and a greyhound trainer say the dog was underweight.

This is easily solved is the owner in question prepared to let a vet CHECK the dog?

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

You just looked that up online

I can only assume that you have a particularly limited intelligence quotient if you can’t understand the last four words of a simple sentence.

ILoveYourVibes

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

I can only assume that you have a particularly limited intelligence quotient if you can’t understand the last four words of a simple sentence.

A vet looked at the dog and a greyhound trainer (who saw the dog in person) and said the dog looked in poor condition and underweight.

mikeym

What are the benefits to Greyhound Racing? I havent seen one decent one posted so far just some people trying to defend the accusations.

Hopefully the government wont give a cent to the IGB and let them stand on their own two feet.

ILoveYourVibes

mikeym wrote: »

What are the benefits to Greyhound Racing? I havent seen one decent one posted so far just some people trying to defend the accusations.

Hopefully the government wont give a cent to the IGB and let them stand on their own two feet.

300 million to the economy. Jobs that feed humans.

And no the people who work in the industry are not all bad.

My brother and virtually all of his mates at one point worked at shelbourne. Lovely hard working guys. My brother completed his PHD and if was the only job to pay a high enough wage part time.

One friend still works there. He is openly gay and his employers have always been supportive.

gozunda

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

300 million to the economy. Jobs that feed humans. And no the people who work in the industry are not all bad. My brother and virtually all of his mates at one point worked at shelbourne. Lovely hard working guys. My brother completed his PHD and if was the only job to pay a high enough wage part time. One friend still works there. He is openly gay and his employers have always been supportive.

Two older neighbours. Have had greyhounds all their lives. Great to see these dogs exercised well and looking fit and healthy. Dogs kept better than what they have themselves. Kind and honest people. Do not smoke, maybe have the occasional pint. Their passion is their greyhounds which they are hugely knowledgable as to care of greyhounds with racing their main interest and a great social outlet for them and others like them.

To hear the eejits going on about such such people as 'vile' and 'scum' makes my blood boil.Tbh it's easy to identify who the real 'scum' are and imo it's not people like these ...

Graces7

Discodog wrote: »

They have to publish accounts as registered charities.

They receive very little money because we don't donate to animal charities - The UK public give 6 times more per person that we do.

Those charities, that you criticise, save thousands of dogs per year. We used to kill 15000 dogs per year, in the Pounds. That figure is now below 5000 because of the hard work that you denigrate.

Read this y'day...

https://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/109218/over-160-dogs-entered-mayo-pound-last-year

dudara

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

...

Its clear those people are happy to abuse children and animals.

...

Statements like the above are excessive. Reign it in please.
dudara

ILoveYourVibes

Originally Posted by Discodog View Post
They have to publish accounts as registered charities.

They receive very little money because we don't donate to animal charities - The UK public give 6 times more per person that we do.

Those charities, that you criticise, save thousands of dogs per year. We used to kill 15000 dogs per year, in the Pounds. That figure is now below 5000 because of the hard work that you denigrate.

I would dispute that.

916 dogs were put to sleep in Irish local authority pounds last year

https://www.thejournal.ie/dog-control-statistics-4022256-May2018/

The above is NOT counting greyhounds. Roughly 400 greyhounds are put down each year. https://www.thejournal.ie/greyhounds-put-down-exported-ireland-2783792-May2016/

AN AVERAGE OF 38 greyhounds are being put down every month in Ireland because of overbreeding and a lack of homes for them, animal welfare groups say.

So in reality each year in Ireland in TOTAL there are about 1400 dogs put down. So your information is totally and wildly inaccurate. Your estimate was nearly 5 times the ACTUAL amount of dogs put down.

Any time you hear a charity give THOSE kind of numbers you need to question why they are doing what they are doing. Its probably a scam. And there are plenty of those about.

I have also seen some charities keeping dogs in the types of conditions you would expect them to be removed from.

I would agree with you that British Animal Charities seem to have a better standard of care than Irish ones.

I don't think its to do with money though.

Also I am not sure if the situation has changed since around 2011.

But

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/charity-kills-three-in-five-dogs-mgqsb9676jj

Charity kills three in five dogs

Pounds run by the ISPCA are putting down a higher percentage of animals than private shelters but blames the discrepancy on refusal to rehome in UK Dog pounds run by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) are putting down three in every five of the animals they rescue. Two facilities operated by ISPCA, in Donegal and Roscommon, are recorded as putting down 85% and 80% respectively of the dogs in their care.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/most-dogs-rescued-by-ispca-destroyed-26724440.html

Most dogs rescued by ISPCA destroyed

Noel Griffin made some really controversial comments back then.

He made some comments about other smaller charities that rehomed dogs abroad that really angered people.

Their figures for the number put down would always be higher because they did not give dogs to other welfare groups to rehome in Britain, he added.

"We know for a fact that dogs are being exported in appalling conditions to the UK. If we also shipped dogs we would improve our figures."Noel Griffin, the ISPCA's chief executive said that his group's put to sleep figures were higher than other pounds because it does not give dogs to other welfare groups to rehome in Britain. He questioned how other Irish animal-welfare groups were managing to find homes for dogs that he said were of "no value" & "not the prettiest".

"The exporting of dogs to the UK improves the statistics but I would question where these dogs are going" said Griffin.

Griffin questioned why rescue groups in Britain, who accept Irish strays were taking "a load of old mongrels". "With all due respect to the little dogs they are not the prettiest so what is the attraction ?. Why would someone take five or six dogs to England ?. These are not thoroughbreds that have a value. When a dog has no value I think animal welfare goes out the window".

Griffin said that the ISPCA did not give unwanted dogs to charities like the Dog's Trust

Pretty horrible way for him to speak about it. And he is basically saying that the ISPCA didn't give dogs they were going to put down to other charities.

I am just wondering why these places put like 80% of the dogs down.

Andrew Kelly is the chief executive officer now though thankfully.

I have to say when i volunteered for a local authority I was very uncomfortable with some of the things that went on. People just thought i was being difficult. Not at all.

Bear in mind at that time (not sure about now) the ISPCA got €1 million in payment from local authorities to run Pounds. They also get donations. Pretty sure they could do better than that.

Discodog

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

This hound looks the perfect weight. You should see three ribs, according to my vet.

It's insane when this discussion revolves around the definition of what a Greyhound is & what it should look like.

I found my girl battered & bruised on Shop Street in Galway. She soon recovered & had a wonderful life.

Every now & then an ill informed person would comment on her ribs. My Vet joked that she would give me a letter confirming that the dog was ion excellent health.

Discodog

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

300 million to the economy. Jobs that feed humans.

And no the people who work in the industry are not all bad.

My brother and virtually all of his mates at one point worked at shelbourne. Lovely hard working guys. My brother completed his PHD and if was the only job to pay a high enough wage part time.

One friend still works there. He is openly gay and his employers have always been supportive.

What has that got to do with the discussion ?

Discodog

Graces7 wrote: »

Read this y'day...

https://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/109218/over-160-dogs-entered-mayo-pound-last-year

Strange that Vibes thanked this post.

160 dogs entered the Pound

Only 7 were killed thanks to the amazing work of the rescues, that are being dreadfully pilloried, who saved 131 dogs.

It's bad enough that they get no proper funding & give so much of their time but then have to suffer verbal abuse from ignorant people.

jackboy

Discodog wrote: »

Every now & then an ill informed person would comment on her ribs. My Vet joked that she would give me a letter confirming that the dog was ion excellent health.

To judge a fit healthy greyhound look at the back rather than the ribs. The greyhound in that picture was malnourished and in poor condition.

Discodog

jackboy wrote: »

To judge a fit healthy greyhound look at the back rather than the ribs. The greyhound in that picture was malnourished and in poor condition.

My girl was like that because she was malnourished as a puppy. That dog is almost certainly a rescue. It's typical that some would condemn a new owner because of a previous owner.

jackboy

Discodog wrote: »

My girl was like that because she was malnourished as a puppy. That dog is almost certainly a rescue. It's typical that some would condemn a new owner because of a previous owner.

I am only saying that dog is in poor condition now, I don’t know it’s history. If you know the current owner make sure the dog is given an appropriate amount of meat and fat in its feed. It will recover within weeks if treated right.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

My girl was like that because she was malnourished as a puppy. That dog is almost certainly a rescue. It's typical that some would condemn a new owner because of a previous owner.

In that case a rescue would never release a dog until its a healthy weight or it shouldn't.

If she rescued him alone and not through a rescue he should be on rest until a healthy weight. He should not be making day trips into town for a protest.

You also didn't reply to the fact that you way over estimated the amount of dogs put down. You said it was 5000. According to reports by welfare its around 1400 per year right now. With greyhounds being about 400 per year.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

What has that got to do with the discussion ?

I am not certain if it was you. But several people have stated that people who work in the industry are evil for doing so.

I was making the point that is not true.

ILoveYourVibes

Originally Posted by Roger Mellie Man on the Telly View Post
This hound looks the perfect weight. You should see three ribs, according to my vet.

I can see five ribs in the picture.

The dog's spine is totally showing. And its hip bones are protruding hugely there is zero muscle usually a greyhounds hips would be rounded.

Once again i say it was a vet that commented on the picture.

The fact that you are defending animal neglect based on the fact that you agree with the political views of its owner is worrying.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

Strange that Vibes thanked this post.

160 dogs entered the Pound

Only 7 were killed thanks to the amazing work of the rescues, that are being dreadfully pilloried, who saved 131 dogs.

It's bad enough that they get no proper funding & give so much of their time but then have to suffer verbal abuse from ignorant people.

I thanked it because it made the point that your figure of 5000 dogs a year being put to sleep was outrageous.

Discodog

jackboy wrote: »

I am only saying that dog is in poor condition now, I don’t know it’s history. If you know the current owner make sure the dog is given an appropriate amount of meat and fat in its feed. It will recover within weeks if treated right.

My girl was only around a year old & only had a 14 inch waist. She was fed a Vet approved diet but never really gained much weight. I don't know the owner, you don't know the owner & Vibes doesn't know the owner. So anyone commenting on a photo without knowing the dog, owner or history is ill informed.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

My girl was only around a year old & only had a 14 inch waist. She was fed a Vet approved diet but never really gained much weight. I don't know the owner, you don't know the owner & Vibes doesn't know the owner. So anyone commenting on a photo without knowing the dog, owner or history is ill informed.

Feed the dog more. Higher energy feed too.

Why is it so important for you to defend the owner? You don't know she is a good owner or a bad owner would it not be better to be safe and ask the vet to just have a look a the dog?


You seem more interested in defending the owner than the dog.

Discodog

Discodog wrote: »

My girl was only around a year old & only had a 14 inch waist. She was fed a Vet approved diet but never really gained much weight. I don't know the owner, you don't know the owner & Vibes doesn't know the owner. So anyone commenting on a photo without knowing the dog, owner or history is ill informed.

And I’ll bet that vet approved diet wasn’t cheap!
If she wasn’t improving on it, why didn’t you change? There are many good quality greyhound feed stuffs out there. They cater for all ages from birth to old age. Gain, especially having a wide range.

Sometimes the best diet is the good old fashioned bread, rice or pasta, with raw meat, liver is great, plus a good veg soup and a dash of honey. My oldies loved a slice of toast with butter and honey! Made a mess of the floor, but they loved it!

Discodog

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

I thanked it because it made the point that your figure of 5000 dogs a year being put to sleep was outrageous.

I was using the surrendered figures & making an approximate comparison to previous years. I am aware of the Pound statistics especially as I have used them in recommendations to legislators.

You can't make your mind up. One minute you are saying that a relatively low but still too many, dogs are killed in Pounds. Next you're condemning the rescues that saved & rehomed those dogs.

Discodog

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Feed the dog more. Higher energy feed too.

Why is it so important for you to defend the owner? You don't know she is a good owner or a bad owner would it not be better to be safe and ask the vet to just have a look a the dog?


You seem more interested in defending the owner than the dog.

You seem to be condemning an owner or whomever she is based on a photo but mainly because she opposes racing. You are using the photo & the dog to try & insult a group of people.

ILoveYourVibes

Greyhounds aren't like other breeds. They need way more food sometimes. Hard keepers.

Kind of like the diff between thorough breds and cobs.

By the way the DSPCA has on their website in their horse care section that TBs need less food than COBS. Its actually the other way around. :rolleyes: TBs are hardkeepers. Maybe its a typo.

Bulldogs keep weight easy whippets lurchers etc don't always.

I agree maybe we should not be so quick to judge. But it should go both ways.

Discodog

Deleted User wrote: »

And I’ll bet that vet approved diet wasn’t cheap!
If she wasn’t improving on it, why didn’t you change? There are many good quality greyhound feed stuffs out there. They cater for all ages from birth to old age. Gain, especially having a wide range.

Sometimes the best diet is the good old fashioned bread, rice or pasta, with raw meat, liver is great, plus a good veg soup and a dash of honey. My oldies loved a slice of toast with butter and honey! Made a mess of the floor, but they loved it!

I trusted my Vet & still do. She lived to almost 14.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

You seem to be condemning an owner or whomever she is based on a photo but mainly because she opposes racing. You are using the photo & the dog to try & insult a group of people.

I am sorry if it appears that way. Her face is not shown in the picture.

I could say you are doing the same about everyone in the greyhound industry.

I know plenty of people oppose racing. They do it differently though.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

I trusted my Vet & still do. She lived to almost 14.

Fairplay.

Discodog

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Greyhounds aren't like other breeds. They need way more food sometimes. Hard keepers.

Kind of like the diff between thorough breds and cobs.

By the way the DSPCA has on their website in their horse care section that TBs need less food than COBS. Its actually the other way around. :rolleyes: TBs are hardkeeprs. Maybe its a typo.

Bulldogs keep weight easy whippets lurchers etc don't always.

I agree maybe we should not be so quick to judge. But it should go both ways.

You only go one way. You have hurled pages of abuse at the very people who save thousands of dogs every year. You should be ashamed of your comments.

ILoveYourVibes

Discodog wrote: »

You only go one way. You have hurled pages of abuse at the very people who save thousands of dogs every year. You should be ashamed of your comments.

Not true. If you take a look earlier in the thread i criticized people in the greyhound industry too.

I have actually volunteered in several of these places myself. (charities)

I am very proud of my comments. I am not afraid of pointing out sacred cows.

What should i make of the comments of Noel Griffin former chief exec of the ISPCA? Are they ok?

Of the high kill rate of their centers?

They kill more dogs than they save.

Personal attacks has been hurled at me everything from 'You are just stupid' to ' Your grammar is terrible'.

People have hurled abuse at EVERYONE in the greyhound industry.

Pointing out abuse in the Greyhound industry is a good thing. Always. Wanting to improve it etc always a good thing.