Hey Ireland!
I follow a good few shelters/rescues/animal welfare orgs from Ireland and continental Europe on IG. Yesterday I came across this post from Hundar Utan Hem (means Dogs without Homes), a rescue from Sweden, which pulls dogs from Irish pounds, among others, and transports the unwanted ones (bully breeds, greyhounds, huskies) from Ireland (and some other countries), to their forever homes in Sweden. They work with many rescues based in Ireland, like Husky Rescue.
This is by no means a promo post for this org, I just wanted to give you some background. However, the overall cruelty & treatment of these dogs (similar to Galgo racing in Spain) plus the comments under the post from Swedish people, just got me thinking – why is greyhound racing still happening in Ireland? Surely, there is nothing entertaining about this. And what can we do to help to ban this?
by Open_Big_1616
26 comments
We could start by pressuring the government not to give them millions of euro of our money each year. That might be a starting point..
There are far worse things happening to animals in Ireland than greyhound racing unfortunately
Ireland is genuinely still stuck in the old times… Old crusty nearly dead fuckers running this country driving it completely into the ground… This place absolutely sucks ass… The animal cruelty is disgusting here…. I volunteered for the gspca one time and I went out collecting for the animals loads of people donated but the ones who asked what it was for and I explained they give a disgusted “ugghh, eye roll and say “why what’s the point” people are disgusting
Yep it’s fucked. One day we’ll look at the way humans treated animals the same as how we look at the holocaust now. Disgraceful behaviour justified by willful ignorance of the science of consciousness in animals.
I had absolutely no idea that so many dogs were thrown out of the industry that other countries were having to step in to shoulder the burden. Barbaric.
There’s a greyhound stadium beside my house. I have allways though it would class to shut it down and turn it into a cycle track they could even charge a few bob and keep the cafe open to get money in. The current stadium only has event 1 night a week and is just an eye sore at this stage.
>why is greyhound racing still happening in Ireland?
Because theres more people here that are pro-dog racing than are anti-dog racing. But the vast, vast majority of people don’t really care either way, so theres no great incentive to push for a ban.
The body responsible for greyhound racing in Ireland, the IGB, is basically a good boy club with no interest in reform or policing. It exists for profit and nothing else, sickens me to my core.
A good rescue in Ireland is The Orchard Rescue in Roscrea. Ran by a very well-educated American woman.
Don’t worry the Green Party are in Government and this is a top priority for them. In sure the Junior minister who breeds racehorses will get right around to reducing funding for dog racing and horse racing any day now.
It still has a lot of supporters, including those in government.
I have a grey (not raced). Mostly people are positive about the breed but have had people ask why would we want to keep him as a pet. Unfortunately there’s still an attitude with some that they’re only meant for racing.
Barbaric. Cunts
It’s a barbaric industry, the whole country was outraged after the RTE expose on it, but I see little change. The lucky ones make it to rescue, or pounds. the unlucky ones are killed and thrown in mass graves like rubbish. Fair play to the likes of the Swedes or American’s who take our excess rescues and give them homes. The Haven Rescue in Tipp regularity sends dogs abroad, same as Andy in Husky Rescue. They’re a lifeline for all these unwanted dogs.
I genuinely thought it was banned years ago, I remember on the radio them getting rid of the track dogs
Perhaps I misunderstood
It’s entertaining and I make good money on the dogs
I do a ton of writing to the Animal Welfare Unit Dept of Agriculture, mainly around educational initiatives for Animal Welfare.
I received the below reply from Minister McConalogues office based on my last proposal to the department: (I received this reply on Tuesday this week, 19th March)
In relation to the animal welfare training technology you describe, it may be of benefit to your organisation to make direct contact with charities engaged in animal welfare to offer your services.
The Department dedicates a substantial level of funding to support animal welfare charity organisations. In December 2023, the Department announced record funding of €6 million to 101 animal welfare charities nationwide, through the Animal Welfare grants programme. This is the largest award of grant funding to animal welfare bodies ever made by the Department. Applications for the 2024 Animal Welfare Grants programme will be opened for eligible charities when it is launched later this year.
Basically, they don’t want to know!
They want to pass the buck to the animal charities through pittance funding (compared to 95 million euro to Greyhound/Horse racing funding).
They don’t want education to be funded, they want only the for-profit/known animal abuse industry to continue to line rheir friends’ pockets.
[deleted]
It’s open knowledge that the average greyhound racing enthusiast bumps off multiple dogs that don’t make the cut every year. Or they have someone that does it for them. Then there’s the whole blood sport element tied up with coursing.
Just get rid of it.
Was at a greyhound track when I was a kid but not since, can anyone explain why this is viewed as worse potentially then horse racing or the likes? Is it because they are dogs specifically in this case?
Hi, in case the people in this comment section are interested in shelter and animal helping organisations and stuff like that…
This is just a reminder the the SPCA is NOT an animal helping organisation. They support gas chambers. They lie to the public about conditions on farms. They call farms where there are dead chickens laying around, infected chickens, dying chickens, chickens with barely any feathers, where the air is so filthy it scars their lungs… ethical. They support farrowing crates, gas Chambers, slaughterhouses. If you think about the word. Just really think about it. “Slaughter”-“House”. A “house” built just for slaughtering innocent animals, who never did anything wrong in their life. Anything, or anyone that supports a building like that does not, and can not care about animals.
So this is just a reminder that the SPCA does not care about animals, they support cruelty to them, lie to the public about it and hide cruelty to them. They really are the “Society for Profiting from Cruelty to Animals”.
Joey Carbstrong has videos on it.
It still exists because of the amount of money it generates mostly through the bookies. The govt even approved funding for it in the last budget iirc.
And why is it funded by the government?
It’s quite embarrassing that you’ve rescue charities in other countries needing to step in like that.
You see similar cringe inducing stories about Irish puppy farms.
We don’t take animal welfare seriously enough.
Greyhound racing is dying out, tg.
But until the government stops funding it, it will be around for another while.
A Vets I worked in used to use them. Think they’re been around a little while now. Had a couple dogs go there that were at risk of being put to sleep in Irish pounds and shelters.
That pr*** of a minister McConalogue is heavily involved in greyhound racing. I’ve also heard he has some v.dodgy connections to people who have committed crimes against animals. Holly Cairns brought it up last year and she was laughed at.
Animal cruelty is rife in Ireland, and nothing is ever done about it.
Myself and my family adopted an ex-racing Greyhound 2 years ago – she will be 6 in July.
They are such great pets, the best description I’ve ever heard is Cat Software, Dog Hardware. They need very little excercise, once they can get out for a decent sprint every day, they’ll laze around the rest of the time.
They are affectionate, great around kids