23.01.2010
Coventry dog track closes its doors for the last time and despite numerous rumours of potential interested parties to re-open the track – the long campaign by the local Greyhound Action branch eventually reaps dividends and Brandon’s doors remain firmly locked.
Coventry’s dog racing stadium looks to have run its last race
Further to a Greyhound Action press release – the Oxford Mail publishes an article ‘End racing call after dog’s death’ Neither the stadium nor the Greyhound Board of Great Britain were willing to confirm how many dogs had to be destroyed last year.
End racing call after dog’s death
Following the shameful broadcast of Three Men go to Ireland which promoted greyhound racing to an international audience without any acknowledgement of its canine star – Snip Nua – having subsequently been destroyed – Greytexploitations asks the question ‘Did the BBC Callously Dismiss the Deaths of Two Greyhounds?’
Thousands of concerned viewers worldwide complained to the BBC and despite unwarranted threats of litigation to Greytexploitations – the BBC were eventually forced to admit ‘The programme footage for ‘Three Men Go to Ireland’ shot in October had already been edited and finalised by the time we heard about the sad news of Snip. Even assuming that the BBC was aware of the fate of Snip before the programmes were broadcast, we do not feel that we needed to flag this up to viewers in programme announcements before or after the programme’
Did the BBC callously dismiss the deaths of two greyhounds?
On January 21st Greytexploitations met with the Animal Welfare Minister Jim Fitzpatrick in London to raise concerns over the failure of the Animal Welfare Act to protect racing greyhounds. Although the subsequent meeting was cancelled due to the election – during the House of Commons debate on the Greyhound Welfare Regulations Mr Fitzpatrick did acknowledge there were problems regarding “the Animal Welfare Act’s policing powers and enforcement powers” – “its practical application for animal welfare purposes in support of the greyhound regulations” and stated the act will be reviewed during the next 12 months and under its 5 year review in 2011.