Boris Johnson – the current Mayor of London presently campaigning for re-election has again shown his support for the campaign to bring back greyhound racing and the gambling on dogs to Walthamstow.
In a letter to Ricky Holloway the leader of the Save Our Stow campaign – Mr Johnson states he would welcome a user who would facilitate dog racing on land that the present owners want to develop for social/affordable housing together with ethical leisure pursuits.
Mr Johnson has also called upon Londoners to support the declining industry and stated “London has a rich tradition of dog racing and it is lamentable that some of its iconic stadia have suffered decline and closure in recent years. I urge Londoners to support this increasingly endangered pursuit and the owners of the remaining stadiums to preserve these in active use for dog racing for the benefit of Londoners”
The campaign to restore Walthamstow dog track has been strongly supported by local MP’s – Conservative Iain Duncan Smith and Labour’s Stella Creasy – who in a joint statement said “We call on the Mayor to intervene in the process and prevent the destruction of a much loved local landmark and heritage asset and ensure that greyhound racing is brought back to Walthamstow Stadium.
The present owners of the site – social landlords London and Quadrant – commissioned a report that concluded the dog racing industry was in decline and therefore not a viable proposition.
A claim vehemently denied by Ricky Holloway’s Save Our Stow campaign – in public at least.
However – as a guest during live TV coverage of greyhound racing Mr Holloway was less confident regarding the viability of what he wrongly claims to be a ‘sport’
During the interview he claims some trainers aren’t even taking a wage – kennelhand’s wages are poor with no young trainers coming through but astonishingly – Ricky Holloway’s solution to stem the decline is to go ‘knocking on government’s door’
Critical of the industry’s governing body – the Greyhound Board of Great Britain – Mr Holloway stated they were ‘clueless and leaderless’ and the game needs to be led by someone who knows the parliamentarians in order that they could ‘market the sport through aggressive marketing and get funding from central government’
Direct link – http://youtu.be/4pr9IVwjEss
Please email Boris Johnson – Iain Duncan Smith and Stella Creasy – requesting they withdraw their support for Mr Holloway’s Save Our Stow campaign – who feels that the cruel dog racing industry and gambling on dogs should be subsidised by the tax payer.
Please remember to enclose a link to the above video and please remember to be polite ~ thank you
Contacts
Boris Johnson mayor@london.gov.uk
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/borisjohnson
Iain Duncan Smith alambridesl@parliament.uk
Stella Creasy stella@workingforwalthamstow.org.uk
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stella-Creasy/7916859303