Sir, – With greyhound racing bans announced in Scotland and Wales in the past few days, the race is on to make Ireland the next country to outlaw this dog-killing gambling activity.
At races here in the past 11 years, 4,040 greyhounds suffered painful injuries and 1,593 were killed.
This includes 344 injuries and 197 deaths last year. Among the latest injuries were broken necks, legs, elbows and hocks, lacerated artery, spinal injury, torn tendons, fractured shoulder, dislocated wrist and broken calcaneus with bone protruding.
Thousands more greyhounds are killed behind the scenes. RTÉ’s award-winning documentary Greyhounds Running For Their Lives uncovered an industry-commissioned report which estimated that over a particular three year period, 17,961 greyhounds were culled for failure to produce desired entry level times or qualifying times and for an “unacceptable decline in performance”.
READ MORE
There is jubilation in Scotland and Wales and this will surely be echoed across Ireland in the future. Racing is increasingly being rejected by the public, evident in falling attendances at tracks, with a massive 6,504 drop in entries in 2025.
Dogs have paid the price for far too long for cheap bets. The time has come for the Irish Government to stop the suffering and bring greyhound racing to an end. – Yours, etc,
PHILIP KIERNAN,
Irish Council Against Blood Sports,
Mullingar,
Co Westmeath.
