Protest – Proposal to run greyhound racing in Jamaica

I received the following from Pat Getz of Greyhound Protection League.

Please crosspost to the moon and back, nationally and internationally, let’s inundate and educate BIG TIME

Proposal for greyhound racing in Jamaica- STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS!!!
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LETTERS NEEDED NOW.

Please read the appeal below from Greyhound Compassion and take inmmediate action by writing to the Jamaican High Commisssion in London. Please refer to the Greyhound Action website for the plight of the racing greyhound
www.greyhoundaction.org.uk and/or use the sample letter

General e-mail address for Jamaican High Commission in London is jamhigh@jhcuk.com

E-mail addresses and other contact info for Jamaican missions and embassies worldwide can be found at http://jhcuk.org/contact.asp

Proposal for greyhound racing in Jamaica- STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS!!!

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LETTERS NEEDED NOW.

Please read the appeal below from Greyhound Compassion and take inmmediate
action by writing to the Jamaican High Commisssion in London. Please refer
to the Greyhound Action website for the plight of the racing greyhound
www.greyhoundaction.org.uk and/or use the sample letter below from Greyhound Crusaders/SWAP team UK, using your own words please.

Please make sure you use the right postage stamp for the UK

If you are posting from abroad.
Letters to
Jamaican High Commission
1-2 Prince Consort Road,
London
SW7 2BZ
Tel: 020 7823 9911
Fax: 020 7589 5154
Many thanks for your support
Greyhound Crusaders/SWAP team UK
We all make the difference!!!

Dear Jamaican High Commission

I have recently heard that there are plans to bring greyhound racing to
Jamaica. This has raised grave concerns for me as a greyhound lover and I
felt it was most important to bring this matter to your attention.
To introduce greyhound racing to Jamaica would be an absolute travesty due
to the thousands of greyhounds that are destroyed worldwide every year once
they are retired from racing, average age 3-4 years old. Additionally,
thousands of greyhound pups are destroyed each year because they are
considered ‘unsuitable for racing’. The RSPCA in the UK (Royal Society for
the Protection of Animals) believes: “at least 20 greyhounds a day – either
puppies which do not make the track, or ‘retired’ dogs aged three or four –
simply ‘disappear’, presumed killed”. Also the fact that many greyhounds
every year sustain serious, sometimes fatal injuries whilst racing.

(Please view the recent UK APGAW (Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal
Welfare) report at this link:
http://www.apgaw.org/userimages/Report%20of%20APGAW%20Inquiry%20into%20the%20Welfare%20of%20Greyhounds.pdf )

Additionally, greyhounds have fallen victim to extreme abuse: Greyhounds
have been found drowned, poisoned, shot, abandoned, some emaciated, some
with their ears hacked off (or burnt off with acid) to remove identifying
tattoos. Some greyhounds are subjected to ‘drugging’ as a way of ‘fixing’
certain races. Greyhounds taken on by rescues are often in a poor state of
neglect i.e. flea-ridden, worm-ridden, rotten teeth. Greyhounds that are
exported from Australia to Asia are often used for dog meat and some
greyhounds have been found hung on trees and thrown down wells in Spain.

Greyhounds are sometimes found with cigarette burns on their bodies,
greyhounds with missing toes due to past injuries, greyhounds who have had
to have many of their teeth removed due to previous neglect. Untreated
injuries that have poorly healed. The list is endless.

You may have read the horrific story of David Smith from Co. Durham in the
UK exterminating in the region of 10,000 unwanted greyhounds in a fifteen
year period by shooting them callously with a bolt gun and burying them in
his back garden. The Sunday Times along with other national newspapers
exposed this in 2006.

Please tell me what the fate of racing greyhounds will be in Jamaica, if
this type of carnage to greyhounds is happening worldwide then surely it is
inevitable that this may happen in Jamaica. Wherever there are profits to be
made, animal welfare is low on the agenda. What animal welfare laws are
there in Jamaica and are they upheld?

More recently, the Sunday Times in the UK have also exposed two disturbing
cases where healthy greyhounds are being sold to veterinary colleges by
those involved in the greyhound racing industry, to be exploited for
scientific purposes. On Sunday 2nd March 2008, a Sunday Times article
exposed the Royal Veterinary College (the oldest and largest veterinary
college in Britain) as having an agreement with a greyhound clinic in Essex
to buy body parts taken from healthy greyhounds that were being euthanased
regularly by the clinic, the healthy greyhounds were being supplied to the
clinic by greyhound trainers who no longer had a use for these dogs.
The full article can be viewed here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3466712.ece

On Sunday 11th May 2008, a second article appeared in the Sunday Times, this
time exposing Liverpool University’s Small Animal Teaching Hospital as being
supplied with healthy young greyhounds by the largest greyhound breeder in
Britain, a Mr Charles Pickering. Mr Pickering admitted to selling young,
perfectly healthy greyhounds who had failed to make the grade (i.e.chose not
to chase the artificial hare or considered simply too slow for the tracks)
to the university’s animal teaching hospital to be euthanased and used for
scientific research. The article also revealed how greyhound trainer
‘Richard Fielding’ who was also supplied greyhounds by Mr Pickering, gave
his older (still healthy) greyhounds once they retired from racing to the
university veterinary staff to be euthanased so their organs could be
removed for teaching and research purposes. The full article can be viewed
here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3908388.ece

I am sickened and outraged by the appalling atrocities inflicted upon the
racing greyhound and this is why am writing to you today to endeavour to
educate you about the disturbing reality of greyhound racing.

If you could spare a few moments to please view this short video
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1rAB-PY7XZQ (volume up), as this supports the
many reasons why I am are so compelled to be a voice for the greyhounds.

I hope that my correspondence to you today will explain the reasons for my
concerns upon hearing the news that there may be plans to introduce
greyhound racing in Jamaica and I politely and respectfully ask that you
support me in opposing any such plans.
Ghandi once said “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be
judged by the way it treats its animals”.
Please do all you can to stop this vile trade of sentient beings.
Many thanks.
Very best wishes

Name and address to be supplied

—- Original Message —–
From: greyhound compassion
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 9:22 PM
Subject: Proposal for greyhound racing in Jamaica

Dear everyone,

We’ve recently heard about the proposal below to start greyhound racing in
Jamaica. Please feel free to write to the Jamaican High Commission to let
them know the reality of greyhound racing.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-8373–9-9–.html
Jamaican High Commission
1-2 Prince Consort Road,
London
SW7 2BZ
Tel: 020 7823 9911
Fax: 020 7589 5154

www.greyhoundcompassion.com

The RSPCA believes: “at least 20 greyhounds a day – either puppies which do
not make the track, or ‘retired’ dogs aged three or four – simply
‘disappear’, presumed killed”

Greyhound racing has great potential, says Jamaican MP

Published on Saturday, June 7, 2008Email To Friend Print Version

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS): A Member of the Jamaican Parliament, Dr St Aubyn
Bartlett, has said that greyhound racing has great potential for creating
more jobs in Jamaica than the nation’s horse racing industry.

Bartlett, who is also close to the racing industry as a veterinarian, was
making his contribution to the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of
Representatives on Wednesday.

He noted that greyhound racing was an evening and night event, with two race
meets per day totalling 24 or more races in one day.

“This is an attraction which can provide the needed nightly industry
entertainment for our tourism industry,” Bartlett said.

He also informed that several potential investors and stakeholders were at
the “starting gates rearing to chase the hare.”

“Currently, there are no greyhounds in Jamaica, meaning a new industry will
be created starting with the importation of breeding stock, the
establishment of breeding kennels and training facilities and the building
of stadia,” Bartlett said.

The Member of Parliament also informed that he has been meeting with potential investors, both locally and overseas.

“I have asked the Minister in charge of animal sports industry for a meeting
with these stakeholders at a time convenient to him. This is an investment
opportunity that Jamaica cannot afford to miss,” Bartlett emphasised.

‘

The following is from Louise Coleman of www.greyhound.org

The Jamaican politician who is suggesting greyhound racing as an employment panacea is really
not seeing the big picture……………the main question, of course, is…………….what happens to the dogs when they get done racing? And isn’t it extremely hot in Jamaica? In order to have a successful racing operation many considerations besides the supposedly lucrative bottom line have to be taken into account. The worst Latin American racing venture I remember happened on Marguarita Island in Venezuala in the early 90’s……………..a track went bust and hundreds of extraneous greyhounds……….from Florida………were left. Many still in their cages. Just abandoned. And I didn’t know anyone then who could help them. When animal welfare is concerned the best laid plans…………..often go thoroughly amiss.