In JUly 2007, a dog was discovered with a gaping air rifle wound in it's head near Ayr greyhound track in Scotland. A vet was called by a local person who heard the dog moaning in a ditch. Unfortunately the dog had to be put to sleep because it was so badly injured. The vet asked the Police what she should do with the body and was told 'just dispose of it’.

Apparently although the vet identified the dog from it's ear tattoo, a prosecution can now not be undertaken because the body was not autopsied.

Several days later, the vet returned to the ditch with some pro-greyhound activists and they dicovered the remains of another greyhound a few hundred yards away in the same ditch. The dog looked as though it had been desperately trying to reach a small trickle of water in the ditch to get a drink.

This subsequent discovery raises the question ... how many more are buried here?

There are also other suspicious details around this case. 'Jamiedan Flyer' was well fancied in his last race and a lot of money was bet on him ... yet he came last. An insider at the track is quoted in the Scottish Daily Mail as saying...

"There had been heavy betting on the dog and a lot of money was lost. There were rumours this was going to happen and everyone at the track was disgusted when we found out what had happened."

This is clearly a potential doping case ... but as the body was never autopsied ... we will probably never know for sure.

Click here for more details

Bluey had spent at least one winter wandering alone in some Scottish woods, before she was spotted and eventually rescued.

Edna first spotted the blue brindle greyhound hobbling through the woods while she was out walking her own dogs, but it took her many months to finally rescue Bluey. At first, every time Edna approached Bluey, she ran away in terror because she was so timid.

An earmark and diligent research revealed that Bluey was registered at Shawfield Stadium 4 years ago, but when her racing days were over (probably due to injury), she was heartlessly dumped.

Edna says "It was heartbreaking to see her wandering around in the forest because her wrist was injured and she was clearly in pain. She had been abandoned."

"Last Saturday evening (19 January 2008) another greyhound ‘brokedown’ and was carried off the track and destroyed by the vet on duty. The stadium, on this occasion, was Sittingbourne and the greyhound a beautiful black and white female named Run On Jess. Whilst negotiating the first bend the greyhound suffered a horrific break of a hind leg. Instinctively she tried to keep running but had to be carried off the track and was put down immediately. Just another statistic to ad to the hundreds of thousands destroyed by the racing industry…all in the name of entertainment!"

source: Sighthound Mail January 21, 2008

On Sunday, May 2nd 2004, a five year old black male greyhound (later found to have been called Rusty) was discovered by a dog walker, who heard him whimpering in agony in a rubbish tip on Fochriw Mountain in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales.

Rusty had been injured in several ways, including being shot in the head with a captive-bolt pistol, and his ears had been hacked off (presumably, because they contained tattoos that could identify him). Despite this appalling torture, Rusty was still alive - and wagging his tail - but his injuries were so extensive that he was later "put to sleep" by a vet.

At Caerphilly Magistrates Court on December 22nd 2004, greyhound "executioner" Andrew Gough was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for torturing Rusty and banned from keeping animals for life. It emerged during Gough's trial that Rusty's owner and trainer (John Hurley and Mark Emmett) had handed him over to Gough to kill, after a toe injury had ended the greyhound's racing career.

It is also deplorable that Hurley and Emmett could not be charged, tried or imprisoned, but it is, sadly, not illegal for a person to arrange for their own dog to be shot. Although Hurley and Emmett are banned from racing greyhounds at the other two South Wales tracks, disgracefully, Bedwellte track has allowed them back. Another reflection on the lack of morality of this disgusting industry.

Greyhound Action has since received information that Gough was one of several greyhound "executioners" in South Wales, who kill dogs for other owners and trainers, so they can avoid the cost of having them "put to sleep" by a vet.

GA comment: Gough was only tracked down and brought to justuce through the actions of pro-greyhound campaigners in Wales and across the UK, if it had been left to the industry, this case would have been swept under the carpet like so many others. For the full story click here.

Twiggy, is a 2 yr old greyhound bitch, rescued by a Greyhound Action supporter from Barry Wilkinson, a trainer in Taunton.

In total, over 30 dogs in were rescued from Wilkinson's kennels. These were mostly greyhounds, but also included his German shepherd guard dog. All were malnourished and infested with fleas and lice. Six dogs had died from malnutrition at Wilkinson's kennels during the previous 18 months.

Twiggy also had a tail injury with exposed vertebrae. She was taken to a vet and had to have several inches removed from her tail. Luckily for her, she is now in a loving home.

Minnie is an 11 year female who also came from Wilkinson's kennels. This photo shows her shortly before she was rescued. She was emaciated and lying in filth in this tiny cage. Minnie is also now in a loving home ... For a little bit more on Minnie click here

GA note: for those of you who follow our campaigns, you might be interested to learn thatWilkinson raced his dogs at the Glastonbury track (as well as Newton Abbot ... which was closed after a GA campaign) ... click here for more info on the campaign against the Glastonbury track. The good news is that GA local group Avon and Somerset GA are running a high profile campaign against the track and it is easy to get involved ... click here to find out how.

"Georgie is recovering from her ordeal well, although she is a very nervous dog, and is particularly wary of men. She will stay with us until she is well enough to continue her rehabilitation in a home environment. Heather has been rehomed with a family, where she happily lives with 2 cats and is recovering well"

For more pictures and info on this story click here ... you can contact GWRE via their website http://www.grwe.co.uk/

Fionn was discovered in Tipperary by a woman on her return home. His scalp had been severely mutilated and both ears removed ... this appeared to be carried out by someone using a crude blade as the skin is hacked and infected.

As greyhounds are tattooed on both ears to identify them for racing and coursing purposes, it is obvious that Fionn was mutilated to prevent his identy becoming known and thus his former "owners" being traced. As you will have seen from other cases on this page, this practice is becoming all too common in Ireland and the UK. It's almost like they can't even be bothered to kill the dogs anymore ... although many dead dogs have also been found with these mutilations (see next case for an example)

Fionn is now in the care of Tipperary friends of animals. He is very friendly and out going even after all this being done. This is typical of greyhounds, who are amongst the most loyal and forgiving of any dogs.

During September 2005, the mutilated bodies of three greyhounds were found floating in a river near Dungarven by a Waterford man out walking his dog. The throats of the animals had been cut and their ears hacked off. These horrific injuries had been inflicted in order to remove their ear tattoos and prevent identification.

The case was reported to the Gardai (Irish police) ... but with no ear tattoos for identification, they felt they could not act.

GA comment: Although we campaign for abolition of the entire greyhound industry in all countries rather than tighter regulation (click here to see why we support Abolition vs Reform) ... it is obvious that while there is no legal requirement for the fate of registered greyhounds (ie. ones marked with ear tattoos) to be notified and recorded ... all a trainer has to do, is remove the ears and they can dump or kill the dog with little chance of punishment ... this is the current situation in the UK and Eire. The fact that the industries' governing bodies in those countries have made no effort to close this gaping loop hole in welfare, is indicative of their total lack of compassion as to the fate of ex-racers ... they simply don't give a damn.

It must be also be remembered that many thousands of greyhounds do not even get to the stage of being registered and are disposed of at an early age (see fact sheet 1) ... tighter regulation would do nothing for these dogs.

Note: Although the Gardai refused to act, a similar case in Wales (that of "Rusty") resulted not only in a conviction, but also a prison sentence for the perpetrator ... click here for the full details. So what is lacking is the will to act, not the possibility of acting.

During november 2004 animal welfare activists in Limerick responded to a call from a member of the public telling them that a dog was lying on the street in terrible condition. On arrival at the scene the volunteers found a poor lurcher in an awful state. This animal was totally emaciated and hairless and was being tortured by a gang of young boys, average age probably eleven or twelve years old. They were pushing nails into her stomach and trying to choke her. They were laughing and boasting that they would finish her off with a brick to the head. They said that they had already killed her pups. Unbelievable as it might seem this poor dog had recently given birth.

The rescuers worked very hard and unbelievably Angel eventually made a full recovery ... for more on this story you can visit the website of the Ameurogreyhoundalliance by clicking here.

Angel is a lurcher, a cross between a greyhound and another type of dog (often a collie, but it can be any type). Lurchers are usually bred for hare coursing and other cruel hunting practices, they suffer in Eire and the UK to a great extent. Obviously as at least one parent must be a greyhound, their suffering has intimate links to the greyhound racing/coursing industry.

Kate was very lucky to be found by the same people who rescued Angel ... she was one of ten pups found on the same day on the streets of Limerick.

"I Got a call last Sat night at 10.30 from some people who had found a dog `dying`on their doorstep, so off I went. When I got there around 11, I thought the dog was already dead. she was cold and rigid.

Managed to rouse her and got her into the car and brought her home. The heat in the car helped bring her round somewhat and she drank some warm milk for me, but she was so low I stayed up with her nearly all night talking to her and stroking her gently.

Around 4am it seemed that she was not going to give up after all so I let her rest. She was riddled with fleas, lice and, of course, mange.

She is not a tattoed dog, mostly likely not considered good enough when a pup or bred by travellers - which is where I am sure she came from. She only weighs 20lbs right now and is severely malnourished and run down.

She will take months to recover from this ordeal physically and mentally, and she is only around 12 months old!"

Marion

This is another report from the streets of Limerick ... GA is so concerned about the amount of suffering in this area that we have launched an appeal called the MIYA APPEAL to raise funds to help Marion and those volunteers who work so hard to help the tragic victims click here for more info.

"Dear friends

Last sunday was horrible day for our association…., just after having cleaned in the shelter, received a call of a neighbour, there were two galgos in the gardens of the faculty of medicine, one in very poor condition, we were for there and found a dantesque spectacle .... one of the galgos had the extracted tail….., we could not have determined like, he had lost great blood, other one had a multiple fracture and several wounds in her back leg ..... we take the two to our clinic and the vet. of urgency did the possible thing to save that of the extracted tail but it was not possible ... he had lost too many blood and had to have some another internal wounds…."

from Asociación Protectora de Animales y Plantas El Arca de Noé

These horrific pictures show agroup of abandoned and starving galgos discovered on Ibiza. This case is far from unusual as the other stories in this section unfortunately prove.

Our Spanish contact suggests you send comments and complaints to the following people.

diariodeibiza@epi.es

patrimoni@cief.es

agricultura@cief.es

ibiza@ultimahora.es

eldia.cartas@el-mundo.es

gisela.revelles@el-mundo.es

edirecto@rtve.es

informatius@teftv.com

protocol@santjosepdesatalaia.cat

overn@santjosepdesatalaia.es

cpa@eivissa.es

direccio@teftv.com

info@eprtvib.es

For more information on the case contact GALAIB@terra.es

This is Vida who was picked up by a colleague who runs La Camada shelter in Guadalajara.

Vida was given her name which means life by the vets who saved her life.

She is barely 10 mos. old and was dehydrated, starving and had a high temperature and a serious infection when rescued.
Most seriously the bottom of her right foreleg was totally missing ... we can only guess at the horrific incident that caused this extreme injury.

Luckily for Vida, a civil servant from the Town Hall of Fontanar phoned La Camada to report the abandoned dog, which they appreciate.

This is not an isolated case ... virtually all of the greyhounds the shelter takes in from Guadalajara have been severely abused and have serious injuries.

The shelter (La Camada) has demanded that local and provincial governments take urgent measures to stop the abuse these greyhounds are subjected to. Most of the greyhounds in the province are hanged.

Lazo was rescued by a Spanish man in early April 2007 and has now been passed on to SOS Galgos ( http://www.sosgalgos.com/ ).

He had been racing at a mobile track in rural Spain and although he has no ear tattoos he seems to be a Greyhound rather than a Galgo (Spanish Greyhound). Lazo is thought to have come from the now closed Meridiana track near Barcelona ... and therefore is most likely of Irish birth.

Hanging is a very common method of killing dogs in Spain ... it saves the cost of a bullet apparently. From the pictures you can clearly see how the rope has bitten into Lazo's neck and we can only imagine his suffering. Lazo was lucky to survive ... but sadly although he was rescued in April, he had been in this state since August last year, but no one was able to catch him until now

On 16 February 2005 a female Irish greyhound was found on the streets of Valladolid (half an hour from the Scooby shelter). She was found with a rope around her neck, many scars on her body and a lot of ticks. It was possible to trace her origin back to Eire based on her ear tattoos (which is why very often abondoned greyhounds have their ears mutilated) and it was discovered that her name is Creggane Duchess. It was also discovered that Duchess was one of seven pups. We know that her sister also was sold to Spain and another brother went to Rome.

Creggane Duchess raced seven times at the Limerick Track in Southern Ireland and was then sold at Limerick Auction in 2001. She ended up at the notorious Meridiana Track (click here for more info on Meridiana) near Barcelona where even today an estimated 850 Irish greyhounds are "kenneled". Then after years of racing at Meridiana she finished up with hunters in Medina del Campo ... a common "career" path for Irish greyhounds.

The owner in Ireland has retired from Greyhound Racing but he says that the Greyhound was most likely sold by his trainer to the Spanish Agents. Of course the Greyhound is still registered in his name as the Irish Stud book which is held by the Coursing Club never kept up to date. Nobody is held accountable for the condition and whereabouts of their Greyhounds.

Creggane Duchess is very lucky to have survived, the rope around her neck indicates whoever abandoned her may have tried to hang her ... a common way of killing greyhounds and galgos in Spain to save the cost of a bullet. For more info on this visit the Scooby Medina website click here then click on the "Galgos" button, and click "photos" in the "Present Day Problems" section ... be warned these pictures are very distressing!

For more detail on Creggane Duchess and more photos click here to visit the Ameurogreyhound alliance website, the source of much of this story.

For info on "Tigresa" another Irish greyhound abandoned in Spain ... click here

This is Airis the victim of a sadistic "owner". Airis was mistreated and neglected before he was finally run over and abandondoned .

Luckily for Airis he was rescued and with the help of Greyhounds In Need, he is now recovering and has a loving home. Click here to visit their website.

On January 25, 2005 just weeks after a the previous incident, 3 more dogs were found alive in a different well -- this time in Malpica de Tajo (Toledo province of Spain). Luckily for the dogs, someone heard the dogs barking and alerted local government officials, who chose to do nothing ... in the end Scooby Medina were contacted, who launched a successful rescue bid.

It is quite unusual for galgos to bark, so we can only guess how many dogs may die in similar circumstances, undiscovered until they die. Click here for more info on this story.