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Greyhound
Crusaders/SWAP team UK put out an alert to all our supporters
last year about the possibility of greyhound racing in Jamaica.
Please read the appeal below. We have recently been informed there
is now a rumour that they are trying to go forward with the plan.
Please write letters to the Jamaican Prime Minister, Jamaican
High Commisssion, Jamaican Tourist Board, Jamaican MP (Dr. St.
AUBYN BARTLETT, M.P. who is supporting the proposal of greyhound
racing, see news article below) and to the local papers to oppose
this before it begins. A column strongly opposing this move was
in one of the papers a couple of days ago so it would be a good
time to voice opinions.
Addresses are:
The Honourable Bruce Golding
Prime Minister of Jamaica
1 Devon road
Kingston 10
Jamaica
Letters to the editor at...
editorial@jamaicaob
server.com
(paper the column appeared in)
letters@gleanerjm.
com
Name and address to be supplied please to letters to the paper
Please also send an email to a Jamaican MP
Dr. St. AUBYN BARTLETT, M.P. who is supporting the proposal of
greyhound racing in Jamaica- standrew-e@jamaicalabourparty.com
Please also write to the Jamaican Tourist Board and the Jamaican
High Commission
Jamaican High Commission
1-2 Prince Consort Road,
London
SW7 2BZ
Tel: 020 7823 9911
Fax: 020 7589 5154
Email Jamhigh@jhcuk.com
Please make sure you use the right postage stamp for the UK if
you are posting snail mail from abroad.
Jamaican Tourist Board mail@visitjamaica.uk.com
Please refer to the Greyhound Action website for the plight of
the racing greyhound www.greyhoundaction.org.uk
and/or use the sample email below from Greyhound Crusaders/SWAP
team UK, using your own words please. Please note Letters to the
papers need to be more concise.
As usual you can find facts, case studies
etc
http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk
and to http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/facts7.html
and http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/facts.html
and
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3466712.ece
)
Please
feel free to consult, quote and refer people to them.
Please keep all correspondence polite, please see the info below.
Many thanks for your support
Greyhound Crusaders/SWAP team UK
We all make the difference!!!
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be
judged by the way its animals are treated”.
"The future depends on what we do in the present". -
Mahatma Gandhi
Dear
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.
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://greytexploit
ations.com/ awareness- videos please go into this link
for awareness videos and please scroll down to the last video
called 'racing to death' (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 etc
Greyhound racing has great potential, says Jamaican
MP
Published
on Saturday, June 7, 2008 Email 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.
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