'We knew nothing about killing fields'

The racing industry has been thrown into turmoil after David Smith was accused of killing up to 10,000 dogs and burying them near his £220,000 detached house in Northdene Terrace.

The dad-of-three, who runs a builder's merchant and newsagent's in Lord Street, charged £10 a time to shoot dogs, allegedly for 40 trainers, because they were too old to race and too expensive to home.

Animal rights campaigners said they believe most of the slaughtered dogs would have been raced at Sunderland and Brough Park stadiums ­ both owned by bookmaking giant William Hill.

"William Hill knew about this," said Tony Peters, of Greyhound Action. "They've know for years this guy Smith has been killing dogs that come from their tracks."

The firm denied the allegations.

A spokesman said: "William Hill stadia hosts a responsible and regulated sport and has no reason to believe that any owners or trainers from our tracks have been involved with this activity.

"We find the revelations abhorrent and will welcome and support any investigation into the activity to identify any miscreants who may have chosen to euthanase their greyhounds by these means.

"Should an investigation identify any individuals have raced greyhounds at our tracks and who have then engaged in this activity, these individuals will be banned from having any further association with our tracks immediately and will be reported to the NGRC (National Greyhound Racing Club, which regulates 31 licensed tracks)."

Durham police have twice spoken to Mr Smith since revelations of his activities came to light over the weekend

A spokesman said: "We have received no specific complaints about Mr Smith's activities and we have no concerns about the bolt gun and we have now established it is quite legitimately held."

On whether the alleged mass dog grave posed a public health hazard, District of Easington Council said: "We will be working with the Environment Agency to ensure there will be no long-term contamination of the land at Mr Smith's home.

"There are potential health issues surrounding the disposal of animal carcasses and we would therefore strongly advise people to use pet crematoriums or contact the council for further advice."

The NGRC said its North East stipendiary steward Eric Vose would investigate.

But Greyhound Action fears any investigation may be worthless unless the one-acre plot where Mr Smith allegedly buried 10,000 dogs is dug up.

Death threats to dog killer

DOG killer David Smith has been forced to boost security at his Seaham home after receiving death threats.

Since the allegations were made against the businessman, malicious phone calls have been made to his businesses and Northdene Terrace home.

Some of the sinister calls were answered by Mr Smith's wife Maureen and his daughter.

To protect his property and family, Mr Smith hurriedly installed CCTV, floodlights and other security measures after the allegations received national attention.

"I am devastated by all of this," said the East Durham builder's merchant.

Durham police said they were not aware of any death threats, but confirmed the Smiths had received a number of malicious phone calls.

Killings 'common knowledge'

PEOPLE in Seaham have backed David Smith, who has received death threats for allegedly killing thousands of greyhounds.

Many people said it was common knowledge dogs were being put down.

"Everybody in Seaham knows what he does" said Frank Prest, of Seaham Pet and Garden Centre. "And have done for a long time.

"As long as he's doing it humanely, he's providing a service. If he didn't do that, they would just smack them over the head with a brick."

Deborah Rochester, 29, from Ropery Walk, said: "I don't agree with the methods he's using but I can't see why everyone is putting up a fuss about it now because he's been doing it for years."

Her friend Angela Peel, 30, from Dawdon, said: "He's not doing anything illegal and people have been using him for years."

They both said greyhound owners should take more responsibility for their dogs.

Pauline Yates, 41, from Seaham, agreed. "It's up to the owners to look after them until they die," she said.

Fifty-year-old Alan Savage, from Parkside, also said blame for the situation should lie with the owners. "It should be the owners held up as well, not just Dave Smith. They're the ones making money off the dogs then just getting rid of them."

Racing told to clean up its act

THE greyhound industry has been told to "clean its act up" by the Government.

Animal Welfare Minister Ben Bradshaw said killing a dog with a bolt gun breached the rules of the National Greyhound Racing Club.

"The National Greyhound Racing Club must launch an immediate investigation," he said. "It must discipline or expel any members who have broken its rules by disposing of their dogs in this way."

"The Government believes racing greyhounds should only be put down by a vet.

"We have long felt self-regulation within the greyhound industry is the most effective way of policing animal welfare.

"If they can't clean up their act, Government will intervene."

Meanwhile, campaigners have called for commercial greyhound racing at stadiums such as Sunderland and Easington to be scrapped.

Greyhound Action says replacing real dogs with computer-generated virtual racing is the only way to ensure thousands of greyhounds a year do not end up prematurely killed.

HEART RUMBLE's positive sample following his run in the Northern Puppy Derby at Sunderland last year - which on Tuesday led to his Irish trainer Paul Hennessy being severely reprimanded and fined £800 by the NGRC - came about after he was treated for kidney problems.

In a written statement, Hennessy explained that the dog had suffered renal failure and had been administered `laurabolin' by his veterinary surgeon in November 2004. He apologised to the Stewards for the positive sample, which was found to contain the banned substance nandolone, and stated that every precaution would be taken in future to ensure that there would be no recurrence.

In other inquries this week, greyhound trainer Stan Dow had his license withdrawn following the positive analysis of a urine sample taken from Billis Picture at Peterborough in November; while former trainer Dean Steward was fined £1,000 and made a disqualified person for failing to look after greyhounds in his care.

Romford handler Kim Marlow was fined £750 and severely reprimanded after the positive sample taken from Charity Case at the Essex track in November, while Sittingbourne handler George Andreas was fined £1,000 after the positive sample taken from Ill Get Him at the Kent circuit in January.

In a separate inquiry, the racecourse executive at Brough Park was fined £750 and reprimanded after Pocket Rocket ran as Pocket Power at the north-east track in January.

THE top division of the William Hill Northern Puppy Derby at Sunderland on Wednesday was voided in tragic circumstances after an horrific first bend pile-up saw three of the runners fall.

Diggers Pride, trained by Gary Patterson for former Sunderland track owner Kevin Wilde, had to be put down, whilst the Harry Findlay-trained Escholido was said to have injured a wrist. Ballybeg Keano, trained by Ted Soppitt, was the other casualty.

"My fella missed the break but bombed up to the turn and I thought he would go round," said Findlay yesterday. "But he went down and then turned back.
"It looks like he done a wrist - I'm taking him to the vet this afternoon - but I really feel for Gary Patterson."

Neither Patterson or Soppitt could be contacted yesterday, but racing manager Jimmy Nunn confirmed that Diggers Pride had been put down at the track. "I think he broke a foreleg," he commented.

"Sunderland used to have a policy of putting injured dogs asleep if they were injured at the track, so unscrupulous trainers were bringing lame dogs then running them and then proceeding to ask the vet to dispose of them thus saving them the cost of a visit and a bill from an outside vet........."

"........in my opinion, Sunderland isn't a safe track, I personally would never run a dog there............."