Greyhound killed at Glastonbury's "Stadium of Death"

We have received the tragic news that a greyhound has been killed during a recent race-meeting at Glastonbury's Abbey Moor Stadium.

Abbey Moor has been dubbed the "Stadium of Death" by local greyhound protection campaigners, due to the dangerous nature of the track and the large number of dogs put to death by the greyhound racing industry generally.

Since the track reopened last October, there have been several serious injuries to greyhounds running there and now a dog has died. Unsurprisingly, the track proprietors kept tight-lipped about the incident, but now the news has leaked out.

During a race on 27th January, a greyhound called "Snow Storm" hit the barrier surrounding the track and lay crying for 10 minutes before dying. Even hardened greyhound racing enthusiasts were upset that the dog suffered for so long, despite there being a vet on-site.

It is suspected that Snow Storm sustained a heart attack after having to endure racing twice in one night, which is normally not permitted at greyhound tracks.

Jenny the Greyhound is dumped as day at the races turns ugly

Furious animal welfare campaigners have been left holding the proverbial baby after a greyhound trainer dumped one of his animals on them following a protest at a Somerset racetrack.

What was meant as a peaceful protest against the industry's treatment of its animals descended into a nasty confrontation with alleged clashes between the protesters and dog trainers at the last meeting of the year at the Abbey Moor Stadium, near Glastonbury.

One protester claims she was shoved by one dog trainer who went on to throw their demonstration placards into a nearby river.

Demonstrators say another trainer then threatened to shoot his own dog in front of them if it failed to win its race.

And, in a bizarre twist, the Avon and Somerset Greyhound Action group ended up leaving the track with a dog of its own, claiming that after the meeting yet another trainer had simply handed over one of his stable saying it was 'no use to him anymore'.

The hapless race dog, a 19-month-old called Jenny, is now in the care of one of the campaigners, who - like the track owners - were yesterday seething about the dramatic events of Tuesday night.

The confrontation unfolded outside the stadium that has been the target for a series of protests by the Avon and Somerset Greyhound Action group since it started staging races in October.

Some 20 demonstrators gathered at the entrance and were handing out leaflets when punters, dog owners and trainers arrived.

Event organiser Derren Sealey said he was unaware of any assault, although he agreed one dog racer, who said his car had been kicked by demonstrators, had confronted the crowd and thrown some of their display boards into the river.

Mr Sealey said tensions had been heightened by vandalism at the stadium over Christmas, with attacks on the track's tractor, sabotage to its racing hare and threatening graffiti sprayed on the wall claiming to be from the Animal Liberation Front.

The protesters at the scene on Tuesday have strongly denied any connection with the acts of vandalism and criminal damage.

Police confirmed only two people were arrested as a result of the drama at the stadium gates - a female campaigner and her 15-year old son.

She was arrested for swearing and paid a £80 fine after pleading guilty to a public order offence while her son, who had wrestled with police officers as he tried to help his mother, received a caution.

Gna Harris, from Bristol, said she had lodged a formal allegation of assault with police. "It was shocking, not what we had expected or wanted at all, " she said.

"Several of them had dogs with them, and one said, 'Right, if my dog doesn't win tonight, I'm going to bring it out and shoot it in front of you all'. It was disgusting that someone would even say they were going to do it, even if they were just trying to wind us up. We knew nothing of any vandalism, we are a 100 per cent peaceful and lawful group who would never have anything to do with anything like that."

The campaigners remained outside the stadium throughout the meeting and at one point there were as many as five police patrol cars at the scene.

Yesterday, Mr Sealey, who runs the greyhound races with Gavin Loney, said Tuesday's meeting almost had to be cancelled because of the criminal damage.

He admitted some trainers had been upset on hearing what had happened, but said as far as he was aware, the only serious trouble had been between police and protesters.

"When we arrived in the morning, we found someone had slashed the tyres on the tractor and put sand into its diesel tank, " he said.

"Three fan belts that run the hare had been cut and someone had sprayed down one of the walls 'close the track, or we'll be back' and signed it 'the ALF'.

"What had happened had upset most of the trainers who knew about it, then when they came in, they were confronted by all these people with their banners trying to stop them getting in.

"One of those trying to drive in says they blocked his way and when he tried to carry on, they kicked his car. He's quite a big chap and he got out and approached them and threw some of their signs in the river."

An Avon and Somerset police spokesman said: "Two people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and taken to Yeovil police station. A juvenile was later released with a caution and a woman was given a fixed penalty notice."

You can see from this how the evil nature of many of those who take part in greyhound racing was well and truly revealed that night. Some of the trainers at the track had been seen (by anti-bloodsports campaigners) the previous day at a meet of the Mendip Farmers Hunt, providing further evidence that they are animal abusers through and through and that their wickedness towards other creatures is not just limited to greyhounds. Jenny, the greyhound who was handed over to the campaigners, was thin, traumatised and suffering from several racing injuries (including a deep gash on one of her front legs), some of which had been sustained earlier that evening. She also had an old injury to the middle of her back which, according to a vet who examined her later, was consistent with her having been hit with some sort of object. Thankfully, she is now being well cared for in a permanent loving home, where she is putting on weight and being nursed back to health. She is pictured (left) shortly after being rescued. In view of the behaviour of the greyhound trainers, it's quite understandable that one of the protesters should resort to swearing and we regard it as deplorable that the police arrested her and her son, especially considering that they failed to apprehend the vicious thug who attacked another of the demonstrators. Although Greyhound Action operates completely legally and ours is a campaign of public education and lawful protest, we wish to make it clear that we are in no way critical of the actions of the Animal Liberation Front. In our view, those who abuse and persecute animals have no right even to walk the Earth, so we are hardly going to be perturbed at damage being caused to their property. Also, it would be disingenuous in the extreme to pretend that the ALF attack on the stadium hasn't added to the pressure on the owner to bring greyhound racing there to an end. If you would like to help their campaign to close the Glastonbury dog track, you can contact Avon & Somerset Greyhound Action at avonsomersetga@yahoo.co.uk or on 07899 715216 or click here for more info about the group or more info about the campaign can be found here Take action now: The above article can be found on the Western Daily Press website at http://tinyurl.com/cxgat together with a box where you can leave your comments ... please feel free to do so.