Sir, – Our Government sees fit to reward both the horse and greyhound industries for their appalling animal welfare records with a 4.3 per cent increase in State funding in the Budget, with €79.28 million being forked out to horse racing and €19.82 million to greyhound racing.
If they were as popular or successful as their defenders claim, they wouldn’t need this enormous financial crutch to keep them tipping along.
The money should instead have been directed to alleviating the homeless crisis, to carers, or indeed to aid struggling small businesses that deserve a hand to keep afloat, instead of to activities that spawn gambling addiction and create a hell-on-hell on earth for two of the noblest members of the animal kingdom: the dog and the horse. – Yours, etc,
JOHN FITZGERALD,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.