Madam, – As an international greyhound protection organisation, we welcomed the decision from the Department of Agriculture in refusing approval of the Irish Greyhound Board’s plans to export Irish greyhounds to China (Home News, May 4th).
We welcome this because we know that it would have been impossible for the board to offer exported greyhounds a “strong welfare framework”. Thanks to greyhound racing, over 15,000 greyhounds are “put down” every year in the UK and Ireland alone, after failing to make the grade as racers or when their “careers” on the tracks come to an end. We also deplore any further involvement by the Irish Greyhound Board, in furthering greyhound racing in China . It may well be a “great business opportunity” for a few but would mean the violent deaths of thousands and thousands of greyhounds, wherever they came from. – Yours, etc,