PETER HARNDEN: POSITIVES AND POSITIVES

I was incensed to read the GBGB calendar report into the two food chain positives for Mark Wallis.

The guy has been a model of professionalism and given his domination of the Trainers Championship over the last decade, along with all his Category One wins, must surely be greyhound racing’s equivalent of Aidan O’Brien.

Now I understand that Mark has spoken to Mark Bird and is satisfied as to what he has heard.

Personally, as the representative of all trainers, I cannot let it end there and intend to raise the subject at the next Board meeting. We need a clear set of guidelines as to what is reported in stewards inquries.

Did it really take more than a full page of the Calendar to drag out two positives for which there was no malicious intent?

Or was somebody using Mark as a scapegoat, by hammering the champion trainer, to show that GBGB was serious on welfare?

 

I am beginning to see signs of the new kennel standards filtering into our system.

The stipendary stewards are being as helpful as possible with dealing with grants for trainers to fully meet the new requirements and I have been getting great feedback from the trainers.

I am the first to complain so it is only right to acknowledge progress. I had had a discussion with Julie Collier within the last fortnight and she said that she was also getting good vibes.

So I was a little surprised, and quite disappointed, to see Julie’s column in the Racing Post last week with no acknowledgement of the progress.

Instead, she seems to have stirred up a group of people on social media demanding that she name and shame offending trainers.

That is a very dangerous route to go down – trial and conviction by social media.

There cannot be a trainer out there who hasn’t found themselves vulnerable at some stage due to circumstances beyond their control.

They might be unexpectedly left in the lurch by staff. Or who hasn’t opened the kennel door in a morning and found a dog covered in blood after being attacked by a kennelmate?

No, you can’t always see it coming and you don’t want to keep them muzzled unnecessarily. And yes, in 99% of cases, they would rather have a mate than be on their own.

I have known a dog and bitch be happy for months together and then something happens overnight and one of them needs ten stitches and a course of antibiotics.

In the meantime, the kennel looks like a slaughterhouse. Oh good morning Mr Steward, would you like to hang me out to dry in the Calendar for the antis and the national press to feed on?

Or what about a dog that suddenly goes off-colour? On most occasions, nature takes it course and after a day of fasting, the dog is right as ninepence. You can’t call a vet out every time a dog is not quite himself.

But what about the dog who isn’t right the next morning? You walk into the kennel and there is the telltale smell of gastroenteritis? Within hours the dog can be in a very bad way.

There are dozens of possible disasters when you are dealing with livestock.

Even small things can look bad. Ask anyone who has a dog who keeps knocking the end off his tail and spraying the walls with blood. Or a dog shaking its head after being nipped on its ear. The place can look like a murder scene.

The antis would be all over it, posting photos, next to their Paypal buttons.

The difference between neglect and bad luck cannot be judged by a keyboard warrior who isn’t in full possession of the facts.

But why let the truth get in the way of spiteful bias?

 

On the subject of welfare, I am keen that GBGB take greater control of its homefinding role, rather than leaving it to Greyhound Trust. And I don’t think I am the only Board director thinking that way.

There is a limited amount of money available and in my opinion, if you gave GT £10m every year, they would still find a way to spend it, and not necessarily directly on re-homing.

We need to clear the backlog of dogs currently in trainers kennels. At any one time there are hundreds and hundreds of dogs on the waiting lists and that is causing hardship to many many trainers.

We need some ‘outside the box’ thinking to clear the backlog. Here is just one idea that came to me this week.

I saw an advert for a boarding kennel in France. It was absolutely huge and on the market for £380,000.

In other words, it was probably three times the size of the one the RGT want to build in Sussex. It would probably cost less than half of that project, and be a in ‘fresh’ country, not just up the road from the Hove re-homing kennel.

Is France the best country for a foreign kennel? I don’t know, but worth exploring wouldn’t you think?