BATTERSEA – YOU ARE A DISGRACE – BY PETER HARNDEN

I’ve read and listened to many thoughts and opinions on the subject of rehoming over the past week.

I use the word ‘rehoming’ as for most of us, it implies exactly what it is: a greyhound leaves our kennel and moves onto a new home, usually via one of the trust centres or private re-homing to people we can trust.

From my personal point of view, my greyhounds are like pets even during their time with us at Salacres kennels. The vast majority of our runners these days have either been born at our kennels and reared here too, or have been purchases at a young age (usually around 3 – 4 months old) and then reared here.

We have found that this route has provided us with a lot more success than by purchasing greyhounds that have already raced in Ireland. Quite simply we know everything about our greyhounds. We know their history, we know their likes and their dislikes. These are not just ‘money spinners’ as the antis would have you believe. They are to all intents and purposes pets, who just so happen to have racing careers.

Generally, once a week, they hop on the van and go to compete at the track. For the rest of the week they live happy lives at the kennel, brought out of their kennels multiple times per day (sometimes to their disgust we all know greyhounds love their beds !), into the smaller paddocks for a turn out or into the bigger paddock to let themselves have a run about at their own leisure.

Those that enjoy it have access to a 250m gallop to maintain or develop their fitness and if that doesn’t suit them they have use of a pool to have a swim and others will be out on countryside walks that we’re lucky to have on our doorstep.

They eat well, we provide the dogs with the very best of food, they are groomed every day, their health is a priority and the first sign of any ill health or injury they are checked out by both ourselves and if needed by professional vets and physios.

This is the kind of set up you will find in the vast majority of kennels around the country. Our greyhounds are loved and they love us back in equal proportion.

Is this the set up you will find in every single kennel around the country?

No. There are a small minority of trainers don’t meet the standards that I, and the vast majority of trainer would expect.

Do we need to educate the people with kennels of below par standards?

Of course we do and if they don’t bring themselves up to the standards expected of them, they should be kicked out of the sport.

 

Of course every section of society has has a bad minority, be it the paedophile priest, corrupt policeman or brutal care worker.

For the antis – whose sole income depends on their ‘donate now’ button – the trick is to convince the public that the minority represent the majority. One of the terms used cynically and indiscriminately, is to describe re-homed greyhounds as ‘rescued’.

We can hold our heads up high that, as proven by our (UKAS inspected) governing body, in an overwhelming majority of cases, our ex-racers aren’t being rescued from anything.

In fact those homing our dogs are extremely lucky to be taking on board a dog which has been loved, cared for and taught generally good manners.

However, the recent Battersea TV advert played right into the hands of the antis.

The truth of the matter was that this “rescue bitch” had in fact been ‘rehomed’ via Hersham Hounds.

I repeat some text that has recently appeared on the Battersea website regarding a greyhound “Caboose is in need of new owners who will appreciate him and love him as a pet dog, as opposed to thinking of him as just another dog to make quick money at the track”.

Yes – I absolutely understand the temptation to pull on the heart strings to increase donations. But that dishonest approach, employed by both Battersea, and previously by the Greyhound Trust, is both dishonest and unwelcome.

Furthermore, there are people in senior positions in both organisations who seemingly have done nothing to correct a misrepresentation that might even be perceived as fraud.

At the bare minimum it is a whole new level of cynicism and dishonesty. And they claim that we are the ones who exploit greyhounds to make money!