What kind of world do we live in when the attempted slaying of a British army officer takes second position on the BBC News headlines to a story of a woman whipping a horse?
Now before any of the keyboard warriors attempt to accuse me of condoning cruelty, I am not!
By any civilised standards, a dressage trainer losing her temper with a horse and striking it excessively is clearly wrong.
But let’s get a couple of things into perspective. The whip itself, is not a banned article. It is a tool of trade for every jockey. ‘Excessive use’ of the whip is an offense in horseracing, and rightly so.
And we won’t even get into a discussion about riding spurs.
However, in my view, there is a vast disconnect between people who understand animals and those who don’t. Anybody who has ever worked with animals understands that, like children, at times they need discipline.
Please note the word ‘discipline’, not ‘violence’ or ‘cruelty’.
I have long been interested in ethology – the study of animal behaviour – and since dogs are my pet of choice, I have followed the work of Cesar Milan for many years.
The Mexican animal behaviour expert has his own long running TV series and attracts thousands to his live shows.
Milan does not thrash misbehaving hounds. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t make contact with them. If a dog is spinning around, trying to bite its lead and/or its owner, they get a firm shove along with a verbal command.
Cesar is a big believer in transmitting energy and understanding body language.
Dogs give off signals revealing their state of mind. People who work in kennels recognises trouble before it happens. The stiff tail, rising hackles, even the way one dog looks at another are warning signs.
This stuff isn’t random. Dogs might have been domesticated for around 30,000 years – far longer than horses BTW – but many of their primeval ways remain and are connected to a social hierarchy.
Dog behaviour is established in their puppy days. As breeders are well aware, the dam disciplines her pups and will sort out any youngster who is misbehaving.
She may bark at them or may even nip them, but it is usually on the ear.
There is a well established theory to suggest that the reason dogs from puppy farms have so many behaviour issues us because they were taken away from their mums too soon.
Once dominance and social structure is sorted, most of the behaviour issues dissipate.
As Cesar Milan explains, the dog who bites the postman feels that he has been appointed as ‘pack protector’. The dog who pulls on the lead, clearly things he is the leader of the pack. Until he is ‘disciplined’ otherwise.
Once – through one method or another – a new hierarchy has been established, there is peace.
I can remember a trip out to Cyprus with Nick Savva. The morning after we arrived Nick got a call from the kennel to say that there had been a nasty kennel fight between two litter brothers.
Nick was furious. He had sensed that the littermates, who had been kennelled together for months, were getting a bit irritated with each other.
After he had left the previous day, they had clearly worked out that the pack leader wasn’t around.
Now let’s have that sort out!
Like people, greyhounds can have personal grievances, and like people, they also get irritable.
I have no figures to back it up, but the old dog men knew that disqualifications for fighting appear much more prevalent in hot weather.
Referring back to Nick, I always found it fascinating, that he had independently developed his own understanding of animal behaviour that was so similar to Cesar Milan’s.
Anyone who read the Savva book will recall the tale of when Kelly Findlay was working for Nick and refused a pre-race meal on Derby semi final night.
Nick demanded to know whether Kelly was nervous. If she was, she wouldn’t be leading the dog on parade as ‘those nerves would be transmitted down the lead’.
He didn’t literally mean that, but the concept of nervous behaviour being picked up by the dog was real. History shows that Westmead Hawk was, thankfully, fazed less than Kelly.
Nick also had a plan for youngsters due to go schooling. As anyone who has handled dogs would be aware, they are at their most headstrong stage between around nine and fifteen months.
If he suspected that one of the stroppy teenagers was going to kick off in the van, he would travel with them. As soon as the growling started, the offender would be put on their back into a submissive position. It normally only had to be done once.
But fights still happen among adult dogs (‘withdrawn bitten’) and pups. Fatalities are not common, but hang around this industry for any period of time and you will come across them.
I remember being badly bitten when trying to save a little bitch who was being attacked in the paddock by the rest of the litter.
She survived and went on to become the best of of all of them winning a ton of opens for Peter Payne at Romford. But puppy fatalities do happen.
There is not a breeder of any size who hasn’t lost pups due to being savaged by other dogs, either those who have found themselves in the wrong paddock, or even by their own littermates. That pack instinct is never far away.
Many adult greyhounds still carry the scars from early family disputes though they are usually referred to by ignorant antis as ‘cigarette burns to make them chase’.
While greyhounds are never whipped, or burned, the suggestion that they are exploited is always just below the surface.
A couple of Fridays ago, I was asked to contribute to a debate on BBC Radio Essex following Blue Cross’s concerns about greyhounds racing in excessive heat.
The interview was cancelled due to a much bigger story – the global internet power outage on the same day. By Monday, the weather had changed and I suggested to the radio people that they had a non-story.
Just for the record, both Central Park and Suffolk Downs both raced on Friday afternoon but abandoned in line with the GBGB warm weather protocol.
I missed the chance to put the point across that this was greyhound welfare in action. But it also got me thinking.
There was probably no cooler darker place in Essex on that Friday afternoon than the Romford kennels.
I wonder whether there were similar protocols in place for Essex’s care homes, hospitals or schools?
Or don’t people matter as much as animals?
But before you decide that this particular writer has spent too long in the hot sun, I will briefly reiterate something that occurred on Sunday.
An 82 year old family friend who was suffering from dementia and had developed an incurable chest condition, died following a period of palliative care.
For 20 days, this once distinguished and much loved great grandfather was denied fluid and food.
The suffering on the poor old guy and his loved ones is unimaginable but still the doctors wouldn’t administer the decisive dose of morphine to put him out of his misery.
Imagine what would happen to any trainer who treated a greyhound like that.
Showing pride
Great credit to Entain for getting into the spirit of the Gay Pride movement by having some special trap six jackets made for the Hove meeting on Saturday.
Racing Manager Rob Abrey said: “I believe the idea was originally Paul Illingworth’s and is absolutely in line with the image of Entain as an inclusive global company.
“We have a number of people working at the stadium who consider themselves non-binary and I think that this is an acknowledgement of their value to us as a stadium.”
With Hove suffering from a lack of wide seeds, only eight of the trap sixes will be sporting a rainbow jacket.
Norahmac – the best of us
Sunday almost certainly marks the final runners to be sent out by ‘Norahmac’.
Norah McEllistrim had been training less than a year when my dad asked her to train a little bitch he had just bought.
We set off for Burhill and as a shy 14 year old, it is fours-on that I would have blushed when first meeting the attractive young blonde.
Over the years, I have got to know Norah much better and there is no doubt in my mind that she really is the best of us.
I have met many people who are passionate about their greyhounds, but none more devoted than Norah.
When one of her greyhounds tested positive a few years ago, it only confirmed to me that there was something wrong with the rules.
Although the paperwork is still to be rubber stamped with Gemma Byford due to take over next week, we cannot let this weekend go unnoticed.
Norah – it has been an absolute honour and privelege to know you.
“Editors Chair is an opinion article written by Floyd Amphlett who has been with the Greyhound Star since 1987. Floyd has experienced all of the major developments in greyhound racing for the past 40 years and maintains an enthusiastic interest in the progress and future development of the industry.”
