Mike Tyson famously said ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.’ An adapted version for greyhound racing might read, ‘everyone wants improved welfare until the stipe arrives at the door.’
But surely everyone wants improved welfare?
Well that depends on what you mean by ‘welfare’, and ‘everyone’.
The definition of ‘welfare’ has certainly changed. I can remember a time when trainers would tighten muzzles or feed dogs to make dogs go slower. Give them a shot of ‘Bute’ to extend their careers and routinely put them to sleep at the end of those careers.
Not everyone of course, but those practices were certainly not unknown.
They were against the rules racing of course (except the euthanasias), but not really filed under ‘welfare’.
Graham Holland still remembers his time as an Oxford trainer when more than one of his fellow handlers would feed the kennel for the day before setting off for the morning BAGS meeting and the dogs wouldn’t be let out again that day.
Presumably the NGRC stewards were aware but felt no need to act.
Would it happen today?
I think we can all accept that this goes all the way beyond welfare and becomes cruelty.
But how many of us have actually reported anyone for doing it?
The responsibility for preventing breaches of welfare rested with the NGRC from 1928 until GBGB was set up 11 years ago.
The fact that they were so crap at it, was one of the main reasons that ‘the Club’ was finally scrapped.
Basically, welfare was never the NGRC’s main priority, or ‘a thing’ really. They were far more interested in integrity. The senior steward thought he was Yosemite Sam out to catch those cheating trainer varmints .
Just check out the old NGRC Calendars. Welfare was seldom spoken about. Time finding and gambling was king.
A good example might be the practice of administering the steroid Laurabolyn to suppress seasons. The Club were only concerned that it would affect racing performance. The fact that it would physically start to turn bitches into dogs was not considered relevant.
The only time that welfare became ‘a thing’ was when a dead or abandoned greyhounds received national news coverage.
Even then, the issue wasn’t really welfare, it was commercial. How is this going to damage our businesses? Can we cover it up? If all else fails, keep shtum.
I contend that the industry was rotten from the bottom upwards.
It started with the bad trainers. We all know they have always existed. They would be the ones whose dogs were in such bad state that decent trainers would refuse to put their dogs into racing kennels until they had been disinfected.
They were the ones who would undercut the decent trainers by feeding crap and neglecting teeth and nails. Their kennels stank of urine and the paddocks were full of shite.
These ‘old school’ trainers who might attempt to present a dog for racing with a mouth full of rotten teeth, or riddled with fleas or worms have largely gone.
They would blame track promoters for not having the money to ‘do the job right’. Partially true but also an indefensible and convenient scapegoat.
If you can’t do the right thing by the dogs with the resources available, walk away! The dogs should never have been paying the price for underfunding.
In truth though – even if they had been given the money, it wouldn’t have been spent on the dogs. Probably pissed away on failed gambles.
The industry policemen were the stipendiary stewards and they varied greatly, though even the good ones were keener to find cheating than abuse.
Many simply went through the motions. When they did bring issues to the attention of their bosses, they were seldom backed.
Why? I suggest it is worth remembering that that the NGRC was first set up by GRA and their salaries were and are predominantly paid for by special license fees. And who pays them? The tracks.
This of course is where the whole filthy business fed on itself. Put the bad trainers out of business and the good ones would have the power to demand more prize money from the promoters.
I contend that it was the surplus of (trained) greyhounds that held down prize money and standards. The majority of greyhound trainers, are, and always have been, decent caring human beings trying to do their best for their dogs. But they were undermined by the system.
Ultimately, the final layer is the betting industry. As tracks struggled to stay in business (as is self evident by the number who closed), the bookies shirked their responsibilities for decades. They paid £0 until the BGRF was created.
With no statutory levy, bookies still continue to make voluntary contributions.
Let’s not forget, it was only in the last two years that the colossus that is Betfair, finally agreed to contribute after a decade of disgraceful and inexcusable avoidance.
So how can we be confident that the industry is changing forever?
There are various reasons, which are embedded in a gradual but continuous shift in public opinion. Attitudes to animals have certainly softened in the last couple of generations. This has filtered through to the politicians and it was within this millennium that they gave ‘the industry’ (the track owners), its final warning.
Sort it or else!
The Government also recognised that the betting industry would have to contribute more and, after pressure, the list of contributors to the fund gradually rose.
(It is worth remembering that post Brexit, the Government could now introduce a ‘levy’ if it chose)
The make-up of the promoters also changed. Over time, most of the dinosaurs departed and the voices of a more enlightened group took control. Kinsley’s John Curran was by far the most proactive in dealing with the welfare groups and dragging the others along.
Improved welfare became a necessity as much as a priority.
New faces were needed, starting with the appointment, two and a half years ago, of new GBGB Managing Director of GBGB Mark Bird followed by Chairman Jeremy Cooper.
Timing is everything in life and I would suggest that neither man would have been naïve enough to accept those positions even five years earlier.
Their beliefs would have made them unemployable and if they had slipped through the appointment net, the promoters would have undermined them at every corner.
Conversely Bird and Cooper wouldn’t have accepted their roles unless they were in a position to instigate major change. Why would they want to carry the can on behalf of the track owners?
So huge progress has been made but caution will be needed. The next stage will be difficult and some adaptation and understanding will be vital during its transition.
Working with animals will always bring its own challenges. The one-in-a-hundred bite victim that inexplicably goes into post traumatic shock and instantly becomes a ‘cruelty’ case. The broken hock that doesn’t heal properly. The bad eater who picks up enteritis and is on death’s door within 48 hours.
There was a recent case whereby a trainer was warned off when a kennel containing 46 greyhounds were found to be underweight and in poor physical condition, fleas, worms etc.
While nobody can surely question the stewards’ actions, including the punishment, the ‘understanding’ comes with the knowledge that 26 of the dogs were ex-racers. Is that intentional cruelty?
A good friend and former senior inspector in the RSPCA often highlighted the large percentage of ‘cruelty’ cases were brought against people who were clearly struggling in life and could barely look after themselves.
Retired greyhounds bring their own potential for disaster, as highlighted by Rita Williams in her recent letter regarding Tudor Prince.
Final thought: GBGB is evolving. There will inevitably be difficulties and disputes as they raise the bar on welfare and the stewards are forced into difficult decisions.
But in the end, they must be allowed to deliver the standards that we can all be proud of, and defend.
Here is a lovely little story (with subtitles for those of us whose German isn’t up to it) about Beatrice Steiner, a Swiss lady whose love of greyhounds attracted her to a new life in Ireland.
We are going very Continental this week and to Belgium whose exports include Eden Hazard, Stella Artois and bigger than them all, Patrick Janssens.
Readers may recall Patrick’s recent story about how he almost passed up the chance of taking in Skilful Sandie because he had a full kennel. Although I didn’t include it as part of the Golden Jacket review, Big Patrick tells an even funnier tale of one that almost went a bit Pete Tong on him.
It was back in the summer of 2017 when wife Cheryl took a call from an owner on a young dog who had been schooled at Bicester. Cheryl efficiently noted the pup’s trial time as 14.60 for the sprint.
Patrick picked up the note and shook his head. He knew that Rab McNair’s fantastic young pups had been around the same track and were clocking around the 14.80 mark.
‘Are you sure about these times?’ questioned the suspicious Belgian.
(Very unwisely!)
‘I am’ bristled Mrs J, in a manner what every husband would recognise when he dares to question herself.
‘Hmmm??’, muttered Patrick (presumably when he was out of earshot).
Move forward six weeks and the same youngster appeared in his first 480 trial at Towcester. After exiting the traps like a scalded cat, the black led two open racers eight lengths to the third bend on his way to winning the trial in 28.67.
It is now a point of record that the unbelievable pup turned out to be Kilmore Lemon.
What isn’t on record is Mrs Janssens’ response when the news was reported back.
This graphic (right) was produced by Irish breeder Martin Tucker concerning the IGB decision to implement the Indecon plan which would see the closure of Longford.
In his words:
A simple map with an explanation as to why Longford is so important to the Greyhound folk from this region and the the Greyhound Industry.
Longford is the yellow spot
The other tracks are in red. 2
Northern tracks are white schooling tracks blue (might be a few more ?)
Take Longford away and the whole region is decimated !
My Facebook friends will be aware that I was given a bit of a grueller when our ex-racer Rushy decided to set off after a big brown hare last week.
She arrived home half an hour before I did and in considerably better shape. All of which persuaded Pat Witchalls to send me this ‘as something to watch while you recover!’ Thanks Pat
Unfortunately not all were as kind, suggesting the scenario had unfolded more like this.
