The Greyhound Board of Great Britain today hosted the launch of a Working Group to discuss the creation of a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for GBGB licensed residential kennels by the British Standards Institute, agreed as part of GBGB’s commitments to DEFRA during the review of Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations.
Present were Steve Wilson of BSI and Peter Hall from DEFRA and representatives of all stakeholder groups. Trainers were represented by former champion trainer Linda Jones, trainer Jim Reynolds and Assistant Trainer Teresa Cahill. Promoters were represented by Nottingham’s Rachel Corden and Swindon and Poole’s Bill Glass while the welfare lobby was represented by former Dogs Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin on behalf of the Greyhound Forum and former GBGB Welfare and Integrity manager and now Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Director of Operations Peter Laurie representing the Canine and Feline Sector Group.
GBGB Director of Regulation Mark Bird said; “The purpose of today’s Working Group was to agree an overall broad consensus as to what the BSI PAS would cover in terms of residential kennels for registered greyhounds. I am very grateful that there was good representation at the workshop including DEFRA, welfare groups, racecourses and licensed trainers.
It will eventually fall to a Steering Group, which will be established following the meeting, to take the technical aspects forward. BSI will, in time, circulate the draft PAS for public consultation, ahead of the standard being agreed and published. GBGB are hopeful that the standard for licensed residential greyhound kennels will be ready within the next 12 months, with the ultimate of achieving UKAS accreditation for the residential kennel licensing process.”
Jim Reynolds welcomed trainers’ inclusion in the Working Group and hoped the implementation of the PAS would not be too onerous and suggested that bookmakers should contribute financially. Linda Jones said “We need to get a standard that suits everybody, but most importantly it must suit the dogs.”
