Responding to Paul Carpenter’s resignation from the GBGB Board, Jeremy Cooper, Chair of GBGB said:
“We are saddened and disappointed that, after only three months as a Director, Paul has decided to stand down from the Board.
It is particularly disappointing that he has done so at a time when his presence on the Board and the contribution he was beginning to make were valued by us all and he was quickly becoming an important, vocal and influential Board member.
We were aware of the level of abuse he had been receiving on social media due to his position as Owners’ Practitioner Director which he raised in his letter. This is something that all Board members are subject to and reflects the attitudes and prejudices of some within the sport. It is horrific that anyone’s mental wellbeing should be affected in this way but sadly it is something that many of us are increasingly used to.
As Directors, we all share responsibility for the effective governance of the sport. It can be particularly hard for those Directors who are elected representatives of trainers and owners to balance their representation to those who have elected them with the wider responsibilities of governance.
As we continue to develop the sport’s new Welfare Strategy, it is vital that the voices of trainers and owners remain heard and we will ensure this is the case.
We are disappointed that, after so little time on the Board, he has concluded that he believes he cannot make the impact he wished to. We disagree and his announcement today is one we neither welcome nor did he discuss with us before going public. We regret that he has taken this decision without spending more time on the Board to influence our combined thinking. Indeed, in the short time he was on the Board, he had already played a significant role in our decisions to limit the amount of racing for individual greyhounds and reducing the amount of time that greyhounds are kennelled at racecourses.
We know that his letter of resignation will be welcomed by a vocal minority in the sport whose view of how the sport should be governed differs from the Board. Our focus will continue to be on doing everything we can to govern the sport effectively, promote the welfare of racing and retired greyhounds and continue to take the right decisions for the sport’s future.”
