Open letter to the Board of Trustees of The Greyhound Trust
We, the Greyhound Ambassadors, wish it to be known that we find the recent fundraising literature sent out by the Greyhound Trust and the subsequent press release by the Chairman on behalf of the Trustees to be unacceptable. The press release contained only an apology for the ‘offence this has caused’ rather than an apology for the huge error of judgement by the Greyhound Trust.
The Retired Greyhound Trust was originally set up by racing people and has been held dear to them ever since its inception. The Greyhound Trust, in its current format has moved so far away from racing that the image being portrayed by the Trust is one of very little understanding of the nature of the breed that they are rehoming. It would also appear that the Trust has moved from rehoming RETIRED racing greyhounds to rehoming greyhounds as objects of pity. There seems to be no understanding that greyhounds can be loved and are loved outside a domestic environment and within the racing environment. We know that love within racing exists in vast quantities.
The apparent lack of understanding of the issue has been further compounded by the apology issued by the Chairman of Trustees, Prof Steve Dean, who appears to brush over the offence caused. He then goes on to say that the Trust works with the ‘deeply appreciated support of its partners in the racing industry’. The very people who were so offended by the attitude displayed in the fundraising literature and whose offence has been brushed aside with more ill-conceived words.
A substantial amount of money is generated through the activities of the racing community and we believe that those fundraising efforts are in danger of being compromised due to the question of the Greyhound Trust’s stance on racing.
We are asking that the Greyhound Trust issue a genuine apology and statement that demonstrates a full understanding of the issues. Further to that we ask that a revised letter be sent to their supporters correcting the factually incorrect statements in the fundraising letter and those corrections are also made widely available via social media.
The Greyhound Ambassadors
Re GT Press Release
When is an apology not an apology? When it’s written by the GT it seems.
I was one of the legion of people who were left aghast by the contents of the February funding appeal by the GT. I think it’s safe to say that many of us would have remained unperturbed had the GT continued with their apparent ambivalence towards racing, but that dreadful mail shot was an insult to all the caring people involved in racing.
As a consequence, an apology was the least that could have been expected and I would have thought that one would have been rapid and effusive and not given the impression that it was dragged out of the board under the weight of criticism. Pulling teeth springs to mind.
As it is, the ‘apology’ that was issued was little more than a shrug of the shoulders because we were offended by the language. There was no apology for the mendacity of the statements nor any acknowledgement of the terrible damage done.
Can we expect a genuine apology? I doubt it.
Jane Conway
Bicester Schooling Track
Friends of mine have a litter of pups schooling at Jeff Sealey’s Bicester track. Yesterday, Sunday, there were no trials as the hare driving generator had broken down and there is a £2,000 repair estimate, which is bad news for those with pups, as schooling facilities are virtually non existent in the South and Midlands areas and such bad luck for Jeff Sealely who provides such an important facility for owners at just £8 a trial.
If anyone can help Jeff I’m sure it would be very much appreciated.
Mike Kelly
