Following an inspection and reports by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, a suspended trainer has been sentenced to a total of 36 weeks in prison. Rebecca Perkins, who pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty and one count of animal suffering, was sentenced at Scarborough Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday 27th June 2023. She has also been given a lifetime ban from keeping animals.
Having been alerted to a possible case of animal suffering, GBGB’s Stipendiary Steward Simon Storey visited Perkins’ kennels in September last year and found that the animals were not receiving the care and treatment required. He immediately arranged for all the dogs to be removed from the kennels and within hours they were being seen by vets and being moved to homing centres. Since then, GBGB has worked closely with the authorities as they brought charges against Perkins providing whatever information or assistance was required.
GBGB will now conduct its own disciplinary hearing into this matter which could result in a lifetime ban from the sport.
Mark Bird, Chief Executive of GBGB, said: “It was our own investigation that first uncovered this and we immediately took all the necessary steps to ensure appropriate action was taken to safeguard the wellbeing of the greyhounds. There is absolutely no place for any mistreatment of greyhounds within our sport and, as the regulator of licensed greyhound racing, we will always place the health and welfare of the animals above all other considerations. Whilst this case is very distressing, it is an isolated case and through our robust regulatory practices and policies, we ensure that all registered greyhounds are given the care and protection they deserve at all times.”
