Irish government to probe claims of greyhound deaths following TV investigation

Andrew Doyle, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said on Thursday that there will be a thorough investigation into allegations of widespread breaches in greyhound welfare made during a programme aired on RTE on Wednesday night.

RTE Investigates: Greyhounds, Running for Their Lives claimed that close to 6,000 of the dogs were killed in 2017 after a consultancy firm was paid €115,000 to carry out a business analysis report on behalf of the Irish Greyhound Board.

The report stated 16,000 greyhounds are born each year, of which 5,987 are culled because they fail to make qualification times or their performance declines. During the hour-long programme, there were also claims made that doping was rampant in the greyhound industry and illegal coursing of dogs is also taking place on a regular basis.

Doyle said in a statement in response to the issues raised in the programme: "The Department takes any allegations of breaches of animal welfare rules very seriously and will thoroughly investigate and take the necessary enforcement actions to deal with such offences."

He also stated the department is engaging in a review of the licensing conditions in knackeries, with regard to practices seen on RTE, and said all allegations will be examined to determine the appropriate actions, and stated his department does not issue certificates for the export of greyhounds to China or Pakistan.

Gerard Dollard, chief executive of the IGB, said that those who have intentionally harmed greyhounds have brought shame on the industry.

"The IGB will continue to investigate any matters brought to its attention," he said. "Any situations where it is alleged a breach of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 has occurred should be brought to the attention of the IGB. Thousands of greyhound owners across the country treat their dogs impeccably before, during and after their racing life.

"The IGB's Strategic Plan 2018-2022 continues to target the ultimate aim of total rehoming of retired racing greyhounds."

Frank Nyhan blasted the treatment of the greyhounds shown in the programme, with the chairman of IGB stressing that the newly signed Greyhound Racing Act 2019 will allow the industry to progress and modernise.

Nyhan said: "We completely condemn the deplorable actions towards greyhounds highlighted in the RTE broadcast. As a result of the newly signed Greyhound Racing Act 2019, the industry now has an opportunity to further progress and modernise.

"When the Act is in full effect, it will add to existing legislation and ensure that the racing greyhound is the most regulated of all canine breeds in Ireland. The IGB is fully supportive of these measures."

Denis Healy, the IGB veterinary director, believes vast improvement has been made in the area of medication control in recent times.

"A raft of regulatory improvements introduced in the past two years, including a €400,000 state-of-the-art analytical system at the National Greyhound Laboratory in Limerick, demonstrates the IGB's intent in the area of medication control," said Healy.

He added: "The IGB conducts approximately 5,000 tests in this laboratory annually, including testing for EPO (erythropoietin) as referenced in the broadcast. The last adverse finding relating to EPO was found in July 2005, with approximately 71,000 tests being conducted on greyhounds both inside and outside of competition since then."

The greyhound industry has received widespread criticism for the issues aired on the programme, and Katie Corcoran, an activist from Greyhound Awareness Cork, has called for government funding to stop with immediate effect.

She said: "The Irish government funds this callousness with many millions of Irish taxpayers' money each year. This programme shows what our money funds, despite dwindling track attendances. The general public are finally finding out what the greyhound industry is desperate to keep secret."

There was mixed reaction on social media to the programme with Denis Beary – a greyhound vet who established the Canine Sports Medicine Clinic in 2004 – of the opinion that the content was one-sided and inaccurate.

Beary tweeted: "There is a well-known bias against greyhound racing in RTE, who keep making sensational, one-sided and inaccurate programmes on the industry."

In another tweet he wrote: "The headline figure of 6,000 dogs put to sleep yearly is a total nonsense: anyone who spent five minutes looking at the figures would realise that if starting with the real number of pups born and accounting for exports and natural losses, that number is a wild exaggeration."

Tom Lyons, the former Sunday Business Post journalist who was voted Business Journalist of the Year in 2016, paid tribute to RTE for deciding to investigate the dark side of the greyhound industry.

Lyons tweeted: "Great stuff by #RTEInvestigates. I know it is easy to criticise the station for losing money etc but it also does some really important journalism."

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