Reasons to say no to dog track
10:42am Tuesday 3rd April 2007 in Comment By Readers' Letter
I WAS dismayed when I read that a campaign is being launched to build a dog track in Bolton. I only wish the comments by Ron Eccles from the Westhoughton track were true, ie: that it is a dying sport.
I am not a killjoy, and would be the first person to acknowledge the grace and skill of these beautiful dogs - if only the breed as a whole got a better deal in life. However, they are the most exploited dogs in the country, few living beyond their racing days and most never even reaching that stage.
I do not doubt that greyhounds are well cared for while racing, but what then? Bushmills Major, recently abandoned at a police station in Scotland - with catastrophic results - is an example of an unwanted ex-racer.
Surely the owners and the industry itself must accept responsibility. While greyhound racing continues, dogs will continue to be abandoned or destroyed, all for man's pleasure and financial gain. Ex-racing dogs exported to Spain suffer an even worse fate.
Please say "no" to a new greyhound track and support the RSPCA campaign to persuade the Government to make the industry itself protect these dogs.
Mrs Katherine M Kay, Boonfields, Bromley Cross
