I was shocked to discover that Bolton Council are contemplating allowing the building of a greyhound racing stadium.

As a member of a greyhound rescue charity I feel it is my duty to raise your awareness of the problems caused by this industry.

Every year more than 25,000 greyhounds are born and registered to the industry (this obviously does not include those that are never registered). Only a small proportion of these dogs actually make it to the racing track, as many do not make the grade or fail to have the instinct to chase. Those that do not make it are not accounted for in any official figures and are destroyed at will and with no penalty.

Greyhounds who do race often suffer terrible injuries. It was recently reported that more than 12,000 injuries were sustained last year (why do we let such a dangerous sport continue?).

Every year 10,000 dogs retire from racing, and the Retired Greyhound Trust, which is funded by the British Greyhound Racing Board gives the number of greyhounds re-homed last year to be 4,000. Where oh where are the 6,000 other dogs that retired?

I feel as a Manchester borough it would be better for Bolton to look towards more forward thinking projects, especially at a time when the Olympics are coming to London. The possibilities are endless for tourism and sporting achievement, rather than being involved in an industry which exploits animals.

Jason Dix