The recent news story on the slaughter of greyhounds has brought together the rescue community to call for immediate action to prevent the ongoing killing of thousands of greyhounds every year.
It is estimated that as many as 30,000 greyhounds are bred in the UK and Ireland every year. The most optimistic estimates suggest that only around 6,000 go into pet homes every year. Many are killed. Many more are dumped, abused, sold abroad. This has to change.
Although the Oldies Club deals with all breeds, we are asked to list so many greyhounds on our website – many oldies that have tragically never known anything but kennel life – that we could not ignore the greyhound issue. We believe older dogs all deserve homes: we feel that it is not acceptable even for dogs to be bred with the expectation that they will be kenneled into old age, let alone that they should be bred in the expectation that so many will not see their fourth birthday.
Greyhound oldies deserve loving homes!
Various greyhound and all-breed rescues are planning a march in London. The coordinators say: “The idea is to march under a general banner such as Stop the Slaughter – say to the government here is the problem now sort it – whether that be a ban (unlikely) or independant regulation. I am well aware of the politics of greyhound welfare but if we march under a general banner, then whether you are an abolitionist or independant regulator it doesn’t matter. Each group can still proudly wear their t-shirts etc but we will all be marching for a common goal – to stop the slaughter of these beautiful, innocent hounds.”
The Oldies Club is formally supporting the proposed protest march, and if you are an Oldies Club registered supporter, you’ll be getting an email to let you know more about this as soon as we know more.
If you would like to find out more about the proposed protests, and find out how you as a an individual can register your views, please go along to the new Greyhound Protest section on The Refuge forum for the latest.