Subject:
Greyhound racing campaign
Message:
Dear Mr Batchelor and Mr Taylor, I am writing to urge you to reconsider the League Against Cruel Sports position with regard to the future of greyhound racing. As your own website suggests commercial greyhound racing in the UK has long been known for the macabre cruelty towards the dogs which it exploits. 'Thousands of greyhounds go missing every year, many put down, others dispatched with a bullet to the head or a brick around the neck.' www.league.org.uk Recently WSPA became the first major animal welfare organisation to take a definite stance against commercial greyhound racing. In their statement of support for the RDPA they commented on the inevitability of the cruelty associated with this form of the sport: "WSPA is opposed to the use of animals in sport or for entertainment when such use is contrary to the animals' nature, or may involve suffering or adversely affect the animals' welfare. Commercial greyhound racing is an industry driven by financial profit and entertainment, largely at the expense of the welfare of greyhounds. There are inherent characteristics of commercial greyhound racing that are simply incompatible with animal welfare..." Regardless of the fact that in the eyes of the law animals are considered as property there is a strong moral argument which suggests that greyhound racing is a cruel sport. Violence to greyhounds begins at birth when litters are culled and continues right through to retirement of young dogs deemed too slow to race. The similarities with animal fighting sports such as cockfighting, bullfighting and dogfighting, all forms of entertainment that are banned in the United Kingdom, are undeniable. `Greyhound racing in a similar way to animal fighting results in an extravagant waste of life. So it seems inconsistent for society to view this sport any differently than animal-fighting..` 'Greyhounds: Racing to their deaths' Stetson Law Review' The Racing Dog Protection Act (RDPA) spells out the legislative changes required in order to make greyhound racing welfare friendly. It is based on a thorough review of the methods of regulation used in different countries around the world which suggests that the same problems arise in every country which allows betting on greyhound races. The RDPA has been created to protect racing dogs because current animal protection legislature is failing to do so. The RDPA therefore, circumvents the animal protection laws and addresses the root cause of the problem, namely the industries requirement to make a profit. By outlawing betting the requirement to make a profit is removed. Other countries which have taken a similar step, such as Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and much of the USA, allow greyhound racing to continue but the end result is vastly different to that which we see in the UK. Dogs are kept as pets and raced only as a hobby. As a result they are treated well and only a small number are bred in order to replace dogs which die of natural causes. Defra`s recent public consultation on their proposed changes to the legislation relating to greyhound racing resulted in over 2,500 responses. The overwhelming majority of which (1,700) were in support of the Racing Dog Protection Act. Considering that the campaign ran for only one month and was promoted solely by small organisations and word of mouth is a very promising result. There is clearly a very significant strength of feeling on the subject. Please follow WSPA, World Canine Organisation (FCI), the German Kennel Club (VDH), PETA-Europe, Animal Aid, Animals Count and a number of other animal protection organisations who have supported the RDPA. For more information please see www.rdpa-uk.org. Please also note that I do not wish to be added to your contact list. Kind Regards

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Douglas Batchelor
(Chief Executive) and Steve Taylor (Head of Campaigns & Communications)

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