When I was a boy in England my father was a greyhound owner and trainer. He produced two world champions Lily and Charlie My Boy
We had a regular stud of six beautiful greyhounds and a lovely red setter that used to chase after them
Caring for greyhounds and keeping them in top form was a science learnt from many years of experience. Diet and exercise were prime considerations- even daily massages.
Early morning starts and long walks and runs were a daily routine. It was hard work.
Greyhounds are graceful, gentle and friendly creatures. They are not killers but love to run - like many other breeds do. They make great pets if you are not using them to make money in racing.
But even years ago there was an ugly side to greyhound racing. When puppies were born they were drowned if the owners did not think they would make good racers. Men would simply look at a pup and make an instant decision - on what basis I never knew. They simply indicated they had secret knowledge and knowing.
As a boy I hated this. The pups were drowned in buckets of water. I hated what I saw.
Then there was "coursing" when dogs were taken into the countryside to chase and kill hares.
I once went coursing with my father and many other dog owners. It disgusted me. I had a camera with me and took photos. This resulted in one of my first big national newspaper stories that I submitted to the then Sunday Pictorial. However animal welfare was not a serious consideration in the 1950s and the story and pix ended up on the spike.
In these modern times it seems greyhound racing has got seriously more cruel as just revealed in Australia by Animal Liberation Queensland and Animals Australia and bravely broadcast by ABC TV's admirable Four Corners programme.
If you did not see the ABC Four Corner programme exposing greyhound racing cruelty and cheating you can catch it here -
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/02/16/4178920.htm
In essence it reveals how greyhound trainers are using live animals like baby pigs, possums and rabbits to "blood" greyhounds which owners believe makes them better racers. The poor little live creatures are whirled around a circular track and eaten alive when caught by the dogs.
It is truly disgusting and it is certainly not sporting. It is vile animal cruelty.
It is also financially cheating greyhound racing punters.
