Time has run out for greyhound racing industry

Lay of the Land

'The IGB now receives €16.8m a year, while 6,000 dogs are killed or go missing in that time frame. The IGB questions that 6,000 figure - as do those dumping grounds known as animal rescues, run by folk whose taxes support the very industry that relentlessly overwhelms them. They believe the number is closer to 10,000.' (stock photo)

Fiona O'Connell

It's over seven years since I wrote here about seeing two cowering greyhounds being thrown into the river in this country town. At the time I noted that the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) received €11m in state funding that year.

"Nearly 900 greyhounds ended up in state pounds in 2010, where two thirds were killed," I went on. "Even euthanasia is too big a price to pay for some dogs that have run the living daylights out of themselves. The bodies of six greyhounds shot and dumped in a quarry earlier this year caused a sensation. Sadly, it's the norm."