Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Here we are again. Another year has passed and another €80 million is being provided for the horse and greyhound racing industries. The Minister, in his speech, as far as I can tell, makes no reference whatsoever to the issues of animal welfare and animal rights. How long can he continue to ignore the horrific conditions faced by greyhounds in this industry? I know people who own greyhounds who love their dogs, treat them well, etc., but I also know that it is an industry that is intimately connected to gambling and where the profit motive is extremely strong, which, unfortunately, has an extremely distorting impact and results in cruel practices towards dogs. In the last week there were two very important stories in the media which illustrate the point.

The first which is in the newspapers today addresses doping. Another two greyhounds have tested positive for traces of cocaine. Every time this happens, the Irish Greyhound Board, IGB, states it has a doping testing regime in place and that it only thinks 1% of dogs is affected, but all of the evidence suggests it is the tip of the iceberg. Pharmacology experts, veterinarians and others in the industry treat the official figures with serious scepticism. The Morris report pointed to severe problems with the anti-doping measures in the greyhound industry and found that the National Greyhound Laboratory did not have facilities to test many of the drugs used to dope greyhounds. When will the IGB be obliged to fund adequate levels of testing for substances in greyhounds?

The issue of export of dogs to countries which have very low or no animal welfare regulations or legislation is serious. I note that the Minister, in an answer to Deputy Daly on 28 March, said Bord na gCon "advises all owners involved in the export of greyhounds to only export to destinations that provide the expected levels of greyhound care and management as defined in the IGB's Code of Practice for the welfare of greyhounds. I strongly endorse this view." That is all very well, but the reality is that greyhounds are being exported to China, Pakistan and countries where really cruel treatment of dogs is absolutely rife. There was a story in the British press a week ago about a woman called Kerry Elliman who has been involved in a Birmingham organisation and rescued dogs which were exported from Ireland to China. The conditions that are reported are horrific. The Daily Mirrorstates

Video footage from contacts across China gives a horrific insight into how racing greyhounds are treated in the absence of animal protection laws.

One harrowing clip shows a greyhound being boiled alive in a cauldron.

In other clips greyhounds yelp as they are strung up with cables and hung from a line to be weighed.

Other greyhounds, reduced to skin and bone, are confined in a tiny cage. Last week, Kerry spent five days in Beijing to retrieve the dogs her contacts intercepted.

Kerry has been in touch with me and provided me with an extensive list of dogs that have been exported from Ireland. The dogs are on a website in China with their original owners listed and they came directly from Ireland. There is a list of 22 dogs, owned by the Cliffords, Jason Walsh, Stephen McNamara, Gerard Dowling, Stephen Dunphy and the list goes on. I can provide it for the Minister. These are greyhounds which were directly exported from Ireland to China and it seems likely that many of those involved in the exports are also involved in exports to Pakistan and elsewhere.

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