Results 1-20 of 39 for dogs speaker:Brian Ó Domhnaill

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Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (20 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...greyhound". It should be prohibited. We should outlaw the misuse of drugs and the absolute destruction it is causing to greyhounds which are animals we all care for. We would not feed our pet dogs cocaine, steroids or beta blockers. One does not treat animals that way but people in the industry are using animals. They are treating them in that way. It is absolutely wrong. That is...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (20 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...unfair situation that exists from an economic standpoint. It is causing the industry to fall into serious disrepute. It raises questions about the ethics of the industry and the manner in which dogs are treated. On Committee Stage I referred to substances such as beta blockers, cocaine, morphine and Ritalin, which are being administered to greyhounds. They are also being administered...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Report Stage (29 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ..., that there is a need, given all of the concerns and given the depressed nature of the sector. We are dealing with a lot of people whose hearts have been invested in raising pups into racing dogs for the greyhound racing sector down through the years and they are deeply depressed at the state of the sector because of what has gone on. That is why they need a voice at the table where the...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Report Stage (29 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...to have a maximum service by any one sire of 120 in any calendar year.At the moment, there is no maximum limit. As I said on Committee Stage, the issue with frozen semen is that there are dogs that have been dead for years and yet their semen continues to be used. That is despite the fact that a death limit was applied under regulations brought in in 2005 by the then Department of...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Report Stage (29 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...there is an economic rationale and benefits for those who are involved. Unfortunately those who are involved in the cartel are growing and it is becoming financially more viable for them to sustain the dogs, yet the ordinary punter, the breeder and the owner cannot compete, in particular the ordinary man who breeds a litter of greyhounds. The objectives of the different types of breeders...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Report Stage (29 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ..., beta blockers and other performance supporting drugs like Viagra. Many types of drugs are being fed to these greyhounds for one reason or another. This is happening on an ongoing basis. We see dogs winning races involving big stakes which subsequently test positive for drugs. The purpose of this amendment is to introduce an internationally-acceptable standard to replace the grey area...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...all sorts of issues around drugs. There are other issues but the drugs issue in particular has tarnished the industry's reputation. This is a wonderful industry. There are many people who have dogs, who breed dogs and who race dogs but, unfortunately, the introduction of drugs into the sport has created an elite tier within the greyhound industry. This means that the prize money is very...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...Board approves a number of licences which it issues to studkeepers who provide an artificial insemination service for greyhounds. The two-year death limit means that no frozen semen from a dog that is dead can be used. If the board had implemented the regulations, as it should have done because it was the law, there would be no greyhound racing on any track today bred with the semen of a...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Frozen semen from the father of that dog dates back to 1992.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: That dog is dead; therefore, the regulations have been flouted.How can anyone have confidence in an organisation that flouts its own regulations? The five licensed operators are turning themselves into multimillionaires by creating a cartel within the sector. There is no level playing field, but we do not have to recreate the moon to deal with this issue. All we have to do is replicate...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...and the nature of these amendments is to try to strengthen the integrity of this sector because it has been marred with drug abuses. The abuse of drugs in greyhound racing is either to make the dog go faster or to slow it down, but it has other unintended consequences for the welfare of the dog. To feed dogs cocaine, Viagra and amphetamines is disgraceful. I assure the House that the...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I accept that.That gentleman is not the only one. As I said the other day, numerous people travel across the water, fill their dogs with drugs, race them on tracks in the United Kingdom, following which they are banned for perhaps six months, a year or a lifetime, as in the case I mentioned, yet, the following week or perhaps before the end of it, they are racing the same dogs on a track in...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...have to be two negative tests after a positive test for the greyhound. I am just trying to strengthen this issue. The Minister of State might outline what exactly happens at the moment and why dogs that test positive one week are allowed to race the following week. That appears to be happening but I do not know how. They can test positive in one stadium and then race again. Another...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: My second amendment does not take away the discretion from the control committee. What I am suggesting is that there would be a minimum period of four months. The dog could not race after two or three days, as outlined by Senator Ruane, in that the dog could run around the track, the stuff could be sweat out of the system and the dog tests negative. This is wrong. We need a minimum period...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...only small numbers of people are involved, they cast a dark shadow over the entire greyhound industry. It is a wonderful industry with wonderful people but, unfortunately, a small number of trainers are infusing dogs with drugs and they should be dealt with harshly. While I could have suggested a much longer suspension period, I believe that three months is reasonable. There may be a...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...do not have any conflicts of interest or linkages in respect of greyhounds.I do not say it is the case, but, for instance, if a member or the chairperson of the control committee was to have dogs trained by a trainer and if they tested positive for drugs, that would leave the member or the chairperson with a conflict of interest, as he or she would not be impartial and it would be wrong to...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...but I am raising serious questions. I would be conflicted if I was chairman of the control committee and had a greyhound that was racing and that was being trained by a trainer who previously had dogs that had tested positive for drugs and if I was expected to make decisions on other dogs tested for drugs and with the same trainer. It does not make sense, but that is what is happening...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...animal welfare. This is an opportunity to improve the welfare of greyhounds, particularly greyhounds that are exported to countries with very poor track records in the manner in which they treat dogs or other animals. I was particularly taken by amendment No. 19, which makes the excellent proposal to have an annual report and produce a league table of the countries to which we export...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The Senator is having some now. Dogs are being fed all these substances. How many of the cases ended up on the desks of An Garda?

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: ...that the Irish Greyhound Board and the Department received legal advice from the barrister Mr. Ross Aylward in February 2013 to the effect that it was illegal to continue to use frozen semen from dogs that were long dead and insert it into bitches. That is still happening. A cartel is operating within the sector and the issue is not being addressed. Section 56 provides us with an...