Greyhound Action Ireland call TUS greyhound welfare courses a “cynical PR stunt”

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Greyhound Action Ireland has criticised the new greyhound welfare courses launched by Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).

Spokesperson for Greyhound Action Ireland, Nuala Donlon, said the move as “another cynical PR stunt by the Irish greyhound racing industry to put lipstick on a pig (or a greyhound in this case).”

TUS announced the courses, designed to advance education, professional standards and animal welfare across Ireland’s greyhound industry, in collaboration with Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI).

Professor Vincent Cunnane said the courses will “equip those working in the greyhound sector with the scientific understanding and practical competence necessary to uphold the highest standards of care and integrity.”

GRI Chairman Pat Flanagan said the programmes “build on the strong standards of care and welfare already achieved across the industry and will serve as an exemplar for canine welfare more broadly.”

The advocacy group expressed astonishment that any academic body would align itself with a toxic activity like greyhound racing, an activity which is responsible for the injury and death of dogs on an industrial scale.

Ms Donlon said: "The overbreeding and subsequent killing of thousands of young healthy dogs is systemic to the Irish greyhound racing industry, as is the injury and death of hundreds more on the track every year.”

Ms. Donlon cited data showing that of 12,483 dogs born in 2021, 7,511 remain in Ireland, and of those, 5,118 (68%) are “already dead or unaccounted for".

"The oldest of those dogs would have just turned five, a greyhound can live to be 14 years old," she said.

She concluded: “As long as greyhounds are bred on an industrial scale in order to select a small percentage of the fastest dogs, there will always be a problem with welfare.

"Welfare costs money, and not even Harvard University could offer a course that will change that fact.”