I apologise for writing nothing in the last fortnight.

I just had to have a short break because --firstly those vital cells that control my heart rate and blood pressure were not performing at their usual rate --and secondly our Warwick who lives in London had accepted our invitation to spend his 60 eth birthday with us here in Beverley.    His wonderful Fiona and their two girls Eleanor and Rebecca came with him.    Simon and his wonderful Lyn came from Sheriff  Hutton.   Unfortunately their Judith, Ruth and Neil were unable to join us because of their work. Jill our adopted daughter was able to come from Leicester.   Two of our oldest friends here --Fred and Kerry Dobson only had to come from around the corner.    We live with Walter and his wonderful doctor Nuala and their musical girls Siobhan, Lucy and Hannah.   Two old Italian friends of Warwick and Simon since they were teaching in Alba thirty five years ago came all the way to be with us.  They are a very special couple.  Guido is a chemist and Carla is a lawyer.   They have a daughter -- Marta who is also a lawyer based in Luxembourg.

  We all sat around Walter and Nuala's big table for a delightful meal, good wine and a slice of birthday-cake.   Next evening in four cars we went to York for another enjoyable meal -- my first consisting of seven courses beside St. Cuthbert's Church.   Although we missed Judith, Ruth and Neil terribly, it still was one memorable event.   I was not well enough to be with the family on the trip to Flamborough Head.   This is a promontory with chalk cliffs and a white lighthouse with a black top built in 1669.    I like to go there and see see the thousands of protected sea birds who include auks, gannets, gulls, guillemotts, kittiwakes, puffins and razor bills.



      But my cardiac problem was minor compared to Gary Verity's.    Gary is the force behind the thousands of visitors attracted to Yorkshire's town and country sights.   He had to have surgery and all his fans were delighted to hear that it was totally successful.

A Literary Genius Over The Border -- In Derry.

    For the past two months I have been thinking about the loss of the famous poet and writer who was born eighteen years after me at Castledawson in my adjoining county.   He was only seventy four.  You will all know that his name was Seamus Heaney.    It seems so unfair that his health failed ;  he had so much to give to younger generations.   But we can take consolation from knowing that his words will
never be forgotten.

                                          Northern Ireland 's  Popular Genius With Words

     Seamus grew up on a farm with eight other children and his father was a cattle dealer.  In his later years he lived in Sandymount.   He was educated at St. Columbs catholic college in Derry.   Readers of his poetry considered that he got some of his inspiration from reading the works of Wordsworth.   He was appointed Professor at Oxford and at Harvard  and was awarded the Nobel prize for Literature.    His early poems were considered the best sine those by W.B. Yeats.    In his obituary  the Irish Independent called him one of the best known poets in the world.   The large funeral to Bellaghy was broadcast on television far and wide.

Yeats was born in Dublin in 1865  but was mostly associated with Sligo where his mother came from.  Yeats spent holidays on Howth at Balscadden House.  He was the first Irishman and member of the Senate to receive the Nobel Prize -- in 1923.  He died in France in 1939 and was buried there.   However  he had wished to be dug up after a while -- when he would be forgotten -- and buried again in his beloved Drumcliff.    I have never passed this church without stopping and entering the graveyard to read his epitaph on  the tombstone  -- " Cast a cold eye  on life,  on death   Horseman pass by ".   This was from his poem "Under Benbulben"

Benbulben's Dangerous Face Looking Down On Drumcliff

 This is an example of his mythical writing

We rode in sorrow, with strong hounds three,

Bran, Sgeolan, and Lomair,

On a morning misty and mild and fair.

The mist-drops hung on the fragrant trees,

And in the blossoms hung the bees.

We rode in sadness above Lough Lean,

For our best were dead on Gavra's green.

I climbed this spectacular mountain before I went to the top of  Errigal which was nearer to me.   The opportunity arose when I was at school.   The geography master took about twenty of us on an outing by bus.   We climbed from the easy south side ;  the other is very dangerous.   I still remember the wonderful view while he was telling us that it was formed three hundred million years ago.    He also

told us that the ancient warrior  Fionn Mac Cool lived where we were standing  in the third century.

This is Errigal.  At 751 metres it is the tallest of our Derryveagh mountain range.

This is a photo of myself taken by Jane after we had reached the top in June '76.
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I am pleased to report that at their meeting on November 13 Beverley Council rejected the application to conduct experiments on a further 2,000 beagles.   I would like to have herd the speakers but I was taken ill and had to leave after a few minutes.

               

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How we got another twelve Donkeys!

Other creatures whose fate worries me now are the thousands of donkeys dying of  thirst in the Mauritanian desert in Africa.     Spana are appealing for funding for the repair of wells to provide lifesaving water.  I'm sending the £15 they are asking for and wish I could afford more.  The address :-  Freepost  RSYJ - HGEK- RGBX  Spana Dept P1311 / SMN  Slough SL1  4PY

I have been fond of donkeys since I was a child.    I remember a flock of grey ones  at Creeslough fair when I was seven years old.   Dad bought one for me.   He called him Tim - after Tipperary Tim who won the Grand National that year.   He proved useful when he carried the turf out of the bog to the road where it was stacked and left for a while to dry.   Tim had two baskets attached to a saddle on his back and I enjoyed leading him.   Some time later we got a black one who would not allow me or any other boy to ride him.   He would buck us off.   If we were still on after three bucks he would lie down and roll over us.    He was however a willing worker in the cart.    Somewhere  I still have a photo of 'Bucker' giving eleven of us a lift home from school in Cloughaneely in 1910.    After 'Rover'  the black & white faithful collie who herded our cattle and sheep  I was also infatuated by the humble donkeys for a few years until I became interested in ponies and horses.

    One of the many reasons why I married Jane was that she shared my appreciation of the character of the donkey and the dogs.  Those of you who have read my earlier blogs may remember a photograph of fifteen lined up in front of my surgery.  They were handled or ridden by our three sons, our adopted daughter and six of our loyal staff.   We bought our first one through my friendship with the famous greyhound breeder Paddy Dunphy.

In 1955  Paddy advised Cecil & Mollie Colahan from Loughrea to send me an injured dog who had been sired by his 'Grand Champion'.   His name was Our Viscount and he was out of a good bitch called 'Wild Nellie'.   He came sound to win a few top class races until he was again a victim to the inevitable stress on the tight turns.    We established such a friendship with the Colahans that they invited us to stay with them for a week.   Their neighbours had a donkey called Whisky whom they loaned to us so that Walter might learn to ride it.   He got so much pleasure that Jane bought Whisky for him.   Cecil arranged to have Whisky sent by train to Dublin, by boat to Holyhead and then by train to us at Rugby.   He was the only donkey for twenty miles around us.   His loud braying made all our neighbours aware of his arrival.   Warwick and many of the local children learned to ride him.    His teeth were too long to tell me his age other than to know that he was  'well on'  in years.    His many grateful jockeys were giving him more rewards than he had been accustomed to.   Within six months he got a bout of colic and I could not save him.   News of his death brought mourners young and old.   We did not have enough spades to satisfy all who wanted to dig his grave.

Donkeys were rare in Warwickshire and we were without one for a while until the famous Cork cattle dealer Dan Horgan found us what he called the best ass in Ireland.    She was a very big guaranteed

in-foal grey mare and she was delivered as a present from a large lorry containing fifty Irish bullocks four days before Christmas.

      Jane and I decided to hide him from the children until Christmas morning.  The lorry driver kindly agreed to drive another half mile to the next farm.   I went there with him and asked our kind neighbour Mr Cummins to keep a precious equine for four days.   Being a great horseman he was delighted to help

us.   In his younger days he had been a champion cyclist.   When she alighted he loved her and said he had never seen a finer donkey.

     We thought she deserved a noble name and after considering ten or more we decided to call her Maeve after the legendary Queen Maeve of Connaught who is said to be buried in a twelve metre high cairn at Knocknarea in county Sligo.

Before our boys were awake on Xmas day Mr Cummins brought Maeve around the side of our house where there was a wide sliding door for entry to our sitting room.   When they  came down stairs we suggested we should all go there to see what Santa Claus might have brought us.   Simon - our youngest looked in awe at Maeve for a minute.   Then he looked at the chimney and asked - how did Santa get her down ?

Lots of neighbours used to come to see Maeve when they heard her loud voice.  After a month or two three of them asked if I could get one for them.  Mr Horgan had a farm on the Stratford road out of Warwick where he used to keep bullocks on arrival from Ireland.  When they had recovered from the journey he used to offer them for sale at markets in Warwickshire.  Whenever one or two were sick or injured, Tom his farm manager used to telephone me for assistance.  One day while I was there I met Mr Hogan and told him I had orders for three more donkeys.  One evening three months later a long tall lorry reversed and stopped right in front of our house preventing any light through our windows.   For a moment we 'we thought it was a solar eclipse !  Opening our door told us it was the arrival of the donkeys.  I threw open the field- gate so that they could be released.    After three jumped out I was shocked to count four, five, six, seven, eight and nine more - joining them to gallop around the field - roaring and making noise unlikely to have been heard in the county before.  !

The explanation was -- because donkeys were more plentiful and cheaper around Skibbereen than in Cork Mr Horgan contacted a dealer there and ordered six.   This gentleman felt it made sense to send a dozen because their fare on the boat would cost no more.   We used to hold a sports day with races  for children and donkeys in summner time in aid of Handicapped children.  After a few years it was so popular that we had to hold it in Rugby by courtesy of the Town Football Club.  As more people saw how children loved donkeys I never had difficulty selling one.   On my travels in Ireland I often spotted a good looking one.   Occasionally the owner would sell it to me at a reasonable price.   I was lucky to find three outstanding specimens near Enniscorthy.   They were all highly priced and I made no offer.  I was on my way to buy a greyhound called Rose Adagio from a bookmaker called Eddie Tobin.   He was famous for breeding an outstanding bitch called  'On End' in '54.  She threw another equally good one called  'Princess Collette ' and she in turn when mated to 'Hi There ' gave him the great 'Buffalo Bill'.   I remember buying another pup from him --also from On End but sired by Fourth of July.  She got injured in an early trial and I sold her for breeding to a Mrs Brown from Peterborough.

I told Eddie about the 3 asses -and what they would be worth to we.   He said  "That man always asks big from strangers ;  I will go and tell him to be reasonable if he wishes to sell them".  A week later he telephoned to say  - The three with long ears will be on the boat out of Rosslare  to-night.
Eddie and his talented wife Maureen and their wonderful family became life long friends to us.  Late at night I stopped at many hotels in Ireland -- but never at one within twenty miles of Enniscorthy.   There was always a warm bed for me at Tomduff farm house.   I dislike hearing people attributing success or failure to luck because so many really good people suffer undeserved misfortune.   Everyone who knew the Tobin family would say they belonged to this category.     They lost three  of their four fine sons --
young Eddie, John and Martin from heart attacks in their forties  and when they had so much to live for. Their sadness did not end then.
Eddie's health failed and he had to spend the last four years of his life in a local nursing home.  I visited him on the two occasions when near him and was impressed by his bravery in coping with his problems.   There was never a day  when he did not have the pleasure of a visit from Maureen his devoted wife,  or one of their loving family - Patrick, Mary Ruth, Anne Marie, Paul, Lisa, Alan or young Ed.   Eddie is much missed by his many friends in farming, hunting, coursing and racing throughout Wexford and neighbouring counties.

No more experiments on dogs please!!!

To Beverley Councillors from Paddy Sweeney ex Vet.          Jane and I are alarmed to hear of the intention   to carry out experiments on another two thousand harmless Beagles  here in the East Riding of Yorkshire.  

 We have found that the great majority of Yorkshire people are kind to their dogs.  They appreciate how honest and loyal they are.    Our primitive ancestors depended on the flesh of wild animals caught by early hunting dogs.    For more than 20,000 years  people have been sharing homes with small dogs .

Because of their acute hearing they were able to warn sleeping humans of the approach of strangers.

Though some of us sometimes neglect them  they stay with us.   They are forever faithful;   they never leave us.  They -- above all other animals deserve special protection.   Think of things they do for us :- Alert us to sounds when we cannot hear.    Guide us when we cannot see.   Find and rescue us when we get lost.   Jump in the water to us when we cannot swim.   Find bombs, explosives and drugs.  Give us companionship.    Console us  when old and alone.    Bark loudly  when we fall down  and cannot rise.  I would like readers to consider how our dogs were treated   in 2012.

3,214  of them were used for doing  4,843 tests.

I hope that our Councillors will unanimously throw out this abhorrent application.

   The great majority of owners do love their dogs.    They are prepared to spend several months teaching them manners and good behaviour.   The dogs that I 'm concerned about are those without a secure home and those in the care of irresponsible people.

Many inexperienced people bring a puppy into their home without getting advice on what breed or size would be suitable for them and their lifestyle --  and without tuition about its needs  and how to feed, groom, bath, exercise, train and rear it.    Friction may arise with neighbours if it is allowed to bark while they want to sleep -- or defaecate on their premises.    I would like  Local Councils to prosecute more owners who fail to clear up after their dogs  or allow aggressive ones  to attack a human  or another dog.   Ownership of the latter minority that include Pit bull terriers, Akitas,  Rottweilers  etc

should be restricted to licensed people trained, qualified and certified to be capable of handling them.

 On a recent Saturday in a Beverley street  I was alarmed to hear the screams of a dog in pain  50 yards away.   My Jane was walking our Charley in the area and  thinking he was being attacked I rushed in among the crowd.   In front of me I found the back-end of a Staffordshire whose teeth were sunk in the ear of a screaming Spaniel.   A number of people were kicking or hitting with handbags and rolled newspapers without effect.   I immediately crossed my hands and grasped -- above his hocks, pulled with all my strength and threw him for a few yards.  As he landed on his back I feared he might turn on   me.   I felt relieved that he did not -- possibly because his young lady owner rushed in to console him.   The terrified victim survived but my  pull caused the loss of some of the ear.   As I sat for a minute or two to let my palpitations settle  I refused the tot of brandy offered by a kind gentleman.

             

SLANEYSIDE HARE : ONE OF THE GREATEST HOUNDS I KNEW

         

I have had mails from three veterinary students who appreciated my old photographs of injuries to greyhounds and I was interested to see that they were all from young ladies.    This did not really surprise me.  Whenever I advertised for someone to nurse injured or sick dogs the great majority of applicants were girls and ninety per cent of them were really wonderful nurses.  When I was retiring after fifty one years seventy five of them signed a big photograph wishing me years of good health and good luck.   In the midst of the signatures there was a photograph of an outstanding coursing dog called 'Giggles Devoy' sent to me by a decent Kerry bookmaker called Brody Burke.  He became a real favourite in our kennels and we were all disappointed that his wrist did not respond to treatment.  

I have already mentioned this fracture in September when writing about Slaneyside Hare whom I considered to be the best tracker I have known.  British breeders did not appreciate the potential he showed in the few races he had at Belle Vue and more obvious at Wimbledon where his career ended. Two years later, when I retired he was purchased to stand in Ireland.  Racegoers there recognised the quality of his sons and daughters.  His stud fee was raised from my moderate £300 to £500.   As more winners appeared it kept increasing until Slaneyside was recognised as the number one sire and breeders were eager to pay a £1000.

 This bone in the wrist joint is the most susceptible to injury.   It is called the Accessory carpal or the Pisiform.   X-Rays show the severely comminuted fracture found in big fast dogs while running on a fast surface.   I always find it difficult to explain to an owner when I consider that it is not even a true weight-carrier.   The explosive pressure on the stressed tendons must be a vital factor in transferring the force to the bone as the dog lands on the off fore at the apex of the turn while being pulled outwards.  In the great majority of cases we find just one fragment detached from the lower border of the bone. 

This X-Ray shows a scafoid reduced and held in 

position by a plate that I had made by the London

Splint Company.    I 'm not sure whether  Chart 

was the name of the owner or the dog

This hock shows a horrible dislocation and fracture.   I remember it
from 1968 because it made me cry for the poor bitch.    She was a lovely brindled and a great favourite with my wife, children and all our staff.   She had won the Puppy Oaks at Wimbledon.   Her name was Wheatfield Scud and she was by Jerpoint Prince and from Hi Venture.   I bought her sire from Doctor John Hindle of Kilkenny on behalf of Eric Adkins who built many houses in Northampton.  She
was bred in Palmerstown by James Fallon -- one of the dearest friends we ever met in the greyhound world.








This Hock radiograph differs from the majority we see.    The displaced bone is the Cuneiform or Third Tarsal which lies immediately below the Scaphoid and might have a slightly more favourable prognosis.    But, it appears to be a month or more old.    I imagine I would have advised a choice between restriction to exercise on the lead for four months and retirement.

Finding this photo of a typical cracked Scaphoid and seeing that it belonged to Trever Cobbold brought sad memories.   Trevor and his Dad Joe were among my most respected clients.    The date was 1994. From '71 I had been visiting Independent tracks and presenting trophies to winners of races sponsored by the Greyhound Council because these tracks were denied any of the funding given to those with power and influence.  

Out of sympathy with the Independents the Sporting Life put up £750 for a race at Bolton on condition that the entries would run in stud book names.   The NGRC secretary  who was an ex trainer announced that his trainers would not be allowed to run dogs in their real names. !   To help Bolton attract a good attendance I advertised a race for £100 & trophy but  never imagined where I would be on the day the race would be held.

I got an awful shock when I heard that Trevor's short life was ended while he had a lovely wife, young family and so much to live for.   I just had to be among the hundreds of mourners  supporting the popular family at the funeral.  I could not wait for the refreshments in the marquee; I had to get across to Bolton before eight o'clock in the evening.   As I pulled into the car park the gate-man shouted " bring in the trophy; your race is on."   When I got back to Yorkshire early next morning I checked my mileage. I cannot remember what it was but I know that it was over 500 and that I never did more in a day. 

 

    This pair are the uppermost bone in the Hock joint.    They are called Calcaneus or fibular Tarsal.

I show them because of their fracture and hair line cracks.    Greyhounds who sustain such damage during the later stage of a race may not show lameness.   In a subsequent race the crack may become a fracture which causes the dog to break down on the first turn.

I have lost so many good friends since I retired that I'm beginning to worry about how many I will have if I hang on for much longer.    A fortnight ago I lost another rare and true sportsman over in Kerry.   I'm sure you will guess I'm referring to the great Patsy Byrne.   The bad news travelled far and fast.
Patsy was as popular in the world of horse racing as he was with greyhound followers.     He will be much missed for many years.   The sympathy of so many people will help Brigid his wife and family to get over their great loss.
  I remember this presentation he made at Wembley twenty five years ago to Berny Wyatt when Dampit Pride won the Adam Jackson Stakes.   Mrs Wyatt is looking in from behind and their daughter is beside Patsy.  All of the regular racegoers up to ten years ago - will recognise  Denise and John Wileman. They were among the expert, kind and honest trainers I worked for.  They deserved each and every one of the races their dogs won.

More about Bateman the Great GRA Vet.....

Before I commence telling you more about Mr Bateman I must mention the assistance I got from the library of the Royal Veterinary College at Horseferry road London. The staff there have always been most helpful in finding me the facts about earlier events. This time they informed me that Mr Bateman had acknowledged the part played by his Assistant Robert McNair MRCVS in the operation, nursing and care of 'Hare Spy'.   Robert who had qualified from Glasgow in '53 outlived his great tutor but passed away in 2007.

I feel very grateful for a copy of the VETERINARY RECORD with the report of the astonishing and unique insertion of the plastic bone.  At that time when x-rays showed fragments of an extruded bone -- causing collapse and deformity of the joint -- all we could do was :- try to push them back and maintain them with a plate containing a hole at each end --for a screw -- to get a grip in the bones above and below.  The degree of healing was usually dependant on the blood supply to the fragments.   Where it was restricted some of them died.

I think you would like to read an obituary by Mr Ted Somer from the Record in 1964.

" To all of us in the veterinary profession the death of James Kay Bateman means the loss of an outstanding and gifted member of our profession.  To me, to my family,and to all who enjoyed  a closer relationship with Jimmy and his family it means so much more -- the loss of a great friend and family man.  Jimmy and I first met at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in January 1919, where we arrived after demobilisation from World War 1.  Our friendship developed, and after leaving college in 1922 we retained contact at odd times.  This became much closer after 1932; Jimmy had taken over his appointment at Northaw and I had established myself in a practice at New Cross S.E.14.  From that date our friendship grew ; our wives became great friends also, and as time went on our children became attached to each other.  It looks very likely that this friendship will be continued with our grandchildren.

How often, when we were together, did we enjoy talking about the good times we had at family parties at Northaw and at my home ; and looking over old photographs as they grew up and progressed, what fun and companionship we enjoyed.  

To have the friendship and hospitality of the Bateman family is something all who enjoyed it will always remember throughout their lives.

I am sure that all such friends will wish me to convey our deepest sympathy to Jenny and her family.  May I conclude by saying "Thank you Jimmy for your wonderful friendship" It was my old friend's wish that no flowers or other tokens should be sent in his memory.  Instead, he expressed the hope that those who wished to remember him would make a donation to the Victoria Veterinary Benevolent Fund.  May I express the hope that many of my colleagues will join me in that form of tribute to a great veterinarian."
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By courtesy of our library staff  I'm also able to report on the honour bestowed on Mr Bateman for his skill in enabling Hare Spy to race again.
     At the meeting of the  Central Veterinary Society held on April 17 th,  the President of the Society, Dr.  E. Cotchin  presented the Society's Victory Medal  for the year 1958.    In making the presentation

Dr. Cotchin said :- " As you know, a gold medal, called the Victory Medal was instituted in the year 1918 to commemorate the victory of the Allies in the Great War 1914 -18.  It may be awarded annually, at the discretion of the Council, to a person who has rendered outstanding service either to the Society or to veterinary science in general.
The list of Victory Medallists is a clear indication of the way in which over the years the Society has been able to do honour to itself, as well as to the recipients, by the award of this medal, and I would like to read the list through to you -- it contains 36 names, how they resound in the annals of the profession !   " H. A. Mac Cormick,   F.T. Harvey,  F.T.G. Hobday,  E.L. Stroud,  J.B. Buxton,   J. Mac

Intosh,  G.H. Wooldridge,  J. Rowe,  J. Mac Queen,  J. F. MacDonald,  G.W. Dunkin,  W.K. Townson, W. Perryman,  J. Moore,  H. Gray,  J.G. Wright,  H.D. Jones,  T.  Dalling,  W.H.  Kirk,  J.T.  Edwards, S. L.  Hignett,  F.  Bullock,  G.  Dunlop-Martin,  J. Mc Cunn,  H.E. Bywater,  C.A. Murray, T.L. Wright,  W.A. Pool,  G. O. Davies,  G.P. Male,  W. R.  Wooldridge,  T.  Hare,  A. L.  Sheather,  C. Roberts,  R.F. Wall  &  G.N. Gould.
To -day it is our privilege to add to this the name of  J.K. Bateman :  there can  be few of you who are unaware of Mr Bateman's many qualifications to be our newest Medallist, but I would like to present a very brief outline of his career.   Mr Bateman served in the Field Artillery in the 1914 -18 war, and then went to the Dick College,  from which he qualified in 1922.     He was then in equine practice for three years in Manchester, and for a further 5 years in mixed practice in Knutsford in Cheshire.   Next, he worked at Burroughs Wellcome under Dalling ; one of the diseases with which they were concerned -- canine distemper -- has formed one of Mr Bateman's interests ever since.    His major life's work has of course been in connection with the racing greyhound, with which he has worked at  Northaw for 26 years.    He is an acknowledged expert in the greyhound field, the man and the opportunity coming most favourably together.  The average number of dogs passing through the kennels each year is about 1,200, and the average number actually in the kennels is about half this total.
The two main problems to which Mr Bateman has given his attention are the control of distemper and the development of orthopaedics in relation to the racing greyhound.  He has often spoken to the Central on these subjects, and has written to much effect in the Record on such subjects as cramp, distemper, vaccination,  post-distemper diseases,  injuries to the stifle, and repair of fractures  of the  os calcis.
Mr Bateman has always been  a very modest man.    I will say no more now  than that  we feel very proud  to be able  to add his name  to our list  of  Victory Medallists.

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By now you may be wondering whether I had better luck with the other two plastic Scaphoids I got from the London Splint Company.   By screwing two plates into the bones above and below them I hoped the implant might be secured in at least one of them.   But in both cases it was ejected while they were leaning over on the first bend at Hinckley.   After the expense of keeping the three for six months I had to abandon hope of getting natural callus to retain a replica.   What surprised me was that in the case of Hare Spy, Mr Bateman had the confidence to remove the retaining plate after six weeks -- under local anaesthesia -- without losing his Replica.
  When I went to Australia and the United States during the Nineties a vet with a reputation on orthopaedics suggested that the success was partly due to the limited force of Hare Spy and her tendency to run wide on the turns.    I reminded him that five months after the operation the bitch had a trial over 500 yards.  During four months she then ran in six trials and eleven races -- three of which she won.   She was the first animal known to race with a complete bone replacement.

Mr J.K. Bateman or JKB --- as he was known after news of Hare Spy spread throughout the greyhound and veterinary worlds --- deserved all the admiration and congratulations bestowed on him. 

JKB loved the greyhounds under his care and got satisfaction from seeing them all sound and in good condition.   He often stayed late at the kennels or track without reward to attend to one who was sick or injured.   

This is the plate that I often used to retain fragmented bones, but it failed to hold my acrylic. 

What impressed me about JKB after meeting him at White City in London was the concern he shared for the hound with a hock injury and for the distraught owner who loved it.   Over many years -- out of interest and curiosity rather than reward -- he had been doing post mortem examinations on hocks of runners who had no history of lameness.  He told me he found some with microscopic  bruising or tearing of ligaments or periosteum.  That helped me in examining runners who had checked and lost time in a race -- who walked sound -- and whose X-ray showed no fracture -- after losing time in a race.  I used to advise walking exercise only-- prior to another X-ray after six weeks.  Unfortunately many owners could not afford to keep a dog who was not earning.

After the tragic loss of Mr Bateman in '64 I felt I had a duty to write, without reward, advice about preventing injury to -the faster greyhounds and particularly those who weighed more than sixty five pounds.  I had chosen this weight because one of the most successful breeders I knew preached that good track dogs did not have to weigh more than sixty three pounds and fast bitches might be ten pounds lighter.

His sermon was based on the three successive Derbies won by the 61 lbs 'Spanish Battleship' -- a feat that was never equalled anywhere.
He also felt that the turns on most of our tracks were too sharp for our bigger dogs and there was no need for dogs of 80 lbs unless for racing on a straight  or "pulling a sledge through the snow."
He spoke only facts, truth  and common sense.
His name was  Paddy Dunphy from 'The Grand Bar' in Castlecomer.   He also used the pub prefix in naming his greyhounds.   He created a record in '62 when he brought the 'Canal' that he bred to the Bateman kennels for a month.  He had the steak, the home-made brown bread and the water flown over every week until he went home with the trophy and the prize for the English Derby.
I never passed his door without stopping for an enjoyable and rewarding hour or two to see his hounds and listen to every word he spoke about them.   He was highly respected and when he died -- all too soon  like  JKB -- he was much missed by everyone who had the pleasure`of knowing him.
I often regretted my failure to take advice he gave me one day when I called on him in '55.   "There is a bitch in the final of the Oaks on Saturday that could be a good investment for you.  She is well-bred --from Prairie Vixen and by my own Grand Champion.  She has a damaged toe so I think you might get her for a thousand before the race.    But if she wins, no money will buy her;  she is sure to throw champions when retired for breeding."
  You may have guessed -- I did not have the price and the black Prairie Peg  threw litters of prolific winners who included Prairie Flash and Pigalle Wonder. Those two purchased by big spenders Noel Purvis and Al Burnett both earned more money than I ever earned.    That Peg  was not the only big
earner I missed.   There were others and I have no regrets.   I feel very lucky to be still here when so many good people I knew are gone.  They include the breeder of all those Prairie champions - the poor unfortunate Tommy Murphy of Inistioge.   He was killed by his own bull while releasing it after it got it's ring trapped.

Paddy's current whereabouts.........

Hello all!  

You may have noticed that there has been a lack of activity on the blog these last few days.  This is due to Paddy, Jane, Charley and Warwick sampling the delights of being back in Dublin and the Donegal Riviera for a couple of weeks.  As you can see from the below pictures the three amigos look to be having a wonderful time with the weather there being extraordinarily warm last week.  

They have caught up with many old mates and family and have no doubt made many more friends along the way.  If you are in the area over the next few days I am sure they would welcome your company.

All the best!

David

Great Veterinary Surgeons I Have Known

In the Greyhound World J.K. Bateman was one of the names  I had most respect for.   He was born in Selkirk in 1897.   He qualified from the Edinburgh veterinary school in 1922.    After a short time in country practices where he experienced conditions for which there was no treatment he joined the research laboratories  of  Burroughs Wellcome  at Langley Court in Beckenham.     There he was particularly interested in the Distemper virus that was killing a great many canines. 
In 1933 he accepted the position as manager of and veterinary surgeon to the Hook kennels belonging to the G.R.A. at Northaw in Potters Bar.    There he was responsible for up to 1,300 greyhounds who were needed to supply White City and Stamford Bridge as well as  provincial tracks owned by the company.   J. K.  was a great loss to our profession and to everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him when he died suddenly in '64 at the age of 67.

   In 1957 a small bitch who joined the G.R.A. kennels and raced at White City was to make the name Bateman and her own "Hare Spy"  famous wherever there was a track.   Like several hundreds seen by Bateman she broke her hock.   He had operated on many of them with disappointing results but for this case he was prepared to try a revolutionary aid.   He had a few plastic Scaphoids made to the same shape as real ones and of different sizes.   He removed all the fragments of Hare Spy's Scaphoid bone and inserted a plastic one that fitted.  After five months of careful nursing the bitch ran three trials which were fast enough to qualify her for a race that she won.   The feat was widely reported and our profession honoured Mr Bateman  with the award of a special medal.    I telephoned our famous member and congratulated him.   He told me that the replica was made by the London Splint company.   I immediately ordered a few.

      Scaphoid is on the inside of this joint                                     Here it is on the front
      C  is on both views of the Calcaneus                        This is the largest bone in the joint

Over the following months I had cases with this fracture whose owners abandoned them after seeing much damage in clear x-rays.
    After removing the fragments from one of them I inserted a replica.   Then I put a plate over it with one screw into the Talus above it - and another into the Cuneiform below it - to maintain it in position.  The limb was in a plaster cast for six weeks and the dog confined to short slow walks for another six.    For the next eight he gradually moved faster on my circular walker.

Then  when allowed daily free gallops on my straight he moved soundly and I was optimistic for him.   After three more weeks I took him to Hinckley - my local track for the vital trial.     He flew up the straight but after two strides -  as he leaned in on the turn -  he checked and cried out.    The lower screw had been displaced  and the implant was avulsed.
I telephoned Mr Bateman about my disappointment and he invited me to come and see his x-rays.    They showed two spicules of callus that had developed and grown upwards from the Cuneiform bone.  They secured his implant in position.    Small fragments detached from this bone are often associated with more conspicuous damage to the Scaphoid.
                  X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X  X   X   X   X   X

Good Folk Who Are Friendly To Dogs & Hares

I have been telling you a little about the abuse and neglect of our wonderful greyhounds.      I commenced writing and lecturing on the subject at home and abroad after owning, training, racing, and trying to treat a number whose limbs were injured.    As a student I had learned to accept the percentage of lame ones whose treatment was either amputation or euthanasia.   What was shocking and repulsive when I qualified and went to Britain was the disinterest of so many promoters and stewards in the fate of those who could no longer run.   Trainers were ordered to get them away and bring in, within a month,  ones who could grade.   I recall one kind client  in the North East who rescued nearly a score who were being thrown out of the NGRC stadium.   He then paid for their stay and treatment with loving care at the little independent - Stanley - until he found homes for all of them.   He deserves to be remembered.    His name was  JOHN  LINDSAY.    Many youths who could not afford the food for a greyhound found it easy to get one for catching rabbits.   Carcases were often found in canals and rivers with a bag of stones tied to their necks and their ears chopped off to prevent them being identified.

Our modern young Vets are fortunate in having little experience of primitive culture or conditions.   As an assistant in one busy London practice I was expected to kill  dogs with prussic acid. An intravenous anaesthetic was considered too expensive and time -consuming.   I did not stay long.   My next job was also brief.    It was in an equine practice where the firing iron was the therapy of choice for almost any lameness.   It's popularity lasted until Professor Ian Silver reported on his research at Bristol veterinary school.

 During my life I have appreciated a great deal of legislation that proved beneficial to man and animals.  But nearly everywhere in the world there is still much hardship and poverty.

DURER VIENNA 1502

In parts of Britain where there were coursing clubs most farmers and landowners enjoyed the sport. They cared for the hares especially in harsh weather and they helped with the organisation and promotion of the meetings.    Now with the loss of the incentive to preserve hares I fear they could become scarce.   I would not like to live in a world without these shy elusive magical creatures.  I love the way the doe protects her young.   If she has three she leaves them in different nests so that when a hungry fox comes along it might get only one.    In leaving a leveret she makes a number of three - foot jumps which might disperse her scent.  I marvelled at their intuition to lie low in the grass.   I have exciting memories of being just about to step on one  while walking across fields. 

There was however one daft Bill which wasted Parliamentary time for nearly a century and for which there was neither need or justification.   The great majority of its supporters had no
understanding of the countryside and its animals. Eventually with the help of Blair and his cronies it prohibited coursing and the other thrilling spectacle loved by country folk in Winter time --the horses and their brave riders jumping various obstacles and trying to keep in sight of the hounds.

  M.P.s  who voted for the ban ignored salient facts   1)  Foxes kill many more poultry than they need.   I know because -- one of my hobbies was keeping some of these rare breeds :- Ancona, Andalusian, Australop, Brahma, Campine, Cochin, Croad Langshan, Dorking, Maran, Minorca, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, Welsummer and Wyandotte.  I have not forgotten the flood of tears from the dedicated girls who helped in my hospital and kennels when they found three missing and over ninety scattered in the paddock without heads.  The slaughter left them in shock for a week or two  and I kept no more hens.
2)  Control of foxes and hares by hounds is natural and it is quick.  3) Control by snares traps and or poison is downright cruel.   4) Control of hares by guns usually results in about 10% escaping with pellets in their buttocks  and it brings a slow painful death  from infection or gangrene.   There must be a strong case for prosecution of all those who voted for the ban just to please prejudiced voters. 
Many British people including women and children from all walks of life who follow coursing and hunting  have now got to go to Ireland with their dogs and horses.

Over there these ancient sports are cherished, supported and controlled by Vets and officials from the Department of Agriculture, Irish Horse Racing and the Irish Coursing Club  and  THERE  IS  FREEDOM  TO  ENJOY THEM.

The hares are also provided with food and shelter and they are treated for parasites.   The greyhounds are muzzled and every effort is made to protect the hares.   They are given a fair start before the greyhounds are released --as was laid down when it all began and was reported by the Greek philosopher and historian Xenophon 431 - 350  B.C. This original icon was regarded as the first authority on horsemanship and hunting.

   When greyhound racing was introduced at Belle Vue in Manchester in 1926 the government took no interest in controlling it or considering whether tracks were designed to give the greyhounds reasonably safe conditions.    Within a few months it was apparent at most meetings that some runners were injured.   To many vets and trainers broken hocks became a disturbing sight particularly in the faster hounds and on the tighter turns. The RSPCA were alerted but no action resulted probably because the authorities did not expect the sport to last.

The first greyhound that I remember suffering a broken hock was called Manhattan Midnight.   It happened in the Derby in 1938.   I did not really know what it involved until I  entered the veterinary college in Dublin a year later.   Soon afterwards an unfortunate hound was brought to the clinic and Professor Paddy McGeady invited a number of us to help him  X-ray the joint and apply a plaster cast.   I still remember his explanation that the accident resulted from stress during turning acutely at speed.

Here is a typical dislocated & fractured Hock-joint confirmed by X-Ray.   Nobody can tell me how many of these have been sustained this year on Britain's last 25 tracks.   During the years when I went to the dogs on most days of nearly every week I could answer most of such questions.   I might still attend occasionally if someone gave me a lift or an invitation.   But people have become a bit forgetful or far too busy.

     During the last two years  I have been to the dogs just once.   Not just one more time -- but twice -- I experienced the anguish  of seeing a runner hop to a stand still  on 3 legs.    From a distance of 200 yards I knew they had  broken hocks.   After the last race I went to the paddock to hear the veterinary report .... They are both at rest ;  THEY HAVE BEEN PUT DOWN was the chilling news.

The GBGB claim to keep records of injuries but they tell nobody nothing about them. ! I hate to say it but it seems that all that matters is that the bookmakers draw enough from the poor punters to pay their salaries.  I have written to four of the vets they employ.  Only one of them had the courtesy to reply but the innocent man felt ashamed and embarrassed about their loss of openness.

 But I suppose I should have learned two years ago that the standard of etiquette dropped by a mile since I was a founder member of the Society Of Greyhound Vets with colleagues like David Poulter of Potters Bar,  Jim & Jeanne Jones of Perry Bar,  Bruce Prole of the G.R.A., Victor Perry of Bristol, Cecil  Schwartz of  Milton Keynes, John Jack of Doncaster and Alison and John McGettigan of Redditch    I could not afford the fee  to attend their annual conference so I wrote to know if I might bring a sandwich and sit at one of the lectures.   My plea was ignored.

It seems incredible that people who took an oath to give priority to the welfare of patients are now forced to conceal the suffering.   When Lord Donoughue was asked to appoint a body to replace the NGRC I thought I had a wee chance of being among his advisors so that he would get a true picture of what was needed. I was disappointed when I heard the names chosen  because there was not a veterinary surgeon among them.   

The great majority of experienced vets, promoters, managers, owners and trainers were aware of the prevalence of injuries during the early sixties.   I had lost a hundred of my own fastest runners and I had seen a great many more injured.   I had commenced writing about the causes and their prevention but I soon learned that apart from the owners very few cared about the casualties.    In the early years many promoters attended greyhound auctions in
Ireland and Aldridges in London to purchase runners.  The G.R.A. company purchased a farm on the Naas road out of Dublin, built kennels and commenced breeding runners for their own tracks.   This policy proved too expensive and after thirty years it was abandoned as more private owners became interested in breeding or purchasing greyhounds who would be interested in chasing the electric hare.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

This is as serious a hock fracture as a greyhound can suffer.  1-the Calcaneus is the longest bone in the joint.  2- the Scafoid - the most central articulates with all of the bones in the joint. This dog's racing is over and a pain free life may be endangered.  

X-Rays of this fracture rarely reveal how fragmented and serious it is.   

After putting the poor dog to sleep boiling the joint ...which contains seven bones ... revealed the fragments from what was the one called the Scaphoid.

 Vets have a major responsibility in advising on whether to treat serious fractures in greyhounds who have the potential to earn money at stud.  Only after ten years experience was I able to offer a prognosis on a patient's chance of racing again.   There are many for whom there is no treatment that allows free exercise without pain.  

Here the small fragments are obvious in the angle at the back of the wrist joint.   They are broken off the base of the Pisiform bone which projects backwards.   This fracture rarely prevents a greyhound running but it does cause pain and the creature usually shows lameness coming off the track.    Most  trainers have the fragments removed .   This rarely results in soundness.   The damaged periosteum of the bone is subject to pain while turning. 

I used to advise clients who wished to race those affected ... to race them only on the straight, catch them at the finish, apply ice-packs and allow at least 10 days between runs.

  This was the injury that curtailed the career of one of the greatest dogs I ever raced.   In each of three sprints at intervals of five weeks he broke the track record.  He sired 'Some Picture' one of the best Derby winners I have seen.    He was also a gentleman and a pleasure to handle.    His name was  'Slaneyside Hare'.

The sharp turns that cripple so many wonderful dogs

During the fifties my wife and children often shed tears when I came home from a track with an injured greyhound.  I sometimes tried to hide the lame one from them.  During the sixties I myself was worried by the number I was hurting and began writing articles about the factors that caused the stress on the limbs.  I was particularly annoyed by the injuries sustained on frozen tracks belonging to myself and  to other owners.  I well remember a cold evening at Lythalls Lane in Coventry when I was on duty as Vet for the race meeting.  After two races the temperature dropped and two runners slipped and fell over.  I complained to the Racing Manager that the surface would be unsafe if it got any colder.  After the next race it became frozen and the fog made it impossible to see the other side of the track clearly.  The R.M. telephoned the circumstances to the promoter.  He advised that a flashlamp be tied to the McWhirther sledge hare so that the driver would be able to see it and keep it at a safe distance from the dogs.  The next race was run without incident.  But in the following one the fog got more dense, the flashlamp fell off and the hare driver did not have the visibility he needed.  Two runners who got entangled on the sledge  sustained abrasions and cuts on their limbs which required dressings.   I then told the R.M. that if the meeting continued I would not be staying to attend to further injuries.  There are trainers alive who remember that evening in 1957.  When I was about to leave home for their next meeting I got a telephone call saying they had found a vet to replace me.  Despite the insensitivity of several promoters and stewards to canine suffering I supported racing and what was their business for fifty years.  I spent more than I could afford in visiting conferences and tracks in Britain,Ireland, America, Australia, New Zealand, Macao, France, Holland, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, and Sweden and reporting aspects of the sport that might be beneficial to others.  Few cared to read it.  Now, as I look back on happy memories of over a score in Australia the only one that I found to be really safe here was West Ham.  If there is ever going to be a new Wimbledon, here is the minimum size, plan and design that I could recommend : --  

In the Canodrome at Macau I was welcomed by Brian Murphy from Northern Ireland and I congratulated him on his busy totalisator and large crowd of keen gamblers.
         I told you about how I was sacked from Coventry when about to go there.  Some of you kind readers may be innocent enough to wonder about the compensation I must have had ? .
I had taken the job because the promoter promised to provide me with modern premises for therapy, X rays and surgery on runners injured on the track.   He had funding for repair of the damage to the stand by the blitz in 1940.  After three months I asked the speedway manager Charlie Ochiltree "when was the building going to start".  I was shocked to learn that there was an application before the city council for planning for 350 houses.
The new Vet did telephone me to say he was offered £200 a year more than I was on - and had to  take the job because he could not leave the greyhounds without veterinary care.   I told him  "Shed no tears for me;  there are plenty more runners available from Ireland and you can now employ another assistant and increase your turnover."
There was nothing unusual about the lack of consideration for man or dogs at Coventry.   At all NGRC tracks it was customary for all meetings to start, and in the event of one being abandoned, the entrance fee was retained if four races had been run.  The target was profit pursued with hypocrisy.   Colleagues at many tracks told me about being ignored when they complained about a surface being frozen or providing no grip after torrential rain.  I saw the tears from hundreds of owners, trainers and vets seeing greyhounds they loved injured on dangerous surfaces.  Although I was critical of many Independent tracks I never knew of obligation at any of them to race on a suspect surface.   The great majority of those promoters were honest decent men and women who loved greyhounds and respected every honest customer who supported them.  When they ceased making profit nobody cared to help preventing them going to to the wall.
   I would like to digress for a minute to tell you young readers of a date you can look forward to.   I  have just found my diary for August 1999 and it reminds me that I watched a solar Eclipse from a hill near Chop Gate.   It also tells me that there will be another in September 2090.   That won't be long coming; all you have to do is - keep on breathing.
This afternoon I was pleased to hear from an ex client called Mal Thomas who has retired over near Mullingar.  He was among the kindest trainers I knew.   Indeed he treated his dogs as if they were children and they responded by performing well for him on field and track.    His best was probably Johns Mascot who won the Waterloo Cup in '92.   He was by Autumn Crystal X Here & There who were both descended from famous names going back to the 44 lbs bitch Coomassie who won it in 1877 and again the following year. !   Johns Mascot got the first half of his name because he belonged to the great sportsman John Gaskin who sadly has left us for what I hope is a fairer place.
Two years later Mal entered a dog for a race at Reading.  Though only a grader it was loved just as much as the Mascot.  The weather was foul and when Mal saw the surface he considered it too dangerous.   The gang who were supposed to foster our sport and its image robbed him of £500.   In the Sporting Life the experienced, and humane writer Bob Betts described their action as "brutal".   But of course they were as immune to criticism as they were short on compassion for trainers and their dogs.
Mal repeated the rare feat of training a second Waterloo winner in '97.   I have rarely seen so many excited enthusiasts rushing to congratulate a winning trainer of the historic event.  They were so happy for Mal that I feared he might collapse from the weight of hands striking his back.
This time he did it with one named Teds Move who was versatile enough to also win races on the track at Romford.   The fact that his pedigree included 90% track breeding was surely a factor in these wins.
              Since I went beyond ninety, aches and pains in my old joints prevent me sleeping as much as I used to.   On most nights I wake within three hours.    If still awake after an hour I have to rise, boil the kettle and add five ounces to an equal quantity of what they brew over in Cork and put in a bottle with my name on it.   But on the cold nights the arthritis may require a small measure of what is mellowed in a bog at the foot of a mountain that must remain nameless.   On nights when I have run out of my special medicine I have to lie there dreaming or longing for the days when massive crowds came to the tracks.   They came to see the dogs and not just to bet on them.  Then there were some officials who loved dogs.  They cared for their welfare and for that of the men and women who worked and often slept with them.  From 1948  Lord Denham M.C.  was the Chief Steward.   But  after his term the rogues gradually infiltrated the "goldmine".  I noticed the atmosphere changing.  When the great lawman heard of the dissension  that exploded during the '68 Derby he was said to have felt ashamed he had ever been associated with us.
  The number of followers deserting us was increasing steadily.   All too late, I had been advocating democracy and statutory control.   I did have 750 supporters but after a year the great majority abandoned hope.
         The shenanigans over "Not Flashing" who had been brought over from Dungannon for the Derby by Frank Calvan brought us more bad publicity.   The "Water Rats"  a group of celebrities and comedians who included Tommy Trinder purchased a dog called Camira Flash and put it to run for charity in the name of  HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.
The result of the first semi-final was announced with Not Flashing placed third.    As the first runner for the second semi-final was being put in the trap there was a further call : - Hel-lo  Hel-lo  In the last race, Not Flashing has been disqualified.
The seasoned racegoers instantly realised that  Camira Flash who had been eliminated in fourth place would now be placed third  and thus qualified to contest the final.    Murmurs of surprise and shock became booos and cat-calls just as the race started.
I had watched the previous race intently and had not seen  Not Flashing do anything wrong.   I asked for the opinion of some experienced race readers but nobody made any criticism of him.  This well bred dog resumed his career in Belfast  and won 10 of his next 13 races.
    The final of that Derby a week later attracted nearly twice as many racegoers.    It transpired that some were armed with tomatoes and eggs that were not all fresh.   They were intent on staging a protest to show their sympathy for  Not Flashing.   Their demonstration became particularly noisy, ugly and hostile when Camira Flash jumped from the trap and was always in front.   The thirty or forty diners who came down for the presentation were pelted so heavily that they panicked and rushed back to the top deck.   Trainer Randy Singleton rushed away with the Derby winner to the safety of the kennels.
All thoughts of a presentation were forgotten.