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.
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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.
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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'.
