My concern about greyhounds in racing

After becoming a vet and spending over twenty years treating greyhounds and attending lectures by specialists  I became concerned about the incidence of injury and my limited success in treating the more serious ones.  I started studying these and examining them  post mortem.   I also began writing about prevention.  

I blamed the turf surfaces for many of them.   Its condition was dependent on the amounts of sunshine and rain provided by the weather.  When dry and hard, it caused stress and fractures.   When wet or soft  the grass was soon killed and left mud which provided no grip.  There was a peat surface at New Cross.  It proved satisfactory in normal weather but on a wet evening I remember seeing runners slip and fall on the turns.

 The only answer to heavy rain was a canopy suspended about 2M over the running surface.     The only canopies I remember seeing were at  Liverpool 's White City, at Gosforth and  at the original Crayford.  When these wore out they were never replaced.

Hearing of the almost universal use of sand for surfaces in America, Australia and Spain I wondered why we in Britain and Ireland continued to injure thousands of greyhounds on turf and then spend thousands of notes replacing them.   I began writing articles and appealing to promoters and racing managers about the advantages of sand surfaces.  People were slow to listen and those who agreed with me had little infuence.

My long campaign was eventually successful.   For its acceptance I had to thank one man.    He was my client, friend and big owner --  the late  Joe  Haden  the Tyre Man For All Wheels beside me  in Coventry.    Yes, it was Joe who paid for the Adverts  "Sand those  Bends".   He had three of his champions in my hospital at the time.  Sadly, within two years poor Joe then passed away.

Another big cause of trauma is still with us.   It is  the leaning position that must be adopted on our acute turns.   Force is thrown on to the outer side of the left limbs and  more severely  on the inner side of the right limbs.

Greyhounds  with their long legs are designed for galloping in an upright stance.  They can be comfortable on a circular track provided  its radius is sufficient to allow them to remain upright.                               

Greyhounds CANNOT  TURN  in an upright posture on an acute turn.   Even the hare finds that impossible. On tight turns  all dogs are forced to check and to lean.   On extreme turns they may stumble or fall.   The stress during motion is proportionate to their force and speed.    Consequently few big fast greyhounds escape injury on our turns for twenty races.

There was a time when I used to purchase greyhounds for clients.   I used to feel embarrassed whenever I  bought a big fast one for three or four thousand and had it come back -- before winning a decent prize -- for treatment of an incurable injury.

I preferred to supply ones weighing between 50 and 60 lbs because they were also

more likely to remain sound for a few years.  They were also more likely to win graded races because the Grader would tend to favour them.

There always were owners and trainers who loved their runners and kept them with loving care until death.   They were worried about injury every time they released a dog.

But there were promoters and  managers with little concern for them.  When short of runners, managers visited kennels and inspected those who were resting, lame or sick.   Trainers were ordered to get rid of those unlikely to recover within a month and replace them with sound ones.   Hounds were raced on surfaces that were frozen or otherwise dangerous - while trainers in tears - after seeing one  lamed  were fined up to £500 by the  stewards - for refusing to run others.  If they did not have an owner who could pay the fine they were dismissed.   I well remember the distraught expression on the face of kind trainers like Charlie Lister  and the invalid  -  Mal Thomas.  
Nobody cared a hoot whether a trainer,  wife or kids had supper  or a bed for the night.  

British greyhound racing was primarily a means of getting easy- money for promoters and bookmakers.

I was sacked from the position of Vet at my local track when I gave notice of refusal to attend whenever conditions made the track dangerous.   The promoter was able to employ another Vet with an offer of an extra £200  a year.

  We did not have the home-finding arrangements that have been introduced in recent years.   Few owners had kennels, or could afford to pay for the keep of hounds who could not win.   Many were shot, drowned or just abandoned on roads sometimes on the way home from tracks.

 Reading about the longer careers of greyhounds on the larger tracks in Australia reminded me of my wish to go there in 1949.    As I approached retirement with time to travel I thought seriously about seeing the big country.   There were problems to be considered.   The first was that Jane my good wife would not enjoy being driven up to 200 miles a day just to see as many tracks as possible.    She was not totally happy about my going without her but -  as usual - she did not stop me .  She accepted my absence gracefully and with love.

 I did not have the confidence to undertake the journey alone.  I had mentioned the trip to a few younger friends who were single.    They were too polite to say so but I thought they wondered  whether I was quite right.   Then Jane said to me " your friend John McConnell has been with you to Ireland for dog racing, horse racing, coursing, hurling, football and funerals and although older than you he may expect to be invited ".   I told John that I would be away for six weeks and that he would be welcome  if he wished to join me.   After two days thinking about it he was delighted to come.

 In '95 on  November 9  we flew to Hong Kong in 11 hours  and after another eight we arrived in Melbourne.  We were  2 years late to see Michael Kinane winning the Melbourne Cup on Vintage Crop for Dermot Weld .  But  all I wanted to see  were dog  tracks  with safer radii than any of ours.   I  could no longer accept  that the broken hocks and wrists that retired so many were just  'one of those things' or caused by  'sheer bad luck'.   I considered such language an affront to people who love dogs.

Poor John is no longer with us.    He died at 90 in July ‘08 and I was late in getting to his funeral because of pile-ups on the M1 and blocked exits.   On every day I have since enjoyed  I remember him for risking his life with me on  sand-tracks, away in the outback with only kangaroos and locusts for company.   John's  great work-mate  Hugh Gill from Malin Head  another martyr to hard work - -is also gone.   Hugh too is  much missed by his two sons, six daughters and a thousand friends.  He left us in 2010 at the age of 98.

When I booked our flight to Melbourne I telephoned  Mr Gavin Fitzpatrick - Keeper of their Greyhound Stud Book - and asked him to please book us into a hotel for the night of our arrival.    I was much relieved when he said " I look forward to seeing you and your friend at the arrival hall."   Those words banished my final fears of our journey into unknown territory.

 Gavin  was there  with a really warm welcome.   He helped us take our luggage to the car park and drove us out to Tarneit where his charming wife Rubina had prepared a big meal and two comfortable beds for us. After a long breakfast and an exchange of the histories of Donegal and Melbourne  they drove us to a garage where I hired a car.    They waved us Good Bye and Good Luck after advice  which we were to appreciate on every day of our adventure.    I still remember how much I looked forward to seeing their safe tracks and telling people about them when I got home.

Now almost twenty years older I realize how naive I was to think that the NGRC might give priority to safe tracks.   In '94  I attended a meeting on Canine Welfare organised by the National Canine Defence League.   One of the speakers was  Doctor Robert Hubrecht  from the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare.   His organisation worked alongside industry and government on scientific issues.  In his speech on greyhound welfare he said "Information from abroad on Track Design is not being fully utilised  and if any promoter was interested... he would produce a feasibility paper."   His offer was choked before anyone got time to think about it.... The  NGRC  secretary  jumped up  saying  "It would be  too expensive  to change track configurations."

One of my frustrating experiences in trying to help owners involves the few who say that making a track safer  would result in more speed and risk of injury.     What  sort  of  Talk  is That  

Gobble De Gook ?   I prefer the reality of the safer tracks we visited.in those six weeks  down under.

Attending the evening greyhound meeting at Sandown Stadium by invitation from the manager John Stevens was an exciting and memorable experience.  It was different class to anything I had seen in Ireland, in Britain or in Europe.  The presentation of the racing was more professional.  The lighting was ever so bright and our view from the restaurant was excellent.   The entry of the greyhounds for every race was announced with an exciting burst of music from the band.   We dined with  Mrs Conroy  the widow of the late Chairman,  Fred Reed the famous retired trainer,  Neil Mackenzie  the official photographer  and  the resident  successful trainer Jeanette Krewter.    We  enjoyed delicious wine with the great food.

     I enjoyed watching the racing and saw no greyhound injured.   I attributed this to three factors.   Firstly the level manicured sand surface.   Secondly the inside lure which invited all the runners to look toward the inside of the track and concentrate on it.      Thirdly the easier turns gave nearly every runner room to run fluently without bumping, baulking, checking or crowding.   Our outside lures  encourage some runners to move out on turns --- for two reasons.     Firstly it is natural to do so because that's where the hare is.   Keeping close to the inner rail demands effort and adoption of  the leaning posture.  Secondly greyhounds who are keen on the hare try to be there when it stops.   In getting there collisions with a railer are common..

One of the reasons I write about greyhounds is because I hoped that some readers might do something to reduce the injury rate.   I have been interested in welfare since 1940 and started writing about it in 1957.   By then I had raced greyhounds or seen racing on more than a hundred tracks.  There was nothing arcane about what I wrote.    It was just common sense and truth.   I was heartened in '58 when statutory control was introduced by Dail Eireann  but Westminster continued to ignore the fate of hounds here.   Tracks were allowed to spring up like mushrooms without veterinary advice on safety requirements and up to ninety per cent of races were run without the presence of a Vet..

       In the Winter of  '57 I had accepted responsibility for the care of 200 racing greyhounds and contracted to attend the race meetings at Coventry and Leicester tracks.  The position appealed to me because of the plan to replace the dilapidated buildings which housed some staff as well as dogs and build modern kennels and rooms where I could treat the sick and injured with the compensation money for the damage by the Blitz in 1940.   After giving loyal service for five months I asked Charlie Ochiltree the General Manager for news from the City Council Planners about my new premises.  I never had any warning of the shock I was to get.

 He said  "The only application before them  is for four hundred houses " !   I found it hard to believe that a man who owned one of Britain's biggest hotels could treat me so . The folk I grew up with did not know how to behave like that.     But I gave him a week's notice so that he could find another vet.    I knew of one anxious to get the salary because it would enable him  to employ another assistant.

On a cold evening  during that week  I  reported to the Manager that some patches were frozen and needed.trampling on to make racing possible but unless there was a rise in temperature the surface was unlikely to be safe.   The first race was run without incident.   Fog  reduced visibility for the second  and two runners overtook the McWhirther sledge hare.  Harvey the driver could not see it clearly and a  runner damaged his toes on it.

   The Manager reported to the Promoter over the telephone.   He was told to tie a flash lamp to the sledge and continue with the racing.   During the next race the lamp fell off, the hare stopped and all dogs jumped on it.    Two more sustained toe injuries before the meeting was abandoned.

     I hope there are some alive and well who were there that evening.   Until he died a month ago in Manchester one whom I knew well was the respected trainer Joe Kelly.  He was ten years younger than I am  and much missed by a great many in Britain and Ireland..  I first met Joe in 1951 when he was winning races with a black dog called Druman Rambler by Selyom ex Shaggy Miss at Independent & NGRC tracks as far north as Dundee and as far south as Plymouth.   He was dedicated honest and truthful and always happy when he had a good greyhound.   He was among the ten best best trainers I ever knew and came from Kilrush in Clare - an area noted for great hounds. 

I sent a letter of sympathy to his good wife Paddy.   She is a daughter of John one of the famous Murphy brothers from Dromintee in county Armagh.