I must express my disgust at a foundation that is doing
great things, but totally going about it the wrong way. The McGrath Foundation
is a charity established by Jane & Glen McGrath to support sufferers of
breast cancer and to raise awareness of the disease. I wholeheartedly support
this cause, as breast cancer has affected people in my life, like all forms of
cancer – it is a horrible, invasive disease. Unfortunately, Jane lost her battle
with cancer several years ago but this Foundation lives on in her name.
The McGrath Foundation decided to make the month of February
the month of ‘Go the Pink Dog’ – where they teamed up with Greyhound Racing
Victoria and raised money. Innocent enough you think? Well, unfortunately not.
As you may know, I recently became vegan (about 4 months ago,
and I’m about 95% there, just clearing out the cupboard of various non-vegan
items) – best decision of my life. It also means that I’m in the process
of taking my blinkers off, and seeing the truth out there about exploitation
and abuse of animals of all shapes, sizes and ‘makes’. I’ve been doing a lot of
reading, and am simply horrified of what really goes on in this big, bad world
we live in.
Unfortunately, greyhound racing is one of the crueller
things out there. Even though the McGrath Foundation claimed to have the
support and backing from the RSPCA to support this campaign – in truth THIS WAS
A LIE, and the RSPCA made
a
statement correcting this claim.
How can a bunch of tiny, thin dogs running after a fake
rabbit be so bad?
Well, where do I start?
Injuries – The
most common injuries are broken back legs, fractures and dislocations. Other
reported injuries include cardiac arrest, spontaneous seizures, sudden collapse
before or after racing, spinal cord paralysis, severed tails, bleeding toes,
lacerated eyes, puncture wounds and broken necks.
 |
| Amelia is one of the ‘lucky’ greyhounds. She sustained a
significant wound that had been left untreated. She has undergone surgery and
is now in the loving care of one of the most
experienced foster carers who, being a Vet is able to provide the veterinary
care and daily attention she requires. |
WARNING – this first link shows the
large wound on Amelia's back before being rescued by Friends of the Hound.
Apparently from a dog bite suffered several weeks earlier – it was left
untreated.
WARNING – this second link contains
graphic images of Amelia after surgery.
WARNING – this third link contains
graphic images of Amelia after surgery.
At one South Australian race meet on 26 February 2012, five
greyhounds were injured; three were then killed by the on-track vet.
In fact, on Monday 21 February, a greyhound racing on a
track in Tasmania broke his right hock - his owner chose for this dog to be put
to death by the track vet, rather than let him live out his life as a
pet. The dog's name was Whitney's World, he was two years old and he started
from box 8, wearing a pink vest, as part of a campaign to raise money for The
McGrath Foundation.
‘Disposal’ – It
is not uncommon for unwanted dogs to be destroyed or abandoned with their ears
cut off to prevent breeder and owner identification from their ear tattoos. It
is estimated that 80% of the greyhound population ‘disappears’ once their
career has ended (read: they stop making their owners money). Other common forms
of disposal include drowning, beatings, and being shot.
But only a few of the estimated 20,000 greyhound pups born
each year have the athletic capabilities and top speed to become a race winner.
Bred for no other purpose than to race and win, many young and healthy
greyhound dogs are discarded and killed without ever making it to the racing
track.
Greyhounds are kept in tiny kennels, lack the social contact
all dogs need and are pushed to their physical limits, soon to be unwanted and
facing an uncertain future.
Information
from greyhound rescue groups also indicates that many rescued racing greyhounds
have been underfed, possibly because they have been kept on a restricted diet
to keep them at a lean racing weight.
There are literally thousands of people out there who oppose
the McGrath Foundation supporting greyhound racing – and have tried contacting
them asking them to reconsider this campaign. These people have been turned
away, ignored and blocked from their Facebook page. I personally have been
blocked as I wrote a comment about how I support their cause, but asking that they
look into other ethical and humane ways to fundraise. What do you know – I’m
now blocked.
Comments relating the greyhound racing on Facebook have been
deleted (whether it be a negative or simply neutral comment about the practice)
and anyone making these comments have been blocked – I bet those people who
donate to the foundation must be really glad to know that their donations are
being used to pay the salary of someone whose sole job is to delete Facebook
posts. No kidding.
Apparently last year, Tracey Bevan didn’t even show up to
collect a cheque for $125,000 (raised through Go the Pink Dog) due to the
backlash of the Foundation supporting such a cruel practice. Yet, they do it
all over again this year.
Fortunately there are other charities out there that
fundraise through more ethical and moral ways – and who do not delete, ban or
block people.
