Post by Sighthound Fan on Jul 21, 2006 6:49:04 GMT -5
This is legal :-/ :-/ :-/. There was something about it on the local news the other day but I only saw the end of it
www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17395720&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=the-man-who-s-shot-10-000-greyhounds--name_page.html
17 July 2006
THE MAN WHO'S SHOT 10,000 GREYHOUNDS
Fury over builder's killing field for dogs too old to keep racing
By Jeremy Armstrong
BUILDER David Smith leads two greyhounds to a secret slaughterhouse where he has killed 10,000 of the dogs for 15 a time.
Within seconds of them entering the breeze block shed, Smith shot both of the retired racing dogs with a bolt gun.
He then emerged with their bodies in a blood-spattered wheelbarrow at the back of his builders' merchant yard.
Smith buried them using a mechanical digger in his one-acre plot - a hidden graveyard of Britain's 3.5billion dog-racing industry.
Animal groups yesterday reacted with shock and anger and called for action.
Smith told a man posing as a greyhound owner that he had filled his plot in three years.
"Within a year the bodies have gone," he said. Gesturing to the far side of the field, he explained: "It takes me about three years to get across there and by then I can start back here again and there are only a few bones left." Racing insiders say Smith of Seaham, Co Durham, has killed at least 10,000 dog at the unofficial abattoir during the past 15 years.
One source revealed: "It is not unheard of for him to do around 40 dogs a day. If anyone ever digs up that garden it will be like the killing fields.
"These dogs have made a lot of people a lot of money and do not deserve to be shot in the head. It is a scandal the industry should be ashamed of."
Yet, amazingly, what Smith is doing is not against the law. Once racing greyhounds reach three-and-a-half most are considered too old to compete, even though they have a lifespan of 12 to 14 years.
The RSPCA says around 12,000 greyhounds a year disappear. It added: "There is no justification for killing these animals simply because they can't do their job any more."
When confronted, Smith, who is in his 50s, initially denied running a slaughterhouse until told he had been filmed.
Then he claimed he was "doing society a favour". Restraining a pair of Rottweilers, Smith said: "These are sick and injured dogs that would otherwise be thrown out on the streets because owners can't afford vet's bills. I'm not doing it any more. The little bit of cash I was paid went to children's charities."
Alistair McLean, chief executive of the UK's National Greyhound Racing Club said yesterday: "This is disgraceful. We categorically do not endorse this kind of thing."
Britian's minister for animal welfare Ben Bradshaw promised to investigate. He added: "It sounds horrendous."
Since 1997 anyone can own a bolt gun to kill animals without a licence.
They can be prosecuted if animals are put down inhumanely or without the owner's consent.
A new code of practice proposed under the UK animal welfare bill would restrict the killing of greyhounds to vets using lethal injections.
jeremy.armstrong@mirror.co.uk
www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17395720&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=the-man-who-s-shot-10-000-greyhounds--name_page.html
17 July 2006
THE MAN WHO'S SHOT 10,000 GREYHOUNDS
Fury over builder's killing field for dogs too old to keep racing
By Jeremy Armstrong
BUILDER David Smith leads two greyhounds to a secret slaughterhouse where he has killed 10,000 of the dogs for 15 a time.
Within seconds of them entering the breeze block shed, Smith shot both of the retired racing dogs with a bolt gun.
He then emerged with their bodies in a blood-spattered wheelbarrow at the back of his builders' merchant yard.
Smith buried them using a mechanical digger in his one-acre plot - a hidden graveyard of Britain's 3.5billion dog-racing industry.
Animal groups yesterday reacted with shock and anger and called for action.
Smith told a man posing as a greyhound owner that he had filled his plot in three years.
"Within a year the bodies have gone," he said. Gesturing to the far side of the field, he explained: "It takes me about three years to get across there and by then I can start back here again and there are only a few bones left." Racing insiders say Smith of Seaham, Co Durham, has killed at least 10,000 dog at the unofficial abattoir during the past 15 years.
One source revealed: "It is not unheard of for him to do around 40 dogs a day. If anyone ever digs up that garden it will be like the killing fields.
"These dogs have made a lot of people a lot of money and do not deserve to be shot in the head. It is a scandal the industry should be ashamed of."
Yet, amazingly, what Smith is doing is not against the law. Once racing greyhounds reach three-and-a-half most are considered too old to compete, even though they have a lifespan of 12 to 14 years.
The RSPCA says around 12,000 greyhounds a year disappear. It added: "There is no justification for killing these animals simply because they can't do their job any more."
When confronted, Smith, who is in his 50s, initially denied running a slaughterhouse until told he had been filmed.
Then he claimed he was "doing society a favour". Restraining a pair of Rottweilers, Smith said: "These are sick and injured dogs that would otherwise be thrown out on the streets because owners can't afford vet's bills. I'm not doing it any more. The little bit of cash I was paid went to children's charities."
Alistair McLean, chief executive of the UK's National Greyhound Racing Club said yesterday: "This is disgraceful. We categorically do not endorse this kind of thing."
Britian's minister for animal welfare Ben Bradshaw promised to investigate. He added: "It sounds horrendous."
Since 1997 anyone can own a bolt gun to kill animals without a licence.
They can be prosecuted if animals are put down inhumanely or without the owner's consent.
A new code of practice proposed under the UK animal welfare bill would restrict the killing of greyhounds to vets using lethal injections.
jeremy.armstrong@mirror.co.uk
