I remember talking to Paschal Taggart at the Horse & Jockey meeting in 2017 where he told me that he knew friends in the greyhound industry who could not afford to put diesel in the van to attend the meeting. Is it any surprise that people would use a knackery for 10 instead of a vet for 80 when the IGB has been sucking prize money away from greyhound owner / breeders over the last decade?

The RTE investigates programme would never have been aired if it wasnt for 3 major instances where the IGB have shot themselves in the foot so dont blame RTE, blame the incompetence of the IGB who are extremely well paid for doing a terrible job.

IGBs self-inflicted wound number 1
The current CEO Ger Dollard has described the report provided by Preferred Results as a side show but this report gave the programme the substance that the producers needed to get it aired by RTE. And amazingly the IGB paid a six figure sum for the report.

This report was published in the second half of 2017 which suggests that it was commissioned under Sean Bradys reign where he was probably looking for reasons to justify the Harold Cross closure. However once this report came into existence then it was only a matter of time before it came into the public domain and therefore the IGB should have acted on its content. Instead they chose to do nothing resulting in a PR disaster that outdoes the FAI debacle earlier this year.

How did Preferred Results get this contract? The question that should be asked is how a husband and wife team based in Longford EXTERNAL LINK was paid 115,000 as stated in the RTE investigates programme.

How many greyhounds could be rehomed for 115,000?

IGBs self-inflicted wound number 2
I wrote a post in July 2017 called the Greyhound Industrys Ticking Time Bomb and last Wednesday it exploded. CLICK HERE

Paddy McHugh posted in January 2011 that two IGB officials, Adrian Neilan, CEO, and Billy ODwyer, Board Member, went on a trip to China, the aim of this junket was the possibility of opening up an export market for the Irish greyhound.

We now know that this was a huge strategic error that allowed the RTE investigates programme to show horrific images that added to the programmes negative effect on the industry.

IGBs self-inflicted wound number 3
In June 2017, Clonbrien Hero tested positive 3 times for cocaine which disgraced the industry and resulted in photographs of the Irish Minister for Agriculture with the drugged greyhound appearing in newspapers worldwide including the Washington Post. Amazingly the IGB allowed the dog to continue to race and this provided additional ammunition for the RTE investigates programme to sensationalise its content with the use of the word cocaine.
EXTERNAL LINK

This week Sean Bourke went on the radio and it cant have been easy for him and he should be commended for defending the greyhound game. The well paid CEO has stated that the report didnt raise any issues that hadnt already been well aired - exports and unaccounted for dogs- even though the analysis like most analysis on the subject is suspect due to lack of any credible data on the movements of greyhounds.

If he was aware of these issues then what has he done about it as the IGBs CEO? He goes on to state that Think we did 157 last year and the welfare groups did more. Well quite frankly 157 rehomed greyhounds is not going to cut it and if he continues to adopt a reactive approach instead of a proactive approach then he should be removed from his position immediately.

What the industry needs now is honesty and to face up to the fact that the amount of money the IGB puts into rehoming compared to the GBGB is a disgrace and they are more to blame than the individuals who used a knackery in the programme.

The first thing that the IGB need to do is rip up their Strategic Plan 2018 2022 as it projects receiving 57 million in 2020, 2021 and 2022 from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund. After Wednesday this is not going to happen and there is a very strong chance that this revenue stream could be lost altogether if they dont act proactively now. EXTERNAL LINK

What they need to immediately do is publically announce that from 2020 onwards that they will ring fence an amount equal or greater than what the GBGB spend on rehoming. If that means the IGBs executive take a substantial pay cut then so be it.

In the long term there is a need to raise the value of the average greyhound and this will require a system where breeding is licenced ensuring a reduction in the number of litters. At the moment the value of a greyhound is less than every other breed of dog in Ireland which facilitates the horror stories that we saw in Wednesdays programme.

On a positive note, the greyhound industry has been dying a slow death for the last decade so the RTE investigates programme might end up being a good thing as it should bring about change.

I would have to disagree with your opening two paragraphs .

The people you describe shouldn't have greyhounds or any animal for that matter if they don't have the resources to take care of them properly.

The people you describe shouldn't have greyhounds or any animal for that matter if they don't have the resources to take care of them properly.

While I totally agree with your above statement, the fact is that these people do have greyhounds at the moment.

I tend to accept the knackery footage from the RTE programme as genuine because these RTE employees would never work in Ireland again if this footage was shown to be a setup like some have suggested on social media forums.

The program showed over a 1 week period that 4 greyhounds were destroyed in a knackery and the programme contact all the knackeries in Ireland and 15 stated they would destroy greyhounds. One could surmise from this information that thousands of greyhounds per annum (4 x 15 x 52) were disposed of in this horrific way.

The programme also stated that the number of active owners is down by 49%, gate receipts is down by 50% and advertising revenue is down by 41%. The 2018 IGBs annual report will give us the actual figures when they decide to publish it. But if true then these are huge numbers for any industry and this decline is going to substantially accelerate after Wednesdays programme which is one of the worst PR disasters that I have ever seen for an industry in the entertainment sector.

So the industry needs to be HONEST, accept that this is a serious problem and adopt a proactive approach to solving this problem.
The IGB announcement on the 28th of June is proactive but they need to put figures to their plans. After Wednesdays programme there will be a very strong political lobby to remove the horse & greyhound fund and the way to counteract this is to immediately announce a figure for welfare that matches the GBGB spend on welfare in 2020.

In the long term the IGB needs to increase the value of the average greyhound through restrictions on who can breed a litter of pups allowed to race on Irish tracks. This would remove the people you mentioned above from owning greyhounds into the future.

One Question i would like to ask ..In regards to the Greyhound with his ears cut off .
Why isn't DNA being used to track down the breeder....

DNA don't lie ..

Hi Chris, soon it will be easy to find which dogs are in China. Greyhound-Data are running a studbook for the Greyhound Racing Club of Mainland China (GRCC) of which I am a committee member. All dogs entered into the studbook of China will have their DNA taken and be microchipped. The land of standing for dogs exported to China who come under the GRCC Studbook will be shown on Greyhound-Data as China.

We will also be able to report on exactly where the dogs are and organise photos etc. to be shown.

Yesterday in China we announced our website and studbook would be up and running soon and within a few hours we had over 200 people contact us to register their dogs.

While some track are acting illegally and are being closed down we would urge everyone NOT to send their dogs to China. In the future once we are fully up and running we will be able to answer all your questions in regards to where your dog is going and what the person is like that is trying to buy him.

Sorry for going off topic.

Sounds like sterling work done there Tony, well done and thank you, it can only be good for the sport(and the dogs of course)

After last Wednesdays RTE programme the IGB had a very short window of opportunity to address probably the greatest PR disaster in the history of Irish sport.

If they had immediately run advertisements in the national papers announcing a major financial commitment to ring fence a substantial percentage of the 16 million from the Horse and Greyhound Fund to address these welfare issues then this would have given sponsors like Barrys Tea a reason to hold off announcing their withdrawal from greyhound racing and adopt a wait and see approach.

You will find that they will have to ring fence a substantial amount anyway when the various Oireachtas committees are finished with them over the coming months.

It would also have given patrons going to Irish greyhound tracks last Saturday to point out to protesters that things are about to change. EXTERNAL LINK

Instead they chose to bury their heads in the sand, don the monkey suits and go on a Only Fools and Horses style jolly boys outing for the final of the English Derby final.

The question that every Irish taxpayer needs to ask is how inept does a chairman and CEO of a company with the Government as the major shareholder, have to be before they are removed from their positions by this government.

GUBU - with these clowns driving the industry then it is truly on a race to the bottom.

The Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation strongly believe that if there is going to be a commercial greyhound industry in Ireland then it must have the highest standards of greyhound welfare with all retired dogs re-homed. We also believe that this can and must be done without any Government funding. We have consistently made this point to IGB and Government over the last 10 years but have always been dismissed.

Members of the IGOBF met with Minister Andrew Doyle and Brendan Gleeson on June 5th 2016 The full report of our meeting is here EXTERNAL LINK
This was the summary that I wrote following the meeting

The Irish greyhound industry has three basic challenges it needs to address if it is to have a future.
1) Greyhound Welfare, this is a growing issue but can be dealt with. Token gestures fool nobody.
2) Restoration of Integrity. A board that have shown scant regard for rules will find it difficult to convince anyone that they have changed their ways.
3) Finance; The IGB is devoid of ideas and has now become totally dependent on Government funding. The general public perception which will become more negative due to the failure to address welfare issues suggests this money may not always be available.

It is 3 years since we had this meeting and prior to the Prime Time Investigates, none of the issues were taken seriously. The failure of IGB to understand that all 3 issues are intertwined and each one has a bearing on the next may have finally dawned on the IGB following the reaction to the programme on RTE. The failure of IGB to control illegal drug use is a welfare issue, it also damages the integrity of the racing product which has obvious financial implications EXTERNAL LINK
The flouting of Artificial Insemination regulations by the Irish Coursing Club was another issue that contributed to the oversupply of dogs and reinforced the perception that the industry was incapable of abiding by rules. Successive Ministers of Ag including Coveney, Doyle, Creed and Hayes were all fully aware of the breaches but chose to turn a blind eye.

Understandably the drug use and the over production of dogs have provoked the immediate outcry, but the focus will soon shift to question marks over the financial viability of the industry. The IGB has received 256 million in state funding since 2001 and a further 23 million for the sale of a state asset, Harold Cross. The IGBs claims that the greyhound industry employs in excess of 10,000 people will be more tightly scrutinised and many people suggest that the real number employed in the industry is less than 1,000 people. As a business, the industry is currently worth nothing. The irony of the situation is that if the IGB folds, as now seems like a real possibility, the value of the assets (Shelbourne Park, Tralee etc) will be used to pay the redundancy of the very people whose non-performance was the cause of the collapse.

IGOBF Sent the following letter to Minister Creed on 04/07/2019

Dear Minister Creed,

The total disregard for animal welfare and the widespread use of illegal drugs that was exposed on the RTE Prime Time Investigates programme should not be a surprise to you as you have repeatedly been given warnings by IGOBF regarding these issues.

The reaction of IGB was typical of what we have come to expect from this shambolic organisation.

Chairman of the Irish Greyhound Board, Frank Nyhan, commented: We completely condemn the deplorable actions towards greyhounds highlighted in the RTE broadcast. As a result of the newly signed Greyhound Racing Act 2019, the industry now has an opportunity to further progress and modernise. When the Act is in full effect, it will add to existing legislation and ensure that the racing greyhound is the most regulated of all canine breeds in Ireland. The IGB is fully supportive of these measures.

Mr Nyhan needs to realise that there already was legislation in place prior to this new Greyhound Racing Act 2019 that made it illegal to give dogs cocaine, amphetamines, stanozolol, pentobarbital etc. Why does IGB allow trainers to use these illegal substances? How does a dog that test positive 3 times for cocaine get invited to the Night of Stars? How does the same dog get nominated for Greyhound of The Year? Does Mr Nyhan not understand that the constant eulogising on Talking Dogs (IGBs own website news) of trainers found to be dopers reduces the stigma of using illegal drugs and all these actions combined suggests to participants and the general public that doping is acceptable. Mr Nyhan was also on the Board when the IGB announced breeding incentives in 2018 without any regard to the already obvious over supply problem.

CEO of the Irish Greyhound Board, Gerard Dollard, said: Any person who knowingly harms a greyhound brings shame upon our industry. The IGB will continue to investigate any matters brought to its attention. Any situations where it is alleged a breach of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 has occurred should be brought to the attention of the IGB.

Mr Dollard who has been a total failure since he was appointed in 2017 should also add the following to his statement. Any employee of IGB who fails to do their job which results in harm to a greyhound will be dismissed

Anybody that knows the IGB will realise how disingenuous Mr Dollard is being when he states that breaches of welfare should be brought to the attention of the IGB. Mr Dollard might recall to you what action he took when he was informed about the multiple breaches of sales regulations, and he might also confirm that IGB had been aware of the breaches for years and typically had chosen to ignore them. You might also ask Mr Dollard to enquire from his Head of Regulations, Pat Herbert, as to what Mr Herbert found when he investigated the positive stanozolol test in The UK of Stay For Ruby following a written submission from IGOBF. Mr Dollard should also be aware that people do not trust the IGB to confidentially handle any type of whistle-blower disclosure.

IGB Veterinary Director, Denis Healy, added: A raft of regulatory improvements introduced in the past two years, including a 400,000 state-of-the-art analytical system at the National Greyhound Laboratory in Limerick, demonstrates the IGBs intent in the area of medication control. The IGB conducts approximately 5,000 tests in this laboratory annually, including testing for EPO as referenced in the broadcast. The last adverse finding relating to EPO was found in July 2005, with approximately 71,000 tests being conducted on greyhounds both inside and outside of competition since then.

This IGB goes on to say that On regulation and integrity, 5,288 samples were analysed by the state-of-the-art National Greyhound Laboratory located at the IGBs offices in Limerick in 2018, which is far in excess of the amount of tests conducted in sports involving humans. These included out-of-competition tests. Just 22 of these tests (0.41%) resulted in adverse analytical findings

If the situation was not so serious this statement from Healy would be laughable. The incredibly low detection rate of the IGB does not contradict the generally held view that illegal drug use is widespread in Irish greyhounds but instead confirms the incompetence of IGB when it comes to detection. How does Mr Healy explain the Galway trainer that (according to RTE) had a huge stash of illegal drugs, that sent 2 dogs to race in England and they both tested positive, the same trainer has had 2221 runners (according to IGB website) in Irish tracks and never had a failed test?

The IGOBF welcomes the range of aids and measures announced by IGB on June 28 to assist with rehoming. These are normal measures, certainly nothing extraordinary and of course in typical IGB fire brigade fashion, very weak on detail. One could still question the commitment of IGB to welfare issues if all this money is now available and why were these measures not put in place before the Prime Time Investigates programme?

The RTE programme highlighted serious failure of regulation and greyhound welfare at the IGB and further confirms the short comings of the highly paid executives with these particular responsibilities. The failure of Mr Dollard to identify and deal decisively with these non-performers has moved the entire industry closer to total collapse. The IGOBF have been consistent in their warnings, and you as Minister have been consistent with your refusal to listen. The RTE programme of last week is the result of the inept Board appointments by you and your predecessor, Simon Coveney. The obstinate refusal by the two of you to admit that you made terrible mistakes may have moved the industry beyond recovery. The people that got the industry into its present state do not have the ability to turn it around. This is no time for your normal flip flopping, immediate removals are imperative.
Regards
Tony Walsh
Chairman Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation

The Horse and Greyhound funding only began in 2001 and the industry did boom until 2008 as you would expect when you suddenly receive a windfall such as this. This funding coincided with the Celtic Tiger years so there was a probability that the industry would have realised some growth even without the funding. The industry has been in consistent decline since 2009 and is now on the verge of collapse.

There are 2 main problems with the Government funding;

The price the industry has to pay when the Government calls the shots. Do you think our current Head of Regulation would survive for long at Ryanair or Kerry Group if he performed as he has done at IGB? Cast your mind back to the appearances before the PAC, every executive member of IGB would be sacked the following morning if they performed like that before the Board of a private company. The IGB was afflicted with a hopeless Chairman for 7 years, you can be guaranteed that you wont hear of him being appointed onto the Board of a non Government company.
The funding has made the executive of the IGB lazy and arrogant. They dont care if nobody comes to the track, their wages are guaranteed regardless of how they perform.

EXTERNAL LINK

The development and promotion of Irish racing
The overall administration of Irish racing
The allocation of race fixtures
Race programming and prize-money
Negotiation of media and data rights
Control of the operations of authorised bookmakers
Stake holding of prize funds including entry fees and sponsorship monies
Guaranteeing the cost of integrity services
Grants to authorised racecourses
Industry training and education

Jesus the greyhound industry has no chance with who we have.