The dogs were found at the weekend in cages stacked on top of each other or piled with other boxed goods, and had no access to food or water, despite an estimated journey of over 24 hours ahead of them.

They were being transported in a Spanish registered vehicle which was operating without the correct Department of Agriculture licence for transporting live animals, a DSPCA spokeswoman said.

Nine of the greyhounds had raced in Ireland in the last month, but records from the Irish stud book indicated that two had never been raced in Ireland, and one had not raced since 2016. The DSPCA said the investigation would focus on the seller of the greyhounds, the person driving the van, and the buyer of the animals, thought to be based in Spain.

The big question is where these animals are going to and what welfare conditions are awaiting these animals at the end of the journey, the spokeswoman said. The conditions in the van would form a second element of the investigation.

Several of the dogs were found to have minor injuries and elevated body temperatures, and all of them were showing signs of dehydration. According to paperwork accompanying the dogs, they were all registered with the Irish Greyhound stud book and originate from dog trainers in Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and Wexford.

The DSPCA said the dogs had all been loaded onto the van at a facility in Co Tipperary, before travelling to Dublin port. The organisation said it is appalled by the barbaric treatment of these animals despite the revelations seen in RTɒs Primetime programme, Greyhounds: Running for Their Lives.

While customs officers stopped the van due to the conditions the animals were travelling in, all twelve had pet passports and were permitted to travel from a legal point of view. Racing animals are regulated by the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB), but the organisation has no regulatory oversight of the export of animals.

Nonetheless, it said it had been made aware of the incident and its welfare department is conducting a full investigation under the Welfare of Greyhounds Act to establish whether any breaches had occurred.

The IGB condemns any mistreatment of greyhounds in the highest possible terms. It said any person or persons found to be in breach of the act have been and will continue to be subject to prosecution.

The DSPCA, however, criticised the board, saying this seizure flies in the face of the illusion being created by IGB that animal welfare is being taken seriously.

The continuing grant of 16.8 million of taxpayers money is no longer acceptable, said DSPCA chief executive Brian Gillen, who also called on the Government to withdraw all funding allocated to the industry by the State

Well the shit has hit the fan for our sport. Thanks to these uncaring stupid people we are all tarred with the same brush. I sincerely hope they are all named and the IGB start taking a stand. This has already gone viral and you can bet that the antis will find out the names of the culprits.

The Owners and Trainers of those Greyhounds have a lot of explaining to do .

They should be hanging their heads in shame for putting the sport at risk like that in Ireland

I hope the IGB lynch them as well as police action for animal cruelty

I think the PTB should also have a look at the bank transitions with these Owners and Trainers ....

I dont blame the Anti's Carole we deserve a kick up the ass ...we have to eat humble pie this time around ....

they are saying it wasn't provided for the journey but the dogs haven't made the journey yet right?

sorry but i question these stories sometimes as the antis can exaggerate things that r not like the picture being portrayed that's all.
were the dogs really injured or is their condition fabricated?

i've had dogs who were as healthy as anything but looking at their coat you'd think they were not looked after at all.

if guilty though then of course its terrible of anyone to do this.

but if pictures r real then yeah there was clearly not enough room for 2 dogs to the cage they were in.

also its not clear that the owners knew their dogs were in that situation is it?

were the dogs collected before and then loaded into this van without others knowing?

i agree its terrible timing so i understand u guys must be frustrated.

We can blame the anti's all we want, but they didn't put these dogs in cages.

Ok to go on about anti's being over the top, but make sure our own ship is in order first..

The vast majority of greyhound owners and trainers look after their dogs, but the odd isolated incident like this will ruin the game..

Hi John. Hows things?? Yes still in the swim for now:-) Dont know for how long if welfare issues keep on coming up????