Clonbrien Hero, the dog at the centre of a recent cocaine scandal is to race again in Limerick on Saturday night!
(Full and Integral post) Clonbrien Hero to race again in Limerick on Saturday night! GREYHOUND RESCUE ASSOCIATION IRELAND (GRAI) is concerned to learn that Clonbrien Hero, the dog at the centre of a recent cocaine scandal, is to race again this coming Saturday night at Limerick Greyhound Stadium. Trained by Graham Holland, Clonbrien Hero was the winner of this year’s prestigious Irish Laurels race which carried a prize fund of €30,000. Three individual tests were performed on the greyhound in June and July 2017. In each of these, benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite of cocaine was found. Such a quick return to the track, in the absence of a full and comprehensive enquiry into how the Class A narcotic showed up in multiple samples, shows little commitment by the Irish Greyhound Board to tackle the issue of doping in the Irish greyhound racing industry. In 2014, British greyhound owners and trainers were advised by the Great British Greyhound Board to exercise extreme caution when buying dogs from Ireland. This recommendation was issued because of large numbers of Irish greyhounds testing positive for steroids and other controlled substances. Aside from the integrity of the sport, the health and welfare of Clonbrien Hero need to be taken into consideration. Cocaine is a dangerous drug and the grave health implications of its use in humans have been widely researched and publicised. Less is known about the damage that cocaine use may cause in animals. Greyhound Rescue Association Ireland has repeatedly called for increased drug testing in greyhound racing in Ireland along with heavier penalties for those who are caught doping their dogs. If drug use is to be stamped out in the industry, there must be significant deterrents in the form of large fines and bans for the owners and trainers responsible for dogs presenting with positive samples. In 2014, the Irish government commissioned a report by Indecon into the state of the Irish greyhound racing industry. Alarmingly, in spite of Indecon’s recommendation to increase the amount of random testing, the number of tests carried out on Irish racing greyhounds have actually decreased from 7,307 samples taken in 2013, down to just 5,383 in 2016. Since 2010, the Irish Greyhound Board has received more than €100 million in Government subsidies. In 2017, it received €16 million from the exchequer and was recently able to cancel out a debt of just over €22 million through the sale of the Harold’s Cross stadium to the Department of Education for €23 million. #Grá4Greyhounds Source: GRAI Link: https://www.facebook.com/grai.ie/posts/1661064837259316 © All rights ReservedTags: adopt galgos, adopt greyhound, adopt rescue dog, adopt rescue greyhound, adoption, adotta galgo, adotta un levriero, adozione, adozione galgo, adozione greyhound, adozione levrieri, adozione levriero, antiracing, Australia, Australia, CAGED northwest, cani, galgo, galgo in adozione, Grey2K USA, greyhound, greyhound racing, greyhound racing, Greyt Exploitations, Greyt Exploitations, Ireland, levrieri, levriero, Limerick Animal Welfare, lurcher, lurcher, maltrattamenti, pet levrieri, salva un levriero, salvare levrieri, Spagna, UK, USA