down to Mandurah's K9 Rescue Unit to find out more on what they do.
We arrived too early and strolled around the neighbourhood of boarding kennels which we found out are for racing Greyhounds. Chatted with a friendly lady who has 8 greyhounds on her facility - some for racing and a couple are ready for retirement. Which, in some cases, meant that they are ready to be put to sleep.
I have my own opinions on greyhound racing. In short - an unnecessary 'sport'.
The lady told us that the greyhounds start racing when they are close to 2 years. A typical racing career spans 4 years. So you can expect to have many 'redundant' greyhounds who are 6 years and above, who suddenly become too much for the owner to maintain. And frequently coupled with racing injuries, many of them are put to sleep. Destroyed. Cos they are not able to do anymore, the thing they were bred to do. Run to win.
In a scenario like this, you're much better off born a Kelpie. No one will expect you to race after a fake bunny. And you won't be on the express queue to doggy heaven just cos you've gotten slow or sprained a leg.
I would believe there are good, integrous owners out there who do truly care for their greyhounds and who would keep them as home pets after their career ends. But the known sheer number of greyhounds being put down regularly shows an imbalance. Thousands of greyhounds are euthanised yearly. 1 in 4 may get rehomed. Many others are surrendered to research labs to benefit medical studies. Like Roger here. He is one of many surrendered by his owners and now he is a helpful aide for us to learn about dog anatomy - by palpation (physical examination with hands).
We arrived too early and strolled around the neighbourhood of boarding kennels which we found out are for racing Greyhounds. Chatted with a friendly lady who has 8 greyhounds on her facility - some for racing and a couple are ready for retirement. Which, in some cases, meant that they are ready to be put to sleep.
I have my own opinions on greyhound racing. In short - an unnecessary 'sport'.
The lady told us that the greyhounds start racing when they are close to 2 years. A typical racing career spans 4 years. So you can expect to have many 'redundant' greyhounds who are 6 years and above, who suddenly become too much for the owner to maintain. And frequently coupled with racing injuries, many of them are put to sleep. Destroyed. Cos they are not able to do anymore, the thing they were bred to do. Run to win.
In a scenario like this, you're much better off born a Kelpie. No one will expect you to race after a fake bunny. And you won't be on the express queue to doggy heaven just cos you've gotten slow or sprained a leg.
I would believe there are good, integrous owners out there who do truly care for their greyhounds and who would keep them as home pets after their career ends. But the known sheer number of greyhounds being put down regularly shows an imbalance. Thousands of greyhounds are euthanised yearly. 1 in 4 may get rehomed. Many others are surrendered to research labs to benefit medical studies. Like Roger here. He is one of many surrendered by his owners and now he is a helpful aide for us to learn about dog anatomy - by palpation (physical examination with hands).
Roger
When you step back and look at this industry of animal sports, nothing in it makes sense to me. It's not about sports. Neither is it about the animals. The humans are in it solely for the money.
No comments:
Post a Comment