On May 11, 9:57=A0am, Old Codger <kb9rqz@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> From The Sunday Times May 11, 2008http://tinyurl.com/4zzfpo
> Greyhound breeder offers slow dogs to be killed for research
Well if we kill them to eat why not research too?
>
> Daniel Foggo
>
> The largest breeder of greyhounds in Britain is offering to sell
> healthy young dogs to be killed and dissected for research, an
> investigation has found.
>
> Charles Pickering told an undercover re****ter that his breeding
> programme continually throws up dozens of =93fit and healthy=94 dogs
that
> are =93just a bit too slow for the tracks=94 and therefore a financial
> burden to him.
>
> Pickering, who offered to sell them for =A330 each, said he was helping
> to supply dogs to the animal teaching hospital at Liverpool
> University.
>
> He provides yearling greyhounds to Richard Fielding, a greyhound
> trainer, who gives his older dogs for free to university veterinary
> staff, who put them to sleep and remove organs for teaching and
> research.
>
> Pickering said he wanted to keep his dealings =93nice and
confidential=94
> because it was =93extremely sensitive=94. The disclosure throws fresh
> light on the way in which the greyhound racing industry treats both
> retired dogs and those that fail to make the grade.
>
> The Sunday Times disclosed in March that the Royal Veterinary College
> (RVC) was buying canine body parts from John O=92Connor, a vet whose
> clinic was willing to euthanase healthy greyhounds, no questions
> asked.
>
> An undercover re****ter approached Pickering after hearing he was
> quietly sending young dogs to be put down at Liverpool University.
>
> Pickering, a former pig farmer, breeds about 200 racing dogs a year at
> his Zigzag Kennels. Its website says: =93We make the welfare of all our
> stock our highest priority.=94
>
> The re****ter told Pickering that he was from another university and
> was interested in procuring surplus dogs for research. Pickering, 56,
> who is based at Dunholme in Lincoln****re, said: =93We look to sell them
> [for racing] for a minimum of =A3200-=A3300 at 12 weeks [old].
>
> =93When they get to a year old we are hoping that we can get between
> =A3800 and =A320,000 for the very fastest. But, of course, along the way
> we get some that aren=92t quite suitable. If it=92s in the interest of
> someone for scientific purposes or study purposes, well that=92s a good
> thing. It=92s better than just being put down and disappearing.=94
>
> Asked which of his dogs were not =93suitable=94 for racing, he said:
> =93We=92ve got ones that simply won=92t chase, they are absolutely
healthy=
,
> fit as you could want, but just choose not to chase the artificial
> hare or are just a little bit too slow for the tracks. Or the ones
> that turn and fight.=94
>
> Pickering said he had been supplying up to 30 dogs a year to Liverpool
> University but =93we could do more if required=94. He later said that
the
> dogs sent to Liverpool had either =93finished racing or they are the
> ones that don=92t make the grade=94 and were taken there by Fielding,
who
> is accredited by the National Greyhound Racing Club, the s****t=92s
> governing body.
>
> Pickering said that he could supply as many dogs as required at =A330
> each and could even breed them specifically to be killed. =93When we are
> breeding, the ones that only reach the minimum standard for what we
> want, if we get too many of those it becomes a complication because we
> have to look for pet homes and all that sort of thing,=94 he said.
>
> =93I do give as many away for pets as we can, but these young ones, they
> are not used to the house environment. If they can have a use and help
> someone somewhere, and it gets me a tiny bit of money back, that=92s all
> the better for me.=94
>
> Fielding, who is based in Lanca****re told the re****ter he had four
> =93very healthy=94 dogs which he was happy to have taken away and killed
> immediately.
>
> =93I got shot of 10 old ones last year. Liverpool is a godsend in that
> respect because they are used for a good purpose.=94 He did not charge
> the university for them.
>
> When contacted by the Sunday Times he denied taking any of Pickering=92s
> dogs to the university and insisted the only greyhounds he took there
> were old and not rehomeable.
>
> Pickering later denied ever having sent dogs for research.
>
> Dr Eithne Comerford, who works at the university=92s hospital and had
> arranged to take greyhounds from Fielding, told the undercover
> re****ter that it was =93not something we=92re particularly mad about . .
.=
> we=92re all vets=94. She stressed that the dogs were =93euthanased
properl=
y=94
> and used for =93multiple projects=94. She said they were not paid for
and
> the RVC scandal had caused =93huge havoc=94.
>
> A spokeswoman for Liverpool University defended its activities. =93Our
> approach to veterinary research is of the highest ethical standard. We
> only carry out research on tissues of dogs and cats that have died or
> been euthanased and with the full consent of the animal=92s owner.=94
|
