Daily Telegraph Article

[Orinjpeel]

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I got sent this link to an article that appeared in the daily telegraph. I appologise if anyone else has already posted it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml...18/ftdogs18.xml

If anyone feels the need to reply to it you can do so at this email address

dtletters@telegraph.co.uk

I know I am going to be writing a few words on this womans half baked notions of what should be happening to greyhounds.

 

[urchin]

How sad that she doesn't understand how perfect greyhounds are for city life.

Providing those 2-3 walks a day are off lead at top speed - they don't need to be more than 20 mins/half an hour. (I know neither Audrey nor Digit(the whippet) will run for longer than that on a walk)

Then they sleep the sleep of the truely kn*****ed!.............it's the carriage dogs like dalmations - born to run 20 miles a day that worry me in cities.

Having had Dij on the lead for the past month while he get's 'Listened to' lol! i know that it takes me around an hour and a half to wear him out on the lead - 30 minutes tearing round the park with his doggy chums and he's completely had it

 

[wild whippies]

Hmmm I suppose after owning one rescue greyhound she's a real expert on the subject. :wacko:

Quote from the The guardian regarding Germaine Greer:

In part, her ability to remain so prominently in the public consciousness comes from an astute understanding and well-established symbiotic relationship with a media as eager to be shocked as she is to shock.

Stick to the feminist issues Greer. :- "

 

[kris]

quote Too many dogs are bred in this country and too few of them live in conditions that are right for them. Too many big dogs, Alsatians and Rottweilers, are living in rundown back gardens or even in flats, where they are left alone all day.quote

i think she meant its cruel to keep them penned up all day alone rather than its cruel to keep them in a flat or small garden where they get exercise.i liked a lot of what she did say that was positive though, especially her description of seeing her dog running free,and the bit about her dog cringing and whining brought tears to my eyes.i read a lot by germaine greer (the female eunuch springs to mind)when i was a young radical feminist.i admired her enormously for bringing to light the way women are treated in the world and how the male dominated society we live in likes to keep the status quo.i think shes done a lot for women,i think people like her who have the priviledge to be able to write well and to have the newspaper column space to do it in ought to bring to the world the plight of the greyhound and educate people more about what really goes on in racing circles.

maybe if she stuck to that shed be doing the breed a better favour than writing about them being kept in flats.

 

[Marydoll]

What She said didn't highlight the plight of the greyhound, the BBC who caught John SMith on camera did that, instead she implied it was 'OK' to slaughter them.

Here is our reply to the telegraph re. her statement and I know there are hundreds of folk out their enraged .

It is quite astounding and worrying that this woman is allowed to air such ignorant and untrue claims about ex-racing greyhounds and ‘what should be done with them’ that the public should have a right to reply.

To imply that the slaughtering of thousands of greyhounds each year, every year, is humane and acceptable beggars belief. Is she seriously suggesting that it should be acceptable to dispose of all unwanted dogs this way if they are no longer any use for the purpose they are bred for? Does this include ex-working collies, if having dogs to ‘work to the gun’ was outlawed, would it be acceptable to slaughter tens of thousands of Springer spaniels and Labradors, would she be happy to slaughter foxhounds when hunting was banned? I think not!! So why is it OK to slaughter thousands of greyhounds. To encourage the public to accept this and see it as ‘humane’ is shameful.

And for her completely ignorant comments regarding what type of life an ex-racer should have is even more ludicrous. She gets ONE ex-racing greyhound and suddenly she knows the breed and feels she has the authority to lecture the public on how they should/shouldn’t be kept, it is laughable. Does she know that thousands of greyhounds pups are ‘disposed of each year’ because they don’t make the grade, even before they are 1yr old – is this still acceptable to slaughter them. Can you imagine the public outcry if thousands of ‘Andrex puppies’ had been slaughtered and buried in a field – surely this can only be the most degrading end for a greyhound, who are such a graceful and majestic breed of dog.

If she had even took the time to speak to just a few of the tens of thousands of owners who have rescued an ex-racing greyhound she would have quickly realised how much rubbish she is talking. Greyhounds THRIVE on the easy life, LOVE to sleep and laze around, does she forget (or even know) that that is how many greyhounds spend their time in racing kennels in between short training sessions, has she even visited a racing kennel, or a greyhound rescue kennel?

We have been running a greyhound rescue now for 7yrs, and in that time have homed over 500 greyhounds to people who live in houses, flats and caravans. I absolutely ‘dare’ her to visit even a handful of these people and see how much loved and happy these ex-racers are and then dare to say it is a degrading end. She is more than welcome to read our 'happy homing' stories, 'neglect and abuse' stories on our website at www.gagah.co.uk and I personally invite her to visit some of our retired racers in their wonderful, loving homes. The proud owners would be more than happy to show-off their happy hounds. I strongly suspect though that Ms Greer won't take us up on this offer!

If she even bothered to ask any of the many greyhound rescues in Britain their ‘educated and experienced’ opinion first, again she would have realised what wonderful pets these dogs make. Greyhound rescues have been working so hard for many years to dispel the myths surrounding these beautiful dogs and fight hard to find the perfect homes for them, and spend countless hours raising awareness and educating people on this breed of dog and how they should be looked after. She may have done serious harm with her stupid opinions and put many people off considering adopting one. Who does she think she is?

I am all for ‘freedom of speech’, but strongly feel it is each person’s right in this country to be able to reply in the same ‘public’ way that she chose to air her views.

I hope you print the many outraged responses that I know your paper will receive regarding this woman’s article.

 

[Marydoll]

test

 

[davethehorse]

Marydoll,

Great letter in reply to the "I know it all" article from GG regarding greyhound rescue - she is obviously quite clueless but writes as if she is an authority on the subject - she clearly is not :angry:

Hope the letter is printed prominantly in their paper and GG replies personally with an explanation - well done on the response :thumbsup:

Dave

 

[Scillonian]

I would say that the person who made such "Stupid" remarks obviously "thinks she knows it all when , in fact, she knows absolutelynothing" where greyhounds are concerned.

We love both greyhounds and whippets and have owned both. My hubby likes to attend the "trials/auctions" I only went once and ended up buying a bitch that was obviously very distressed. I will not go again because I feel so sorry for these poor greyhounds being passed from "pillar to post" all the time.

This applies to racing whippets, people buy them and if they are not open class they get rid of them and buy another. We have 7 whippets and the last littler we bred we ended up keeping the whole litter of 5. Why, because the people who showed interest I knew unless the dog was open class they would "get rid", so we ended up keeping them all. They are treated better than some children and are spoilt rotten. Why not they have given us great pleasure winning when raced and now they are retired and are staying with us until they "pass-on" :thumbsup:

 

[~elizabeth~]

Hmmm I suppose after owning one rescue greyhound she's a real expert on the subject. :wacko:

The technical term for commentators like GG is a 'rentagob' I believe. Much easier for editors to rely their stable of voluble morons than do some leg work (possibly outside London shock horror :nuke: ) and find some opinions derived from non-media people with some genuine hands-on experience. :- "

Stick to the feminist issues Greer. :- "

To be fair, she's pretty rubbish on those too :- " :lol:

 

[Nicola]

It's a lovely article in some ways, but condescending in others.

It was fascinating to read about Magpie, her rescue greyhound, and how she slowly adapted to her new homelife, fellow canine companion, and her freedom and walks.

However she is making some rather sweeping assumptions, which, as those with more knowledge of the breed point out, are not necessarily correct (I have no experience of the breed but am willing to accept the opinion of those that do have a great deal of experience).

I agree that she has failed to do her research on the subject, and has probably done a lot of damage to a hard fought campaign to encourage people to consider a greyhound when rehoming a rescue dog. Such a shame she just didn't stick to her experience of the joy of rehoming an ex-racer, rather than assuming that few others have the capability to offer such a good home :angry:

 

[lalena]

:blink: whats she been spiked with, i wonder? i've known dogs living in what some would call luxuriant surroundings that in truth are actually being mistreated. not physically, but abuse. never aloud to run amok within the home, because they might ruin the decor. kept away from the children for being unhygienic and boisterous. garden being restricted incase they dig up the beautifully kept lawn. i could go on, really i could :angry:

and then i think of a husky i knew, owned by a friend of a friend. living in frankly squalid surroundings, a 2 bedroom flat at the top of a north london highrise. lift broken, so everyone, very young kids included, had to walk up and down hundreds of stairs, drenched in urine and god knows what. that husky had the life of riley. adored by all the tennants as well as his family. he was fed the best quality food money can buy. playing with the two toddlers, watching over them like a mother hen. his owners, come rain or shine, walked him for miles three times a day. to this day i've yet to see an animal, mine included, as happy and content, as good natured and loving as he.

who the HELL is SHE to say that a dog is better off dead than living in a flat? better its head caved in than living in, albeit cramped, loving surroundings, rough housing with a gaggle of children for the rest of its days?