Welfare Fund.

[John]

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After what has been a bad year so far for serious racing injuries I wondered about what people thought about setting up a welfare fund to help with vet bills. This could be done if the racing bodies who charge a membership fee donate a percentage of this revenue to a welfare fund I would like to think that this could be done without an increase to membership fees. This in turn could help anybody whos dog suffers a serious injury at a open a little help with the vet bills. It goes without saying that any racing body cannon't be held responsable for a racing injury and owners dont hesatate about taking their dog to a vet. Any fund would of course have guidelines as it could not be expected to pay the vet bill full costs. There will be of course arguments for and against. For-it would help the welfare of our dogs Against-each dog is their owner's responsability. I know that every time a serious injury happens racers usually have a whip round and this could still happen. What are your thoughts.

 

[JOHNG]

??? EXCELLENT IDEA JOHN BUT IT WOULD NEED A LOT OF LOOKING INTO , VET BILLS NOWADAYS ARE REALLY WAY OUT OF CONTROL THEY CHARGE WHAT EVER THEY LIKE BECAUSE THEY KNOW WE WILL PAY :0 :0 ???

 

[Susan]

Come on everyone vote. The kick boards got more dicussion than this and everyone said it was about the dogs welfare.

 

[jade scott]

i think its a great idea when u have a serius injury having a welfare fund could ease the financial stress that vet bills wud cause and most people would b grateful for a little help i think

 

[michelle]

But where would the welfare fund stop paying for youre dogs injury? with hobgoblins broken leg it ran into over £1000.00 and the treatment took over a year to do, luckily she raced again and has a decent life but where would it stop?, and really should you be racing dogs if you cannot afford the vet bills?

 

[mutley]

sounds a good idea ,but i agree with mechelle, where would it end vets bills are part and parcel of our sport ,i reckon it would get abused after a while.

 

[John]

If something like this were to happen there would have to be guidelines. In my opinion something like a minimum vet bill of say £150 up to a maxamum of say £600 with the welfare fund if funds were available paying 10% of the bill once confirmed and the injury would have to have to be sustained whilst racing. In my opinion racers don't hesitate when their dog needs vet treatment but its nice to have something to help as we don't hesitate to hold a collection when a dog get's injured at a race and the person who's dog is injured is always greatfull and this could still happen but not all opens have 60+ dogs. About ten years ago I had a dog that broke his leg and the final vet bill was about £700 and after that he still had to have his leg amputated. Some pet insurance company's won't insure racing whippets and those who will charge quite large premiums so I seen this suggestion as a way of a little help being at hand.

 

[Fleesh]

really should you be racing dogs if you cannot afford the vet bills?

Should we quit now then before one of our dogs (god forbid) gets a serious injury ???

:angry:

 

[michelle]

nothing wants you to give up racing more than seing youre dog on the 1st bend with its leg snapped in half bone sticking out wagging its tail........money doesnt come into it. I would have re-mortgaged the house and sold my car if it meant my dog wouldnt suffer.

Before ANYONE ( not just racers) gets a pet they should consider vet bills, some years ours arent alot (£400 for 10 dogs) and other years they are expensive ( £2000 for 10 dogs).

Vet bills along with food bills, are part n parcel of pet ownership.

 

[roger]

You have a very good point there Michelle, sorry i dont think we have meet yet. I am still looking for my first whippet. I have really enjoyed the opens I have been to. My partner has 2 Jack Russells, the vet bills can be huge with them. I think the welfare fund is a good idea in some ways. However where would the money come from to start it off. Do we all pay into a pot each month on top of our own vet bills. Going by some of the bills my partner has had this year, the welfare fund would need to be very wealthy indeed. I do not want to sound rude Fleesh but if you can not afford the vet bills for your dog then no you should not have one, or be racing one.

 

[Vicky]

I agree in not having dog if you can't afford to pay for what comes with it, injuries / c-sections etc are most things whippet racers end up shelling out for at some point. I agree in having the welfare fund but i just can't see how it would be managed & done correctly.....

 

[NEILPEM]

hi deb here, i agree with john about the welfare fund, come on all of us would appreciate a little help . As john suggested a ten per cent contribution after proof to the final vet bill could work. And as for people not being able to afford to run dogs thats a fair comment but some are not as rich as others and any help would be welcome im sure.

 

[tanyia]

Good idea John, it will take some working out, but it would be nice to have funds to help out

 

[suzie]

I say leave it as it is. If your not prepared to pay the vet bills when your dog gets injured you shouldnt be racing. [its the same with anything if you cant afford it dont do it] We already have whip rounds which i feel is quite ample instead of paying twice which causes extra expense. [Whip round at Wallsend for RAGAMUFFIN came to a grande total of about £100. which i thought was very good.] If there was a WELFARE FUND i think it would be abused by certain people.

 

[lampinglarry]

Well it is hard when accidents happen and it was a lovely thing to do at walsend, to have the wipe around for nice fellow , to help with the vet bill

 

[John]

Two things that interest me so far in this thread so far. First possable abuse of a welfare fund in my opinion if the guidelines were well enough thought out this could be avoided. Second the school of thought that if you can't afford it dont do it. Bearing this in mind why have a whip round makes you wonder if anybody thinks along these lines when we have one.

 

[Tony Taylor]

I think that a welfare fund, by which I mean the welfare of the whippet and not some Labour "welfare" idea, is a good idea and having thought about it I think that it would be workable.

A portion of income to whatever body could be set aside to operate such a fund or better still, payments could be made out of general funds whenever there was need.

I believe the BWRA originaly did pay out to members in times of need.

It is correct that racers should foot their own vet bills and perhaps ought not to race if they are unable or unwilling to provide nessacery vetinary attention to their whippets. Minor injury is almost inevitable and can`t really be considered an unexpected occurance. However major injuries do occur and I am uneasy with the notion that the injured dog should suffer simply because the owner isn`t rich. In reality the only major injury applicable is that of broken long bones and the vet bills for treating these is high. I would suggest that a flat fee of say £250 be payable to the owner of any dog suffering such a fracture after confirmation of the injury by a vet. This would be fair to all and easily administered and not to onerous on the racing bodies as such injuries are relatively rare. All other vet costs for other injuries to be met by the owners.

 

[natty]

Im just browsing this thread and i just wondered is it not possible to get racing whippets insured against injuries?

natty

 

[JoJess]

hello natty nahh I don't think you would be able to insure a racing whippet natty, the premiums would be very high, as for the idea of a fund, I think it is a good idea, but i must add that when a whippet is injured whilst racing

( and we have had a few injuried over the years) the whippet fraternity attending the open have all banded together and collected money towards the vet bill, at one open almost everyone donated their winnings towards the vet bill, A BIG THANKYOU TO YOU ALL .....so maybe a fund could be set up, but lets have it for all serious injuries not just for broken bones.........who is going to set it up then ???

 

[John]

Bumped.