Blow to greyhound racing as tourism body pulls the plug on promotion

The Irish greyhound racing industry has suffered a PR blow with the decision of the Dublin Convention Bureau to remove all promotion of the sport from its website.

The Bureau, which is a business tourism unit of Fáilte Ireland, had presented information about Shelbourne Park stadium along with contact details, but following an appeal from the Irish Council Against Bloods (ICABS), it has now deleted that information completely.

Dublin Convention Bureau is a leading organisation for business tourism in Dublin, provides a free venue search, expert local advice, promotional support and marketing assistance.

ICABS has published a statement on its Facebook page, listing other companies that have also stopped promoting greyhound racing.

It states:

“…Shelbourne Park is one of the worst tracks in Ireland for dog injuries and deaths.

“At least 196 greyhounds suffered injuries there and 47 died or were killed by a track vet over the past six years alone, sickening Greyhound Racing Ireland statistics show.

“Among the victims are a greyhound who collapsed and died in December 2020 after suffering a “haemorrhage into the abdomen from a rupture of the aorta”, a greyhound who died of a heart attack after a race and another who was carried away bleeding with a leg bone “popped out”. At tracks around Ireland in the same six year period, at least 2,146 greyhounds suffered injuries and 715 were killed.

Many more are also killed because they don’t make the grade. As revealed in RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds running for their lives”, around 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough to win.

“The documentary included horrifying scenes of greyhounds being delivered to a knackery where they were shot in the head and dumped into a skip.

“One dog was seen writhing on the ground as his merciless owner drove away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

“Following shocking revelations about cruelty and killing in greyhound racing, attendance at Shelbourne Park has continued to fall.

“A May 2020 Indecon report commissioned by Greyhound Racing Ireland showed that more and more people are staying away from greyhound tracks.

“In January 2020, for example, Shelbourne Park saw a massive 36% drop in attendance – down by 2,168 to 3,752, compared to the same month in 2019. Attendance continued to fall at Shelbourne Park in February 2020 – compared to February 2019, it was down by 41% (3,730) to 5,240.

“Dublin Convention Bureau is the latest in a growing list of those who have rejected greyhound racing.”