Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Stop Greyhound races, the sport that kills!

Let me quote the website that supports the ban:

"The killing will never stop until people realize that it is the 'business' of greyhound racing which fosters and perpetuates the cruelty, no matter how hard they try to separate themselves from it. And it's just that simple. The cruelty will never end until greyhound racing is out of business." - Gary E. Dungan, Executive Director of The Humane Society of Tucson.

And that's what it's all about: money. Basically, one's there's money to be made, animals will be treated like crap and much, much worse. Money is what "fosters and perpetuates the cruelty". Take that aspect out of the equation and what will be left is the benign group of enthousiasts who cherish their dogs. No pain, no gain, they say; well then no gain must mean no pain. So just sign the damn petition and hope something good will come from it.

Dear Cleg,
You're not hijacking this thread at all, lets make it a animal loving thread, where you can place posts about animal cruelty to open up people's eyes.
You are so right about the chickens, the same story goes for the pigs, cows, sheep and every other meat that we eat.
I don't eat much meat myself, maybe once or twice a week and then it's about 150 g at the most I eat. I would totally ban meat out of my life, like i used to do, but my health and my wallet can't take that anymore. I never ever eat red meat, wich I mean horsemeat. The eggs I eat, are from my own chickens, they die in our garden of old age. I would never kill an animal, not even if I'm very hungry. Mother Nature offers us enough to provide.
So go ahead with the animal posts, I very much like that!
And btw, I just watched the KFC video, I am shocked! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

About the greyhounds:
Today I discovered that at the end of every racing season, the owner has to get rid of the oldest dogs, wich are the 3 to 4 year old ones. They have been racing from since they were 18 months.
It's a sadistic tradition that all these dogs are hanged in a tree, BUT, the ones that raced well enough, will be hanged high, so they die in a few horrible minutes. But the ones who didn't race well, will be hanged low enough so their back pows' toes still reach the ground. They call it "piano playing". Those dogs have a battle with death for about 6 hours. "They don't deserve a quick death" according to them.
Please, keep signing the petition, as Macbeth quoted so right: The cruelty will only stop when the races are banned.

That my Dear Gal is just plain barbaric (no insult to any Barbarians and/or descendants)
And yes no matter how that should be stopped.

Totally agree with Mea. That kind of thing is illegal in Britain already, and should be everywhere else, too.

Any scumbag tried that in Britain, they'd be in jail for a few years.

Britain has a good policy on animals now, there are some kind of animal police or something that keep an eye on people who abuse their pets. I have seen that on tv here. We should need that in Belgium as well. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

signed. Thank you Galadriel for bringing it to our attention.

I have signed too.
And i find this petition good. This must have an end.

But i have nothing against Races wich Barta used as an example for privat races. The Dogs need training. Sure, maybe they are normaly lazy. But Humans are lazy too, some sport will be good for the most Humans. And Sport is good for the Dogs too.

Oh, and Mea. We Barbarians do never something like that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

Ok, Tax enforcers. We catch them, bind them and throw them in our Lake. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />
Ok, its not a deep Lake, but they cant know this. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />

Signed

To bad people treat any kind of creature like that. I can imagine that certain people like dograces, to bad other people use those races to gain profit.

Thank you all for signing, I will keep this updated to show you our progress.
If anyone wants to post something about animal cruelty here, please do so. Cruelty against animals can only be stopped if it's brought to our attention. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug.gif" alt="" />

hey Gal,

i just want u to know that i don't exactly change my mind & stop from signing your petition just because Barta said so. i have my own mind.

what Barta said was not wrong. she mentioned something which i feel is useful to me. i didn't know that the races in France are done in such animal-friendly manner. would be a fine example to go by when compared to what happened in the countries that have money making races. before Barta mentioned this, i thought all races are bad. i had no idea doggies love the races. so it gives me perspective. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

in any case, my support is still on the ban of the money making races. i may not have a pet doggie but it doesn't mean i don't feel for them.


so Gal, i'm still backing u up, ok? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I agree. It's not the sport that does it, it's the people who are cruel.

Sorry =/ But banning them won't stop the problems, and it will just stop good things.

You wouldn't kill Serena Williams for not performing, why dogs? Stop greyhound races, there are so many alternatives to gamble on that don't involve any kind of cruelty or suffering.

Damn Dragh! All the people that are with me in this have such strong statements to make their point! Thank you for standing up for those Galgo's and other animals in the world. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/kissyou.gif" alt="" />

[color:"orange"]Sorry =/ But banning them won't stop the problems[/color]

The problems stem directly from greed. Without the betting there would no incentive for most of the cruelty.

Regardless of whether the problem is a few people or systemic, the threat of a ban may be necessary to force the industry to actually clean up its act, rather than just concentrate on public relations and write off any cruelty that gets media attention as isolated incidents.


I didn't read much of the media case summaries, but if cruelty is not a systemic problem in greyhound races, why did Alabama pass a law dropping the penalties for cruelty to greyhounds? Obviously somebody lobbied for this, since anyone wanting to actually stop the cruelty could have used the existing laws.

What's needed is proper - and properly enforced! - animal protection laws, as there are in the UK. This is not really a greyhound problem, it's a human problem. As long as there are still places and people who think torturing animals is acceptable, this kind of abuse will continue.

Banning races won't help. That will just lead to a mass slaughter of greyhounds. Proper jail sentences for animal abuse is the only answer.

[color:"orange"]As long as there are still places and people who think torturing animals is acceptable, this kind of abuse will continue.

Banning races won't help.[/color]

Umm... The whole point of the petition to ban greyhound races is to get rid of one of those places where people think torturing animals is acceptable.

Unless you think the greyhound race industry is free from any involvement in animal cruelty and has no knowledge of such, and that all the retired dogs (not killed in 'isolated incidents') really are placed as pets in loving homes, then the industry as a whole is fair game.


[color:"orange"]That will just lead to a mass slaughter of greyhounds.[/color]

So don't try to stop the races or the dogs could be killed now, rather than at the end of the season?

Any race ban or large scale law enforcement involvement would take time to implement, and they would track as many dogs as possible when gathering evidence. An announcement at the start of the action that they have public and subpoenaed/seized records of dogs and would hold all owners, breeders, etc responsible for any dogs they can not account for should prevent people from trying to cut their losses or hide evidence.


[color:"orange"]Proper jail sentences for animal abuse is the only answer.[/color]

Since current laws are not being enforced very effectively, that means few resources are being devoted to this and/or animal cruelty is not a very high priority. Short of hiring a lobbyist or buying a congressman, public opinion / awareness would be the easiest way to change this, which is what the petition is trying to do.

Neither the money nor the races are the problem though, Raze. It is the people that are the problem.

Banning greyhound races will not change the attitude that torturing animals is fine, nor will it do anything except lead to the mass slaughter of the hounds. These are working dogs, and if their work dries up they will ALL be killed, not just the older ones.

There is already a surplus of dogs at animal homes, and a large number are (Humanely, in Britain at least) put down every year simply because there are no homes for them and the animal charities cannot support an infinite number of dogs.

Banning racing solves nothing.

[color:"orange"]Proper jail sentences for animal abuse is the only answer.[/color]
The highest sentences they get is a ban from the race for 60 to 90 days. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />
THAT is not a sentence!

I'm very aware of animals being tortured all over the world, I just watched some PETA videos about fur, leather and wool, chickens, alive skinned cats and dogs etc...
Believe me, banning a fur coat will also stop this torture as well. You can say it's a human problem, but if we humans don't do anything about it, it will stay that way. If everyone thinks like you do Elliot, no one would sign the petition and the races wont stop, neither does the torture.
We 'humans' started this, and it's up to us to stop this. We don't need dog races, or bull fights to entertain us, nor do we need dogfights, cockfights or bear fights for our pleasure. Ban all these things and the world would look a different place.

If everyone thought like me, Gal, there wouldn't be a need for petitions. But with that said, I think the petition is a nice idea but with the wrong emphasis. What you need is a petition to give proper jail time to people who are cruel to animals. That would address the cause, not the symptoms, and would not result (should you be successful) in the destruction of thousands of animal lives.

Elliot Kane;
[color:"orange"]Neither the money nor the races are the problem though[/color]

Would anyone breed a few dozen dogs and kill all the slow ones if there were no money to be made by having the fastest dog?

If there were no money riding on a dog's performance, would failure get punished by torture or death?

It is the bets made on the races which provide the motive for the cruelty. Many of the dog owners and breeders may be cruel or sociopathic by nature, but most are not going to go out and start killing dogs if there is nothing in it for them.


[color:"orange"]It is the people that are the problem.[/color]

The people running the races are as much a part of the problem as the dog owners and breeders.


[color:"orange"]Banning greyhound races will not change the attitude that torturing animals is fine[/color]

I would think that shutting down an industry that refuses to clean up its act in that regard would send a very clear message that this behaviour is unacceptable.


[color:"orange"]nor will it do anything except lead to the mass slaughter of the hounds. These are working dogs, and if their work dries up they will ALL be killed, not just the older ones.[/color]

To prevent a one time slaughter of all the dogs (assuming no attempt was made to protect them by those responsible for a racing ban), you are willing to accept an annual slaughter of most of them?


[color:"orange"]There is already a surplus of dogs at animal homes[/color]

An excellent reason to shut down the greyhound breeders, then.


[color:"orange"]a large number are (Humanely, in Britain at least) put down every year simply because there are no homes for them[/color]

And yet the greyhound racing industry claims to have found homes for all their retired dogs.

One of the news stories summarized on the petition page was about a guy who had a 40 year career killing greyhounds, at $10 each, half the price to have a vet do it (don't know if this was his main source of income or just a 'hobby').


[color:"orange"]Banning racing solves nothing.[/color]

I really can not see how it could possibly fail to help. In any case, not banning the races defiantly solves nothing.

If there is enough money involved it is never going to get banned. However, short of a major series of arrests giving real jail time, a movement to ban the races with enough public support may be the only thing that could force them to clean up their act.




Galadriel;
[color:"orange"]I just watched some PETA videos[/color]

While some of their goal are reasonable, PETA is filled with nuts, and I wouldn't accept their word as fact without independent corroboration. I heard an interview with a PETA spokesperson who said if he was driving and came around a blind curve with a human toddler on one side of the road and a dog on the other, with no time to stop and no way to avoid both, he would aim for the child to save the dog.

Years ago in northern Alberta, an animal rights group (don't recall if it was PETA) broke into a minx farm and released all the animals from the large heated barn (with plenty of room, food and water) into a -40C winter night. Many of the mink froze to death, and of those that were captured again the next morning, most died of pneumonia.