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 Barry ColemanLimerick HQ of Bord na gCon / Irish Greyhound BoardGreen ParkDock RoadLimerickRepublic of Ireland8
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March 2011Dear Mr ColemanWe are writing on behalf of Animals Asia and the Born Free Foundation, two internationalorganisations with extensive knowledge of animal welfare issues in China, to express our deepconcern regarding reports that the Irish Greyhound Board plans to export greyhounds to China andto support the development of the greyhound industry within China.China has no legislation to protect domestic animals from cruelty and suffering, and there are noguarantees that even minimal welfare standards for greyhounds could be provided by greyhoundracing operators in China.Millions of dogs in China currently suffer immense cruelty. An increase in pet ownership has led tounregulated dog-breeding and a surplus of dogs within many Chinese cities. These dogs are oftenabandoned and left to subsist on the streets, with many dying due to illness or accident or ending upat animal-control shelters.Dog shelters across China are at maximum capacity as they attempt to deal with the effects of over-breeding, and many thousands of dogs are destroyed each year by government authorities in anattempt to deal with the overpopulation problem. Periodically, government authorities organisedog-killings on the streets of Chinese cities. Many of these killings are in response to outbreaks of human rabies or to archaic dog-management regulations that do not allow dogs of certain sizes andbreeds into public areas. Once these orders have been given, many thousands of dogs are brutallyslaughtered by gangs of killers using wooden batons to chase and bludgeon them to death.Millions of dogs are raised for food in China each year. These animals suffer terribly in the trade,many stolen from loving families, crammed into tiny cages with other terrified dogs and transportedfor days with no food or water. Those who survive the journey to the live-animal markets, suffer alingering, violent death
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bludgeoned over the head, stabbed in the neck or groin, hanged orelectrocuted.It would be naïve to assume that greyhounds exported from Ireland to China could not end up insuch situations or suffer the same fate. We urge the IGB, as a body that has assumed a responsibilityfor greyhounds, to seriously consider the likelihood that greyhounds exported to China will be
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