Memorandum submitted by the Society of
Greyhound Veterinarians
The members of the Welfare Working Group of
the Society of Greyhound Veterinarians [SGV], the Specialist Division
of the British Veterinary Association dedicated to the care and
welfare of greyhounds, would like to applaud the farsighted approach
and sterling efforts of those who have sought to radically restructure
animal welfare legislation for the first time in almost a century.
1. The SGV is somewhat disappointed to find
that it is intended to implement secondary legislation under this
Bill in only two tranches, and that racing greyhounds have been
consigned to the second tranche, to the end of the queue, where
no legislation will come into force before 2010. While we at the
SGV appreciate that the greyhound industry will require some time
to restructure itself and adjust to the new constraints placed
upon it, we doubt that a period in excess of five years is necessary.
We note that it is proposed to introduce secondary legislation
affecting boarding kennels, riding stables and game farms within
one year of the Bill receiving Royal assent. The SGV is uncertain
why these industries are permitted only one year of adjustment
while the greyhound industry may have five years to put its house
in order. While our Society by its very nature focuses its attention
on the welfare of greyhounds before during and after their racing
careers, we would suggest that the proper care of greyhounds is
an animal welfare issue equal in importance to many which seem
to have received much closer scrutiny in the proposed Bill. Could
secondary legislation affecting the greyhound industry not be
introduced perhaps three years after the Bill receives Royal Assent?
2. We understand that, if the industry makes
sufficient progress in the promotion of greyhound welfare during
this interim period, it is possible that no secondary legislation
will be deemed necessary. The SGV is concerned that the welfare
of greyhounds may thus in certain circumstances continue to be
overseen solely by a self-regulating industry. If the welfare
of greyhounds at present is felt to be less than satisfactory,
then surely this has been because to date self-regulation has
proved inadequate. We at the SGV are concerned that, at present,
a laissez-faire attitude to regulating the greyhound industry
has led the delegation of much responsibility to the National
Greyhound Racing Club [NGRC]. The NGRC has laid down its own regularly-updated
"Rules of Racing" which are admirable and invaluable
guidelines but relate as much to preserving the integrity of the
sport as to promoting the welfare of the dogs involved. More significantly,
it does not control all greyhound racing. As a consequence, the
so-called independent tracks are almost totally unregulated and
the welfare of greyhounds racing there at times gives our Society
grave cause for concern.
3. We at the SGV are currently pushing forward
an initiative, supported by the British Greyhound Racing Board
Welfare Committee, promoting a science-based welfare research
program that will form the future basis of welfare policy for
the greyhound industry, a move very much in keeping with Defra's
own current "Evidence and Innovation" approach to science.
It is hoped to launch the first research project under this new
scheme in the next few weeks, in early September 2004. The SGV
hopes that this ground-breaking initiative, already receiving
the backing of the BGRB, will ultimately attract support and funding
from all sectors of the industry, although there can of course
be no guarantee of this at this early stage. While serious scientific
research is by its very nature a time-consuming process, with
several research projects on the drawing board at present, it
is hoped that, with sufficient financial support from the industry,
enough results will be available by the end of the decade to permit
the industry to take welfare-enhancing steps with a scientific
basis prior to the deadline for the introduction of secondary
legislation suggested in the proposed Bill. As the very raison
d'etre of the SGV is to promote the welfare of greyhounds, should
this courageous project fail to come to fruition by 2010, we would
naturally have to so advise those officials whose duty it is to
decide on the need for secondary legislation.
4. At the heart of the proposed new Bill,
as we understand it, is an emphasis on the responsibility of the
owners of animals to ensure optimal welfare standards for their
charges at all times. We at the SGV applaud this novel and courageous
step. In order for welfare standards to be assessed in a fair
and meaningful manner, some agreed set of defined standards must
be put in place. The SGV would therefore strongly recommend the
adoption into the secondary legislation of a Code of Practice,
such as that drawn up by the United Kingdom Greyhound Forum, as
a yardstick to define minimum acceptable welfare standards. The
use of such guidelines would be a courageous move that would greatly
clarify the standards the industry must attain and would add transparency
to procedures that have often been far removed from public gaze.
In particular we would like to strongly express our desire to
see included in the secondary legislation measures making obligatory
the presence of a veterinarian at any venue where greyhounds are
raced, coursed or trialled.
The SGV wishes to voice its overwhelming support
for the proposed Animal Welfare Bill and is anxious merely that
the needs of racing greyhounds should come under the spotlight
on centre stage and not be banished to the sidelines.
24 August 2004
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