Post by NIKKIB on Sept 17, 2006 12:46:48 GMT 1
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2361517,00.html this is front page the one bellow is the same paper same place
AT FIRST glance the white-washed single-storey building could pass for a holiday chalet. Tucked away among Leigh Animal Sanctuary’s complex of kennels, the bland exterior of “Block 8” gives nothing away.
But anyone venturing inside encounters a sinister scene: a stuffy boxroom in which thousands of dogs have allegedly met their deaths.
“It stinks of dead dogs in there,” said Jane, a former staff member who worked at the site in Greater Manchester for years. “It is a sickening smell.”
The dominant features of the white-walled and red-floored room are two industrial-sized freezers.
They are the last stop on what former staff and greyhound trainers say is a conveyor belt of killing, starting with dogs being delivered at the sanctuary’s front desk on an almost daily basis; leading to lethal drugs fired directly into their chests; and ending with the bodies dumped in the freezers.
Ostensibly the sanctuary, which has been open since 1975 to rehome unwanted animals, is offering succour to dogs found wandering the streets by council dog wardens or brought in by owners who no longer feel able to look after their pets.
But the reality behind the facade is that, according to the testimony of former staff members, about half of all the dogs entering will be killed, often within days or even hours.
The testimony is backed by interviews with three greyhound trainers who said the sanctuary had long been used to dispose of unwanted dogs.
The question of what happens to greyhounds after their racing careers are finished has become a scandal following revelations in July by The Sunday Times that one man in Seaham, Co Durham, had acted as an unofficial “executioner” for the industry for at least 15 years, killing and burying dogs in his one-acre allotment.
The resulting outcry provoked inquiries by the government, Inland Revenue, Environment Agency, RSPCA and the authorities governing greyhound racing.
The Labour peer Lord Lipsey, who is chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board which represents many of the country’s dog tracks, said that while the killing of dogs was “abhorrent”, it was restricted to the “odd bad penny”.
However, trainers who frequent Leigh Animal Sanctuary disagree. Three greyhound trainers gave interviews, on condition of anonymity, stating that the facility has been the killing ground of choice for the industry in the northwest for many years.
All said that it came down to a matter of cost, with the sanctuary considerably undercutting vets’ prices. One said: “It’s £35 at Leigh Animal Sanctuary but if the vet put them down at the track it’s £65. Every track uses it, they come from all over, Belle Vue [Manchester], Kinsley [West Yorkshire] and Doncaster [South Yorkshire].”
Vets in the vicinity charge up to £70 to put down a dog and are likely to ask the owner why they want the animal put to sleep.
The trainer, who admitted taking greyhounds to be put down at the sanctuary, said: “The majority of registered trainers take them there. They have put down thousands.
AT FIRST glance the white-washed single-storey building could pass for a holiday chalet. Tucked away among Leigh Animal Sanctuary’s complex of kennels, the bland exterior of “Block 8” gives nothing away.
But anyone venturing inside encounters a sinister scene: a stuffy boxroom in which thousands of dogs have allegedly met their deaths.
“It stinks of dead dogs in there,” said Jane, a former staff member who worked at the site in Greater Manchester for years. “It is a sickening smell.”
The dominant features of the white-walled and red-floored room are two industrial-sized freezers.
They are the last stop on what former staff and greyhound trainers say is a conveyor belt of killing, starting with dogs being delivered at the sanctuary’s front desk on an almost daily basis; leading to lethal drugs fired directly into their chests; and ending with the bodies dumped in the freezers.
Ostensibly the sanctuary, which has been open since 1975 to rehome unwanted animals, is offering succour to dogs found wandering the streets by council dog wardens or brought in by owners who no longer feel able to look after their pets.
But the reality behind the facade is that, according to the testimony of former staff members, about half of all the dogs entering will be killed, often within days or even hours.
The testimony is backed by interviews with three greyhound trainers who said the sanctuary had long been used to dispose of unwanted dogs.
The question of what happens to greyhounds after their racing careers are finished has become a scandal following revelations in July by The Sunday Times that one man in Seaham, Co Durham, had acted as an unofficial “executioner” for the industry for at least 15 years, killing and burying dogs in his one-acre allotment.
The resulting outcry provoked inquiries by the government, Inland Revenue, Environment Agency, RSPCA and the authorities governing greyhound racing.
The Labour peer Lord Lipsey, who is chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board which represents many of the country’s dog tracks, said that while the killing of dogs was “abhorrent”, it was restricted to the “odd bad penny”.
However, trainers who frequent Leigh Animal Sanctuary disagree. Three greyhound trainers gave interviews, on condition of anonymity, stating that the facility has been the killing ground of choice for the industry in the northwest for many years.
All said that it came down to a matter of cost, with the sanctuary considerably undercutting vets’ prices. One said: “It’s £35 at Leigh Animal Sanctuary but if the vet put them down at the track it’s £65. Every track uses it, they come from all over, Belle Vue [Manchester], Kinsley [West Yorkshire] and Doncaster [South Yorkshire].”
Vets in the vicinity charge up to £70 to put down a dog and are likely to ask the owner why they want the animal put to sleep.
The trainer, who admitted taking greyhounds to be put down at the sanctuary, said: “The majority of registered trainers take them there. They have put down thousands.