Organisationen

14.09.2009 - Hull Stadium to close

from Zeitungsartikel

03.09.2009 - Greyhound racing on the down!

from Greyhound Action

Failing finance, falling figures
Britain - Owing to poor attendances, Manchester's
Belle Vue Stadium has become the latest of many
greyhound tracks to call a halt to midweek race
meetings. The stadium has also had to make a
number of staff members redundant due to financial
problems. Greyhound Action North-West’s concerted
campaign against dog racing there seems to be
having an effect!
 Kevin Wilde, head of stadia for Coral bookmakers,
has admitted that the company's two tracks at
Brighton & Hove and Romford are struggling,
especially the former (where GA supporters have
held regular demos). Wilde told the Racing Post that both tracks "need major surgery".
 Charles Lenox-Conyngham, chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Fund, which provides betting
industry money for greyhound racing, has stated that the Fund "could fall by 10% or more, given the
recession and a worrying decline in greyhound business in the shops".
 At a parliamentary meeting, Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) chairman Maurice Watkins
stated: “The outlook for the 2nd half of 2009 and the budget planning process for 2010 is not positive.
Imposed budget reductions appear inevitable, and great pressure will be exerted on the GBGB.”
Watkins expressed frustration that some 17% of betting shops continue to take bets on greyhound
racing without contributing to the voluntary levy in aid of the racing industry.
 Britain's leading bookmakers have warned the government that any attempt to increase taxes or
regulation at the Budget will lead to betting shop closures and job losses. The bookies stated: "Analysis
by London Economics indicates that an increase in gross profits tax from 15% to 17% would result in the
closure of 845 betting shops and see the loss of 3,190 full time jobs" and they said the recession was
already hurting 2,500 of the UK's 8,600 shops that are making less than £30,000 profit per year.
 The dog racing industry has been dealt blows in both North-East and South-West England, where
regional newspapers have carried stories about greyhounds being killed and their bodies dumped, as
well as publishing responses from Greyhound Action that the public should boycott greyhound racing.
Ireland - Final figures for 2008 show a reduction in
greyhound track attendances of 12% and a drop of 8%
in tote betting on dog racing, as well as a 17% fall in
the sponsorship of races. Betting on greyhounds with
bookies fell by nearly 16.5% and prize money was
down by 2.5%.
 With profits falling and in response to a 9% drop in
government funding for 2009, the Irish Greyhound
Board (IGB) announced it would cut costs by £1.8m,
with the chief executive and other managers taking a
5% pay cut and salaries above £45,000 frozen.
Above - Minister for Sport, Martin Cullen, was greeted with a demo by supporters of Greyhound Action Ireland inside
the Kilashee House Hotel, near Naas, when he attended the IGB annual awards ceremony there in March
 Sports Minister Cullen has already said it is not sustainable for the exchequer to continue to support
racing in the manner it has since the Horse & Greyhound Fund began in 2001. Tax revenue from
Ireland’s bookmakers goes to the Fund, but the take has declined from 2001’s figure of £61m to last
year’s £34m, with the balance picked up by the government, which has now announced that off-course
betting tax is to increase from 1% to 2% and state funding for racing will fall by a further 2%.
 There has been speculation that work on a new £16m greyhound stadium in Limerick is to be put on
hold due to the economic downturn and because no buyers have been found for the land and offices
relating to the city's existing dog track.
 The discovery of the dead body of a greyhound in the River Foyle attracted considerable media
attention, including an appeal from Greyhound Action, urging readers of the local Derry Journal not to
attend or bet on greyhound races.
http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/pdf/RfL%20MarchApril%202009.pdf

03.09.2009 - Hull hell-hole closed again

from Greyhound Action

More cuts nationwide as racing industry continues to decline
! Hull greyhound track has closed just 20 months after it
reopened, despite its new owners having spent £250,000
on refurbishments.
The track reverted from a two-meeting a week schedule to
one - every Saturday - but, as racing manager Mick Smith
told the media: "We've continued to lose money and Dave
Marshall (promoter) has pulled the plug. We wanted to put
on a carvery and all sorts of things to try to make some
money, but we had no support at all from the GBGB
(Greyhound Board of Great Britain) and that, plus a lack of
paying punters, was what's killed us."
The track had closed previously in 2006 after becoming dilapidated, but reopened again the following
year, when it was taken over and refurbished by local leisure company DMQA Holdings.
We hope this time the closure will be permanent, as, according to our most recent research, the
existence of a track like Hull is responsible for the deaths of as many as 500 greyhounds per year,
due to the demand it creates for these dogs to be bred and subsequently discarded.
The track would also have been responsible for dozens of serious injuries annually to greyhounds
racing there. For example, a post by a Hull trainer on a pro-racing internet forum in May read as follows:
"At Hull last night 1 trainer lost 2 dogs, both suffered terrible injuries 1 dying on the track and the other
having to be put to sleep...........How many dogs will it take to get injured or worse like last night before
something is done?"
! It comes as no surprise that the GBGB were unable or unwilling to support the Hull track.
According to a Racing Post article: "The GBGB has had to make 'a savage cut' to its budget for
grants to tracks (from £2m to £486,000) 'to address a significant drop in income'."
The total GBGB budget fell by almost £2m from £11.5m last year to £9.7m for 2009, following a big
drop in contributions from bookmakers, owing to fewer people betting on dog racing.
! Manchester's Belle Vue greyhound stadium was forced
to cancel a special race meeting scheduled for Father’s Day
after it attracted "only moderate interest in advance
bookings". Weekly demonstrations and leafletting by
Greyhound Action's North-West branch have played an
important part in reducing attendances at the track.
Left – A recent demo outside Belle Vue
! According to the Greyhound Star, Sunday evening dog
race meetings at Coventry Stadium are losing money
every week. Operations manager Mick Conneely said:
"A full open race card on a Sunday does not attract the
large crowds they once did and consequently we are losing money by putting them on each week.
The loss incurred ranges from £500 to three times that figure as prizemoney for each ten-race Sunday
comes to at least £2,500." There are rumours Sunday meetings may be limited to one a month or
scrapped altogether and the track has already been forced to cut prizemoney on other race-nights,
resulting in a reduction of funding from the GBGB of 15%. In a further cost-cutting measure, the stadium
has dispensed with the services of one of its groundsmen. Attendances at dog racing there have
plummeted since Coventry Against Greyhound Exploitation started staging regular demos in 2004.
Not any more!
 Thursday night race meetings at Henlow are in danger of being cut due to poor attendances.
 Crowds at Peterborough Stadium's Saturday greyhound racing are down 20% on last year and total
spending per head has also fallen. The track has already dismissed 30 trainers owing to a reduction in
the amount of racing there, including the scrapping of Tuesday night meetings.
 Mildenhall Stadium promoter Dave Coventry is struggling to make greyhound racing pay. Coventry
told the Greyhound Star: "We have to be losing money on Tuesdays and while Fridays are better, they
are nothing special. In greyhound racing, unless you can get crowds along you are sunk." He admitted
the stadium only got "perhaps 100" people for a greyhound meeting, compared with crowds of 2,000 for
stock car events and 400 for speedway.
 Portsmouth dog track is having problems finding
enough greyhounds to run there and many of its races
now have only five dogs instead of six.
 At Perry Barr (Birmingham) the prestigious Summer
Cup race was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship.
With on-course turnover well down on last year, the
local bookmaker who previously sponsored the race
said he could not justify doing it again.
 And at Crayford another big racing event, the
Crayford Vase, was also called off because no sponsor
could be found for it.
 Brighton & Hove Stadium Controller, Kevin Wilde, was criticised by dog racing enthusiasts after
withdrawing complimentary race night meals for trainers and staff. Wilde responded: "The track is really
struggling to keep its head above water at present and we need big savings to balance the books.
Everything will go into the pot and some unpopular decisions have to be made."
 In Ireland a huge cut has been proposed in the Horse & Greyhound Racing Fund for 2010 by an
expert group established by the government to identify massive reductions in public expenditure in
response to the recession. The cut would severely damage the Irish greyhound racing industry, which
receives millions of euros annually from the Fund.

http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/pdf/RftL%20JulyAug%202009.pdf