Greyhound owners and breeders demand reform

Greyhound owners and breeders have accused the governing body of the industry of mismanagement and demanded reform.

The Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation criticised the industry’s level of debt and the way the sector was being run.

It said the Irish Greyhound Board had not been responsive to the concerns of owners and breeders, who contributed the bulk of investment in the sector.

The IGOBF produced a booklet summarising its concerns, and it is planned for this to be circulated at this weekend’s coursing festival in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

The IGOBF said the amount of money lost by the board was disproportionate to the experiences of its sister operations in horse racing. The federation met last weekend to discuss its concerns.

The IGB said the information put forward by the IGOBF was incorrect and the company had put money into prizes and recently consulted the industry about plans for the future.

“The board will not respond to false, misleading and ill-informed information as outlined in a recent report issued by some people claiming to represent all greyhound people.”

“We would have welcomed the opportunity to provide the industry facts, but our input was not requested and we always welcome input into the future direction of the industry,” it said.