Nothing funny about coursing film

ACTOR Sean McGinley, who plays the part of a crooked bookie in the newly released Man About Dog has called on people to go and see the film to see what coursing is “really” like.

It is supposed to be a comedy, but it didn’t amuse me in the slightest. As a person concerned with animal welfare, I didn’t get any laughs from the cruelty depicted - a guy heading into the bushes with a shovel to kill a lurcher, a dog being shot at a farmer’s request, a bird of prey shot at a game fair, a crow shot on the coursing field, a terrified cat used to lure greyhounds off the track to fix a race, a dog killed by a car and various greyhounds being administered drugs to make them run faster.

There was nothing remotely funny or entertaining in this film for me. In my view, it portrayed the greyhound industry as a low-life world of callous cruelty and corruption - many who know the inside track on certain aspects of greyhound racing might well agree with that portrayal.