Say NO to reopening Wathamstow Greyhound Stadium

Dear Mr Johnson

I would like to voice my concerns regarding the proposed reopening of the above Greyhound Stadium. Could you please tell me if any application has been received regarding the reopening of Wathamstow as a Greyhound racing stadium. If so, could you please tell me when the application was received, has a date been set regarding consultation, and has a request been made to the gambling commission. I appreciate the welfare of Greyhounds is not the responsibility of the council, that falls down to the GBGB. But, I would like to outline my concerns regarding welfare should this track reopen.

"This so called "SPORT", is barbaric and cruel, and is fed purely by the greed of bookmakers, and the owner/trainers of this majestic animal. The injuries sustained by the dogs, in some instances is horrendous, broken backs for one, or a broken hock, which is a treatable injury, in the worst case scenario a hock break could lead to amputation in the best a full recovery, and the dog can go on and live a normal happy life, even with three legs. But many of these dogs are not given this chance, as they are put to sleep by the track vet, as the animal is no longer viable for racing, they will no longer earn revenue for its owner, and what’s the point of keeping an animal if it only going to cost you money, and give nothing back?

I adopted my first greyhound in 2007, a gorgeous brindle boy called Ti, 6 months later we adopted a back and white girl who we called Ella, at that time I had no idea what went on behind the scenes at a race night. As I got more involved in promoting the welfare of the greyhound, the more I started to read, and what I read shocked me. I tried to find out how many dogs were injured, or put to sleep due to injuries sustained while racing, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), who are the governing body for licensed greyhound racing do not produce injury figures, so I started researching the subject myself.
I joined the Greyhound Data web site, which holds a Database containing Greyhound pedigrees and race results worldwide. I listed all 24 stadiums in England and Scotland, and over a 5-week period I conducted a survey of every single race held at all 24 stadiums. By picking only the dogs that finished last in their races, and the reasons, according to the race card why they finished last I pulled together a document that covered 441 race meetings. It became clear as I put the data together some racing stadiums had a far higher risk of injury than others, which I have listed below.

Hove - 22% of dogs raced over this period finished lame, 16% did not finish the race.
Sheffield - 21% of dogs finished lame.
Perry Barr - 18% of dogs finished lame.
Crayford – 16% of dogs finished lame, and 12% fell.
Newcastle – 15% of dogs finished lame, and 11% knocked over.
Romford – 17% of dogs finished lame, and 11% knocked over.
Sunderland – 14% of dogs finished lame, and 23% knocked over.


Known Deaths in survey dates.

Dogs Name Stadium Date of death Age
Clubbing Night Belle Vue 20/08/10 4
Melted Guide Belle Vue 20/08/10 3
Name Unknown Belle Vue 21/08/10 4
Trinket Man Belle Vue 21/08/10 3
Sliding Bog Belle Vue 21/08/10 3
Ballyverry Rock Belle Vue 28/08/10 2
Brizzle Bling Swindon 31/07/10 2
Daytwo Swindon 31/07/10 6
Wots er Name Swindon 30/07/10 2

Deaths prior to this Survey

Dogs Name Stadium Date of death Age
Rackethall Kenny Swindon 07/07/10 2
Swift Abel Swindon 07/07/10 3
Lynnwood Bolt Hove 29/04/10 3
Dave the Twist Belle Vue 12/08/10 3
Slaneyside Blitz Belle Vue 12/07/10 2
Townbrow Sioux Belle Vue 03/07/10 3
Highview Point Belle Vue 24/06/10 2
From this On Belle Vue 02/06/10 2
Kilkeedy Blue Oxford 03/01/10 3
Longmore Boy Peterboro’ 02/01/10 3

For 9 dogs to lose their lives is a sickening thought, some go through complete agony if they break their backs, others are just killed track side as they are no longer worth anything to their owners or trainers.

Just a few more facts before I end this email.

Around 10,000 greyhounds begin their 'careers' at one of the 24 licensed GBGB* tracks within the UK every year. The vast majority (80%) of these greyhounds are bred in Ireland. The average age of a greyhound upon retirement is about 3 ½ years after competing in around 50 races. Greyhounds live to approximately 14 years of age. Length of career, however, varies greatly and is often brought to an abrupt end through injury.

Sadly, the desire for only the highest performing dogs leads to massive overbreeding - 23,000 puppies were bred for the UK racing industry in 2007 alone. Many thousands of greyhound puppies never even make it to the tracks; either because they are not fast enough or because they do not have the chase instinct. Many of these puppies are simply destroyed as they are deemed surplus to requirements.

Approximately 10,000 greyhounds retire from racing each year. Responsible owners/trainers will keep their dogs as pets or find them a home through rehoming organisations. But this only accounts for some of the greyhounds retiring. Approximately 4,728* greyhounds seemingly disappear without a trace every year. Many of these greyhounds are abandoned, euthanized or brutally killed, while some may be exported to continue racing in appalling conditions abroad, while yet others are used in medical research or vivisection.


Many thanks for taking the time to read this letter, I truly hope Mr Johnson does not allow this track to reopen, so many dogs lives could be saved if he agreed the approved plans made by Mike Johnson at L & Q.

Kath Walmsey