Some of you may know of the plight of the twenty-seven greyhounds removed from the neglect of a Doncaster trainer. Lee Macmanus not only failed in his duty of care but falsified the Green Rehoming Forms mandatory for a licensed trainer. He was stripped of his license and banned for four years. Should have been life, to be honest. He once left a dog with an untreated broken leg. Start on page 10 of the Greyhound Calendar Report. It makes sobering reading, Khiara (Our Chiara) has thankfully bagged herself a lovely sofa and must think she is in paradise. Her wound is healing nicely, and we thank, once again, all who stepped in to ensure her safety. Behave yourself miss, we have already rented your room.
Four dogs have been named as officially missing. Midas Tralee, Ballymac Puddles, Racenight Franco and Ballygur Mia. The trainer admitted that he has no idea where they are. Mia showed up this week, crouching in a driveway in Kent. She was dehydrated, scabby and starving but alive and all credit to all concerned in helping her. A lot of folks went out of their way for her. Hopefully the other three are out there somewhere. Anyone who thinks that twenty-seven is the total, is guilty of self-delusion. The others are almost certainly dead. Macmanus had been a trainer for almost three years and his kennels were down the road from Millrace. None of his dogs ever came through Tia. However, eighteen of those still alive are being cared for by two decent trainers, grimly holding the fort until the cavalry arrives.
We have gone back on the tools.
Nine of these dogs arrived Thursday 29th August. We deliberately chose those least likely to go anywhere soon. Male, 5/6 years old, un-neutered and mainly black. Not the obvious choice for any would be adopter and rehoming them will take time. Some let’s face it, will be our future sponsor dogs. We will be letting you know their names shortly.
What has shocked us is the state of them. Seven of the nine last saw a track in 2022. Since then, they have just been rotting at Macmanus’s stables/kennels. If we had to hazard a guess, we doubt if they ever went outside in two years. Their teeth are atrocious and after being left to fester in his kennels, all the dogs are a bit fragile mentally. Upon arrival at Tia, they resembled a semi-feral pack, however after a few days routine, there has been much improvement. The spinning has almost stopped, and we swear they are savouring the scenery and fresh air. The sausage rolls at night must taste like ambrosia.
The timing is not ideal, money is more than tight, and we are having to disappoint our loyal trainers. They will have to wait a little longer for a space. However, this is what we are here to do and luckily, we have the capacity to take a batch in. The remaining nine in Doncaster are younger/ female. They will be OK for now. This is just the start. People aren’t adopting as many dogs anymore and we know of many trainers with 60 plus retired racers. One trainer rang from Kent, willing to pay the transport to Inverness as long as we took a few. More worryingly, a sinister word has emerged on racing forums and timelines of late. Cull.
The dentals and neutering which won’t come cheap. If you can spare some cash no matter how little, please donate. We don’t continually ask for donations but at £7-800 pounds a dog our emergency funds will be wiped out. If you fancy a bit of fun as well, then sponsor our insane volunteers on the zip line challenge.
At least you won’t have to do the thing yourself.
Finally, I want to thank GBGB Welfare for not allowing the dogs to be pts, despite pressure from Macmanus and the track vet, who should be ashamed of herself…on several counts. The Welfare people really stood their ground.
Deb