What is your favourite animal?

[LovelyLadyLux]

I really only ever used a curb bit with my horses - basically straight with a slight bump curve in the middle. Mostly it was all voice commands, knee pressure and the touch of a rein. I never ever had to wrestle in a bit (I wouldn't have) but used to hate watching some people just jam a bit into a horses mouth and then wonder why the horse became head shy.

[Mad Dilys]

Totally agree Jay and what about gymkhanas?

[Grandad]

We have touched on the use of animals for sport but what is the view on greyhound racing?

At least the greyhound does not have someone riding on its back urging it on. The dog can make the choice not to run fast. The only outcome of that is probably to be discarded to end up in a dog sanctuary hoping for some kind family to take it on. I understand they do make excellent family pets but I have no experience of that....

[Horus]

That is the downside of that sport? Grandad, another case of animals being bred for an activity and mostly abandoned after they are of no value. They do make good pets and I do see many dog owners with them when out walking, another example of how we are mostly a pet caring nation as individuals.

[Mad Dilys]

One of Nature's gentlemen, Greyhounds are gentle, rather lazy dogs, because their great speed takes so much energy they tend to conserve it. They are also pretty quiet and unlikely to disturb the neighbours

My husband was Vet at Derby Dog Track so I got my racing info from him.

Racing dogs are kept individually in small kennels usually walked daily and sometimes have free exercise by themselves as they can get hurt it they cannon into each other at speed. They also have trap training, so that they hit the ground running when the gate goes up and they just love to chase the lure - or anything else that move quickly, cats or small dogs for instance. Like horses they get very fit with walking, not with galloping or free exercise.

They have a pretty barren existence actually and very few live to a decent age as if they don't win enough they are discarded.

If they win a lot then they are bred from and when they are too old or unfashionable to breed then they are discarded.

If they have a serious injury they are discarded.

I am told that in excess of 90% of racing greyhounds are destroyed while they are still young and unfortunately not all of them have the benefit of a quiet death by injection, since costs have to be kept to a minimum. A very few are lucky enough to find a retirement home.

Basically a racing Greyhound's lot is not a happy one, a boring sterile existence with little or no stimulus or socialisation - thousands have to endure this every year until they are put down.

There is also a lot of murky secrecy in the Racing Greyhound world as there is in any concern attached to gambling.

If they stop greyhound racing I for one will be the first to cheer.

I love the sight hounds, we used to race our Whippets at a Flapping Track. This is an informal collection of amateur enthusiasts who bring their pet dogs to a field where a straight track is roped off. A tractor with a winch to drag the lure is at one end, at the other a set of traps which open when the Starter ( one of the enthusiasts) pulls the lever.

Whippets are fastest up to 100metres, then Greyhounds up to 500 metres but nothing can touch the Saluki for stamina and he'll win at 1,000 metres. With the exception of my daughter's dog who would step daintily out of the trap and make for the car!

We tried racing Salukis on a curved track, but they are better as a team than individuals so if one follows the track the others cut corners.

Afgans quite enjoy racing but don't take it seriously.

Borzois just don't get it. But then I think they actually live in another dimension, not of this world.

[Grandad]

I really enjoyed reading your contribution MD It is so good to get first hand informed opinion on this subject.

My experience of such things is very limited having never been to a horse racing or greyhound racing meeting. My wife is different and at this very moment is keenly watching the 1.30 at Cheltenham (on TV)

I have said before that we have never owned a dog but I do agree with you that a Saluki is such an elegant animal.

[Mad Dilys]

Thank you Grandad.

I've been watching the racing too, how that horse which crashed through the fence in the Gold Cup didn't break his neck I don't know, but he seemed OK afterwards.

They keep apologising for the bad language (from the winning jockey) but I didn't hear it - think I'll re-wind and see if I can pick it out - what on earth could he have said?

[LovelyLadyLux]

We have rescue groups for Greyhounds here and seems they come in once or twice a year for adoption. I've never been to a dog race but when I was young we lived not far from a stable that kept horses for harness racing which seemed fairly popular and probably still is today (not sure).

I do find it interesting that greyhounds who are bred/born/raised in kennels make such good pets. I'd of thought that a kennel dog would lack many of the social graces acquired as a puppy. I've met some dogs (working dogs here who are pulling sleighs) and they're kennel raised so to speak and they're definitely not friendly. They do their job but often nobody plays with them so they never really learn not to bite or growl etc. The few greyhounds I've met have been retired racing dogs but also seem quite nice - socialized.

[Mad Dilys]

Greyhounds really are very laid back. In their kennels they will sleep for 20 hours a day, and actually be quite happy nearly sleeping the clock round at home too.

They are just such efficient running machines, not wasting any effort except in the chase, when it's almost impossible to stop them. Once they are running they will go through anything even trying to go through barbed wire. Whippets are the same, but they both have incredibly fine thin skin, which rips easily and looks appalling, but at the same time prevents damage to the muscle underneath. Fortunately they also heal very quickly.

I had a little feisty Miniature Pinscher who only weighed 6 pounds at the same time as my Saluki. Sometimes going across the fields the Saluki would "wind himself up" going faster and faster ........... then seeing the small dog moving whoosh he was after her in superdrive.

Once she dived down a rabbit hole to avoid him but most of the time he realised in the last few strides and went past and into the distance. I did wonder sometimes if it was tit-for tat as she bullied him unmercifully, always washing his eyes or his ears and if it was wet trying to lick his legs dry as she ran alongside.

[Grandad]

They keep apologising for the bad language (from the winning jockey) but I didn't hear it - think I'll re-wind and see if I can pick it out - what on earth could he have said?

Whatever, it could not have been worse than the behavior of some professional footballers earlier in the week who were on a balcony and reputedly relieved themselves into pint mugs then tipped it over the balcony. Disgusting slobs

[Grandad]

With reference to MD's comment a week or so ago

Having worked in a Veterinary practice and with the RSPCA I have never accepted that the UK is an animal loving country, nor ever will.

On South East news today it was reported that in 2015 the RSPCA received over 5,000 reports of animal cruelty IN KENT ALONE. So we are certainly NOT all animal lovers.

[Jayway]

I tried Greyhound racing for a while at a flapping track. I took the two greyhound as part of a debt payment, the stable girls rode the bicycles with the dogs on leads, up and down the private road, with the girl in front dragging a fluffy toy, we had a lot of laughs. Off to the track, didnt realise how things were run. One of my dogs, Sandy, won and I didnt seem very popular. Next week in Sandys race he was in front and the man stopped the hare and Sandy crashed over it. After I had told them all what I thought of them we never went again. Later the girls let the two out at once and they ripped one of the cats in half ( I was out taking a ride) The girls already had a hole dug when I came back, the smaller kids were upset so we had a nice burial service. The dogs found a new home with a neighbour who had good fences and no cats.

[Horus]

I always find that the quoting of figures to define a standpoint is completely useless.

2015 the RSPCA received over 5,000 reports of animal cruelty IN KENT ALONE

This tells me something completely different, first of all it says that most people care enough to actually make those reports in the first place, secondly although any number is too high, it will still be a small number when compared to the population of Kent which at the 2014 census was put as 1,510,400 people. So let us be generous and say that only ¼ of those people own a pet of some sort, that would be 377.600 pets, divide that by Grandads figures and you will see that it is less than 1 report for every 75 pets. Now that says to me that most pet owners do care for their pets, so those figures completely debunk your arguments based upon numbers. Take another example, I know many people within my own social sphere with pets, dogs, cats, horses, birds etc. I cannot think of any of them that treat their pets badly. OK that is not a scientific study, but I am not someone special, I do not have a special breed of friends or acquaintances and I suspect most people would say a similar thing about people that they know who own a pet. No one denies that cruelty does not exist, but to say that we in this country are not animal lovers is ridiculous, especially when compared to places such as Egypt where animal neglect is rampant.

[Grandad]

Point well made H and your reference to those reporting such events is well taken. But one act of cruelty is one too many and 5,000 plus is totally unacceptable irrespective of what percentage of pet owners it may represent.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm going to chime in re: REPORTS that are made to gov't agencies. It doesn't really matter how many REPORTS are made as any time a phone is answered it can be termed a REPORT and often is by Gov't types who need high numbers to justify funding coming in. Believe me everything is counted and justified so, for example - Mrs Smith calls in reporting Fluffy the dog next door is walking with a limp.

This call would be coded as a REPORT BUT it doesn't #1 mean it was accepted for investigation or that #2 it was found true and the pet owners were found guilty of cruelty. Could be Fluffy was walking with a limp cause he just had corrective surgery for something innocuous. Could be that Fluffly was kicked or yanked up by his leg - point is - Agencies get LOTS of REPORTS but I know not all are accepted for investigation and of those that are accepted for investigation only a very small amount end up with proven GUILTY verdicts.

I'd want to know re: Kent how many of those REPORTS ended up with people being found GUILTY of Animal neglect or cruelty? That is the true statistic and I suspect IF Kent had had 5000 GUILTY verdicts they'd of said that lou and clear but they only said they had 5,000 REPORTS. Honestly most people hear this and assume this means actual incidents that were proven true which is NOT the case here.

[Horus]

Of course any level of animal cruelty is unacceptable and I have never said otherwise. What I object to is the people of this country being tarred with having the same attitude towards animals as some countries we could mention. In fact I would say that most abuse comes from the sectors that have animals as a part of their activities, horse racing, Greyhound racing, all sports involving dogs, circuses, people with a vested interest like puppy farms etc. Most of our animal husbandry is controlled and fairly well policed, we may not like it, but in the main it works and a lot better than in most countries. Very few people buy a pet then abuse it, yes it does happen, but it is a small percentage of the overall figures for animal cruelty in general and I still maintain that the UK are mainly a nation of animal lovers, if that were not the case why are there so many people reporting abuse when they see it? If that were not the case then it would go on unreported.

You make a good point LLL

[Grandad]

I have just checked the actual figures for last year and, as you both suggest, only a small minority actually result in prosecution. In the case of Kent there were 5304 reports to the RSPCA last year, only 39 of which resulted in convictions. But those that resulted in prosecution were for incredibly vile acts of cruelty and I would happily treat the perpetrators in the same manner that they treated their animals.

[Horus]

I rest my case, most Brits care enough about animals to actually report what they consider as abuse should they see it, hence the percieved high figures, in how many others countries is that amount of concern shown?

[LovelyLadyLux]

Definitely a high level of concern for animals isn't really shown in Trinidad. You don't see too many horses there but there is a pretty decent percentage of the ones you do see that have rib bones sticking out - usually they're pretty thin. Cows not so much but often the horses are real thin.

Dogs are probably the worst and I've never in my life seen such atrocious skin condition, sores, runny eyes. You can't get close to a dog there either as most have learned from birth that people are only going to kick you, yell at your or throw stones at you so they typically, on approach, immediately take the circle route to get behind you. As crime is so high lots of Trinis want to keep what they refer to as a "Bad Dog" which means it is some poor soul tied by the front door on a short rope. The dog has basically gone crazy from living such a confined life but it will bark at anybodies approach. Really sad. Almost every yard is fenced and gated and some dogs do get to live their lives lose in the compound and/or maybe tied during the day but at least free to wander at night. Not a great life.

Birds are also everywhere. Lots of people own parrots but the cages are small and often the bird can do little other than just sit there and squawk. Some have extensive vocabularies but they rarely ever get taken out.

The best kept pet in Trinidad are the song birds. These are small finch like birds kept in bamboo cages. They're absolutely prized for their song. In their cages they're taken out for walks, ridden about on the handle bars of bikes, kept in the shade, misted when needed. The care of these birds is amazing in contrast to other animals (hard to say pets) there.