The RSPCA Get Two On Greyhound Cruelty Charges

The RSPCA in the UK is often accused of not doing enough to protect greyhounds but, trust me, they do as much as they possibly can. They take greyhounds in and pass them on to shelters that can nurse them back to health. They also do their utmost to find and prosecute the perpetrators of greyhound abuse as well. However. Their powers are somewhat limited. Take this case in point.

Rebecca Hagger (aged 20) and Rosemary Hagger (aged 51) were prosecuted recently for greyhound abuse at Peterborough Magistrates Court. They had already entered a guilty plea to the charge of causing unnecessary suffering to three greyhounds as well as failing to meet the welfare needs of a further four greyhounds. They were only given a 10 year ban on owning dogs for their horrific greyhound abuse.

In fact, the greyhound abuse was that bad that Rebecca was banned from owning all animals for 10 years and ordered to do 200 hours of community service. Rosemary was given a 12-month conditional discharge. Their greyhund abuse was absolutely sickening, so much so that I am not printing all of the details here but neither was sentenced to jail. Instead they got away with the above and a £250 fine to covercourt costs.

Their abuse goes back to September 2007 which is when the RSPCA were called in. Inspectors found three greyhounds that were emaciated and had numerous infected sores during their visit. This actually goes against section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act, 2006, and yet neither was sent to jail. The remaining four were severely underweight, had flea infestations and were living in disusting conditions. They had no food or water and that broke section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act, 2006. Again, neither of them went to jail.

The vet that was called in to treat the emaciated greyhounds actually said that two of the three dog had been severely neglected for at las two months with the other dog having bee left for at least one month. The defence? The dogs were owned by Rosmary's husband, whoc had died. That is absolutely no excuse for this horrific treatment, especially given the fact that Rebecca was still working in the greyhound racing industry at the time of her trial.

One of the RSPCA inspectors that attended to the dogs said the following:

Animals deserve much better than the conditions these dogs were kept in and should have access to veterinary treatment when they need it. The RSPCA believes that the government must introduce effective national standards to ensure the welfare of racing and ex-racing greyhounds. We also feel that those in the industry must be compelled to ensure provision is made for retired dogs.

As you can see, the RSPCA wanted a harsher penalty for the two abusers but could not do much about the penalty they got. It is time we started calling for harsher penalties for those that perpetrate greyhound abuse I think.

On a brighter note, all of the greyhounds are now well cared for, although three still needed a home last time I heard how they were. Boris, Tyler and Wilson are all black and white and are extremely loving. Despite all that has happened to them, they are still very friendly... and lazy! If you think youcould give them a home then please call the RSPCA Peterborough & District Branch on 01733 248116.