Horrific video footage has emerged from China showing dogs, including greyhounds, at a meat market. [Warning: Video contains upsetting scenes. Viewer discretion is advised.]
The disturbing footage, filmed this month by Chinese animal rescue group Plush Bears Shelter, shows a small dog in a plastic shopping bag being dragged along the ground, dogs crammed into a slaughterhouse truck, a dog being weighed before being sold for meat, a freshly skinned greyhound on display, and slaughtered greyhounds hanging from hooks.
“January is the time when dog dealers are killing many dogs, to get ready for the Chinese New Year in February,” a Plush Bear Shelter representative stated.
The shocking footage comes to light as details surface about more Irish greyhounds being shamefully exported to China.
A truck of dogs headed to a meat market north of Beijing, China. There are concerns that greyhounds exported to China are ending up in these meat markets after they are deemed no longer useful for racing. Image credit Bill Benson, CC BY-SA 3.0.
UK campaign group Caged Nationwide is reporting that four more Irish greyhounds have ended up in China since November, and at least 37 Irish greyhounds now appear on a Chinese dog breeding database.
According to Caged Nationwide, the four latest Irish greyhounds to be sent to China are:
- Yes I Am, who “raced only once on the Irish greyhound track in Dundalk.”
- Shaneboy Jasper, who “was exported to the Chinese breeding kennels in Zhangwu County in November 2018 after being used in only 10 races in Ireland.”
- Four By Four, who “was born in Ireland in December 2016, and after being raced twice at Shelbourne Park has landed up at the Gaochun Office of Liaozhong County at the end of 2018.”
- Droopys Pardo, a 7-year-old greyhound “with Michael Dunphy as the last registered owner on the Irish Coursing Club database.”
The Irish Government is once again being urged to take immediate action to stop the direct or indirect export of dogs to China. There are no nationwide animal welfare laws in China, fueling fears that Irish dogs face horrendous fates after they are used for racing and breeding. Previous videos from China have shown a greyhound being boiled alive in a barrel and an individual slamming a greyhound into the ground after the animal failed to win races.
A petition to stop the export of Irish greyhounds to China, aimed at Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and other members of the Irish Government has been signed by over 350,000 people in Ireland and around the world. Please sign and share the petition.
Some of the dogs in the Plush Bears Shelter video (including the dog in the plastic bag) were subsequently rescued.
Action Alert: contact the Taoiseach and Agriculture Minister and demand a ban on the export of Irish greyhounds to China.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Tweet to: @campaignforLeo
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Michael Creed TD
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: michael.creed@oir.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Featured image: A greyhound race in Dublin, Ireland. The export of dogs to China is just one of many ways dogs are harmed by this cruel industry. Image credit Eric Arnau, CC BY-SA 3.0.
