I'll PM you something (wait 5 mins) that I hope explains where I'm coming from.....

waiting...........................

Firstly, I don't know how you could even go there, comparing the owner's treatment of the "too young to breed" bitch to the abuse Greyhounds suffers for entertainment and the making of money

Secondly, can you see the owner of the dog in question "too young to breed" throwing her dogs on the scrap heap when she's finished breeding them - I THINK NOT

Thirdly, she never said that no health tests were done - the "judges" came up with that all by themselves just because she would not display the results of the test on a forum - the mind boggles!

And yes, the words you wrote that were brought over to this thread were in fact regarding Greyhounds, which you obviously see as a working dog

Now you are being aggressive!

I was trying to show that when somebody claims that their pet is their baby, they cannot be looking at it in the same light as a racing greyhound owner, who doesnt see their dog much let alone live with it, the similarity is that the dog in question was treated like "stock" in as much as it was bred for money intentionally (cant see it as for anything else) when far too young, it couldnt of had the relevant health tests at that age.

Please stop reading what isnt there, you are now talking about throwing on a scrap heap when not one single person mentioned it, least of all me, but you directed it at me.

Me aggressive??? Never Never been accused of that before but "speaking my mind" now that is something you and I have in common - BIG TIME!!!!

To be honest, it's all a bit of a play on words, isn't it?

I never said that YOU said anything about throwing dogs on the scrapheap. As you are aware, Greyhounds don't exactly get a cosy life by the fire in their retirement days (generally). Whereas, the young bitch that had been mated, I am sure, will be with her owner for the rest of her natural.............

I did look the subject up to make sure that things hadn't moved on in a major way since I was a child (yes, some years ago now) but it appears that thousands of Greyhounds are unaccounted for, once they reach retirement age, each year. I can't help feeling sorry for them and you know me, I will always speak up if I feel someone/thing is getting a raw deal

On that note, I think I'd better retire (only to bed - I'm not that old yet ) or the kids will be missing the school bus in the morning

Now that I DO agree with!

The majority do get good retirement homes, some dont. I agree the bitch will probably stay with the owner all its life, but if that were the same for Greyhounds would you agree with them racing?
I I agree some are treated very badly, but we must not tar everyone with the same brush, most are treated very well indeed and do find lovely retirement homes.

Good night for tonight then.

hope it arrived (not for forum)

Cheers Phil.

I'd be interested to see where you are coming from too

Pets and working dogs are different (and racing greyhounds different again IMO) but I think rather than it being very black and white, there are varying shades of grey. My two collies are also workers, but companions first. My husband's dogs are workers first and companions second. However, they ALL get to run around after balls, play with the other dogs, go for long walks, they all get fed the same, given treats and rewards and are petted, fussed, groomed and bathed.

Much depends on the owner/handlers lifestyle too. Our dogs are an intricate part of our daily lives. When I worked full-time for lawyers (ie in an office), my dogs were my main hobby - and all my time out of work was spent with them. Nowadays, I am fortunate enough to help my OH on the farm, I look after my baby son and the dogs are part and parcel of everything I do each day. They are constantly with me. Starting to waffle now ...

As we have seen in threads such as these before, there are bad owners in all walks of life and it isn't only some working dogs that meet a less than pleasant end

I don't know a great deal about racing greyhounds, having never been to a dog track and never owned one. However, I would be really interested to know whether those who out and out condemn greyhound racing, do so because of the racing itself OR because of how they feel the dogs are treated when their racing life ends?