Anyone watching "The Flapping Track" (greyhounds)?

Only just turned it on (BBC 4), but could be interesting..

I recorded it from when it was on the other night and watched it yesterday afternoon. There were some, ahem, "colourful" characters!
I'm afraid it highlighted all that is wrong about these tracks for me, despite an attempt by the filmaker I feel to romanticise the people involved. Much was made of the fact that honesty gets you nowhere in the game and for me its' saddest culmination was when a greyhound badly broke a leg thanks to crashing into another dog because of a dodgy bend in the track. Speaking of the track itself, did you notice how thin the sand was in places?
Lots of owners were quoted as saying that they loved their dogs like family pets- and I'm sure for some that's true. But no way would my family pet be allowed to run on that track at 40mph. Also it was admitted that lots of these dogs were destroyed once they were no longer useful.Or sold on. Not sure the loved family pet is treated in this way.
On a lighter note though I loved seeing the Afghan Hounds running there- their gallop looked so different to the greyhound gallop! They almost appeared to be gambolling! Would've enjoyed seeing more of them.

I didn't know it was on, but would have probably watched it if I had. Was the program just referring to flapping tracks?

I have to disagree with the comment about letting a family pet race around a track at 40mph. Serious injuries don't occur that frequently at proper tracks (compared to the number of dogs out there). Jade has had thousands of injuries by being our pet dog all her life, but allowing her to do what greyhounds do, run! We also had a rescued greyhound that raced for 4yrs, came home with us, 9months later, due to a tragic instance whilst not running around was no longer with us. So my point is, accidents can happen anywhere anytime, especially if you allow your dog to be a dog.

Although I do agree, the conditions of flapping tracks and the people involved were appaling, I haven't been to one for several years. so can't comment on how they are in general today, but I do doubt they have improved.

For those he didnt see it its now on bbc iPlayer for the next 7days.

Yep I-mac77, It was a sort of "case study" of Highgate Flapping Track (South Yorkshire). Having never been to a race, I have to say it was exactly how I expected it to be. I'm slightly confused though, as to what the film-maker was trying to achieve?

I love to see dogs in their element, doing what they were bred for, and like working the GSPs, there is always going to be an element of risk involved (obscured barbed wire, potholes, dogs running through thick cover etc.). However, if I had a greyhound, I would never run a dog on an untested track like the one on there. Surely there must be measurements, calculations and even advice available for creating a safe track, but the guys on there, although they seemed to have good intentions, didn't consider the dogs' safety to be paramount. Yes, after the accident they amended the track, but it didn't seem to be their first priority, and not having a vet on site reiterated this.

So yes, unsurprising but definitely worth a watch, even if only for the afghans!

Imac it was just a flapping track the programme dealt with.
About the family pet thing- I was not suggesting I would let MY pet greyhound run at any track- flapper or NGRC. She is neither trained nor probably fit enough. The point I was trying to make was that in the program many of the flapping men themselves referred to their (currently racing) Greyhounds as family pets that slept on the bed. Make of that what you will but given that they also admitted in the program that many greyhounds were destroyed when their useful days are over and not retired to said bed I think I can be forgiven for doubting their integrity.
I'm not anti-greyhound racing in principle and I'm more than aware of the difference between NGRC (licenced) tracks and flapping tracks so I don't want to be drawn into a general greyhound racing debate. I too love to watch dogs do what they were bred for!
I've kept Greyhounds for a lot of years now and I know how easily they injure themselves by just running and playing around -my wound management and bandaging skills are now second to none!
However the conditions at the Highgate track were awful by any standards and as mse2ponder says, the dogs welfare didn't appear paramount.
Anyway if you are able to catch it again, have a watch and see what you think.

mse2ponder- I wondered exactly what it was that the film maker was trying to achieve also. In the end it seemed to me to mostly be a sort of socialogical portrait of a dying working class interest? And perhaps by extension a changing working class? But I'm not even sure about that!
It certainly didn't really appear to be making any particular comment about the sport itself except that it was in trouble!
And the Afghans were great weren't they!

Hi Tova,

I took your comment as criticising people for allowing their dogs to run at 40mph at any track, I only meant to point out that the track is no less safe than anywhere else for a greyhound to run. The difference being the care they recieve when injured. As said before I haven't had much knowledge regarding flappping tracks of late, but the thing that stood out between NGRC tracks and flapping tracks, was that dogs on flapping tracks were generally fitter than NGRC track dogs. It was more about winning at those, so they made sure their dogs were fit enough. However one thing that was apparent was that care of the greys at teh track was not catered for.
Years back, flapping tracks would be filled with normal pet owners wanting their dogs to race, as well as the element wanting to win! I understand that the pet owner side of things has fallen out of the tracks. As a child I went to Aldershot race track with our greyhound, as she loved to run, but didn't really have anywhere to do it properly as had to be kept on a lead due to the number of cats in the neighbourhood. I think the gambling and competition has taken over at these tracks now, and the dogs welfare has slipped because of it.

I will probably try and get it on iplayer later as I'd be interested in seeing what it has to say. take care

can someone tell me what a flapping track is

It's an unlicensed greyhound racing track!

im so glad you asked