"Greyhound racing is not cruel. Live baiting is cruel."
I agree, however I'm not sure why people in the greyhound racing game think they need to live bate.
I grew up on the land with lots of working cattle and sheep dogs and also as a young child some 50 odd (ok nearly 60) years ago observed on many occasions a professional rabbiter who worked for us, with approx a dozen greyhounds, whippets and their crosses, going about his business.
Dogs are aroused by sound much more than the smell or taste of fresh blood.
If the old rabbiter had to chastise a dog for being disobedient, he would muzzle it first and then he would grab both front legs in one hand and the back two legs in the other, lift it up quickly over his head and then slam dunk it, ribs first on the ground to wind it. Dogs don't yelp when they are winded they just do exactly what footy players do when they are winded.
I asked why he did it, and he said to me that if he hit the dog, it would yelp and the rest of the pack would instinctively attack it and most likely him as well and they would both be killed.
Another example was when I would ride my horse over to the fellow that worked for us with my dogs following. We meet up with him and his dogs, sometimes, only occasionally, a fight would ensue between the two packs.
His dogs against my dogs. If a dog, say one of his was the first to yelp, both my dogs and his would pause for a nano-second and then the whole lot of them would go for the kill on the dog that yelped regardless of the fact that half of them belonged in the same pack. They even stopped fighting each other to all just get the weak one.
Animal instinct is stronger than you think.
You can buy toys that make sounds!
Live baiting is for dummies!
A pseudo rabbit with replicated sound effects and a bit of spare blood from the butcher or abattoir would do the trick and save an Industry and the jobs that go with it. It just needs to be a good replication.
I'm not sure they have not worked this out to save their hard earned, but they need to as hard times are coming for everybody and that is a cert!!!
