Saturday night’s meeting at Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium has been cancelled due to a planned picket of the event by dog owners and breeders.
The protest was over the implementation of the Indecon Report, which was commissioned by the Government and published in 2014.
The report recommended the sale of Harold’s Cross Stadium in order to help tackle the Irish Greyhound Board’s (IGB) massive debt, which now stand at €21.6m.
The owners and breeders group don’t want to see Harold’s Cross sold and they intended to make their voices heard, however they won’t get the chance on Saturday following the IGB’s decision to pull the Shelbourne Park event.
“It is deeply disappointing that some involved in the greyhound industry should propose to picket a race meeting at the Irish Greyhound Board’s Shelbourne Park Stadium tomorrow night,” said Dr Sean Brady, IGB Chief Executive in a statement.
“At a time when the industry is grappling with serious financial and structural difficulties, it is even more concerning that anyone would think that disrupting the industry racing calendar and commercial operations will in some way advance their interests.
“As recently as Wednesday, I met with members of Dublin Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association (DGOBA).
“I told them that as Interim Chief Executive, I have no interest in revisiting history or in apportioning blame for things that happened in the industry ten, twenty or thirty years ago.
“Neither am I going to get involved in the various spats between personalities that have obviously been a feature of IGB for a long, long time."
Brady continued: “IGB is charged with managing the current situation and dealing with issues that demand attention urgently. The fundamentals are very worrying. IGB is very seriously challenged financially and nobody should be in any doubt that the organisation faces a defining period.
“This decision was taken in the interests of animal welfare and of owners, trainers, staff and patrons. Such a protest will expose owners and trainers who want their dogs to race, our patrons, our staff and our service providers to unwarranted stress, tension and possibly intimidation.
“IGB are not prepared to countenance such a scenario and I have ordered the cancellation of the event.”
