HULL HELL-HOLE TO CLOSE AGAIN Yet another track shuts as racing industry slashes budget

According to the Racing Post, tomorrow's greyhound race meeting (June 27) will be the last at Hull after an announcement that the track is to close. The track reverted from a two-meeting a week schedule to one – every Saturday – but, as racing manager Mick Smith stated: "We've continued to lose money and Dave Marshall (promoter) has pulled the plug.

"We wanted to put on a carvery and all sorts of things to try to make some money, but we had no support at all from the GBGB and that, plus a lack of paying punters, was what's killed us." The track had closed previously in 2006 after becoming dilapidated, but reopened again the following year, after being taken over and refurbished by a local leisure company.

We hope the closure tomorrow will be permanent, as, according to our most recent research, the existence of a track like Hull is responsible for the deaths of as many as 500 greyhounds per year, due to the demand it creates for these dogs to be bred and subsequently discarded. The track would also have been responsible for dozens of serious injuries annually to greyhounds racing there. For example, a post by a Hull trainer on a pro-racing forum last month read as follows: "At Hull last night 1 trainer lost 2 dogs, both suffered terrible injuries 1 dying on the track and the other having to be put to sleep...........How many dog's will it take to get injured or worse like last night before something is done?"

It comes as no surprise that the GBGB (Greyhound Board of Great Britain) were unable or unwilling to Support the Hull track. According to another Racing Post article: "The GBGB has had to make 'a savage cut' to its budget for grants to tracks (from £2m to £486,000) 'to address a significant drop in income'."

The total GBGB budget fell by almost £2m from £11.5m last year to £9.7m for 2009, following a big drop in contributions from bookmakers, owing to fewer people betting on dog racing. Please feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this message.

_______________________________________________ Website: www.greyhoundaction.org.uk MySpace: www.myspace.com/greyhoundaction Donations: www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/donations.html