Animal rights activists confronted Birmingham greyhound racing fans in fresh protests targeting the city. Animal Rising returned for a new demonstration weeks after police were called in to remove them from Adam’s Michelin-star restaurant in the city centre.
Protesters were at the gates to Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium yesterday, June 17, in a latest bid to stop greyhounds being used for sport. Around 20 campaigners demonstrated, calling on the dog racing track to be “rewilded”.
Animal Rising has stepped up its focus on Birmingham in recent months. Around 10 of its members stormed Adam’s premises in a surprise protest, getting past the maitre’d to occupy any empty tables at the eatery owned by Adam Stokes for over an hour on Saturday May 20 to campaign for meat to be replaced by plant-based alternatives.
Yesterday’s action saw protesters target Birmingham again at the historic greyhound track, which opened in Perry Barr in 1928.
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Holding signs reading “rewilding over racecourses” and “running for life”, protesters said they were mainly “having friendly conversations” with racegoers as they arrived for an evening at the dog track in Aldridge Road, Perry Barr.
Animal Rising said it wanted society “to repair its relationship with animals and nature by ending the use of animals in sports and through a transition to a plant-based food system and programme of mass-rewilding”. Activists said they appalled that spectators turned out to watch and bet on greyhounds chase a ‘mechanical hare’
“The races are extremely dangerous for the greyhounds and they are frequently injured, often fatally – with 120 deaths in 2021 and the number of deaths in 2022 yet to be released,” said an Animal Rising member.
“Supporters of Animal Rising spoke with spectators as they made their way into the racetrack explaining how dogs should experience lives filled with love and happiness instead of being muzzled, exploited and forced to risk injury or death.
“Animal Rising is now calling for the next logical step, which is to ban greyhound racing altogether and avoid the thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths which occur in it.”
The protests came ahead of Animal Rising’s plans to disrupt the Greyhound Derby at Towcester Racecourse on July 1.
Engineer Josh Lane, 26, who was one of the protesters, said: “I took action outside the race track because we believe in ending this cruel ‘sport’ as soon as possible to prevent any further injuries and deaths to these beautiful greyhounds. It beggars belief that as a nation of animal lovers we are one of just seven countries where dog racing is still legal.
“We need to end this horrific practice of using animals for profit as soon as possible, and show our love for all animals without exploiting them.”
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain(GBGB) last year launched a new long-term welfare strategy to further promote and protect welfare across all stages of a racing greyhound’s life.
A Good Life for Every Greyhound set out improvements needed to safeguard a greyhound’s health and wellbeing from nutrition to behaviour, health, environment and mental state.
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