Greyhound Racing should be banned - BBC interview

BBC interview with a member of the Forever Hounds Trust who are supporting the petition to ban Greyhound Racing in the UK .

Watch here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Dog home volunteer calls for ban on greyhound racing

Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for a ban on greyhound racing, saying the sport is out of date, but the government does not support the move.

In a personal film for Politics Live, Kim Ellis of the Forever Hounds Trust said some retired greyhounds are mentally and physically affected by living in kennels, and do not recognise other dog breeds or know what it is like to live in a home.

Forever Hounds Trust on Facebook if you think you can help rehome a Greyhound

Greyhound Board of GB reacts to this film, and gives its side on dogs after their working life.

Greyhound board 

87% of greyhounds 'go on to have other lives'

The governing body for licensed greyhound racing explains plans for fewer dog injuries, with more of them living in people's homes.

Plans for fewer injuries does seem to be 'a bit late' dogs may enjoy racing.. but not being stuck in kennels 95% of the time,being drugged, abused or injured. 

As you are aware this one I feel very strongly about please read previous blogs: 1000's of Greyhounds die 

and 

 Greyhounds continue to suffer

Sign the petition if you think Greyhound Racing should be banned: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/227678

 

Vaccination, Titre's and Pet Diseases UK (part one)

Vaccinating .. is it as clear as we think?

Correct vaccination/immunisation requires certain protocols/systems and environmental conditions to be in place:

Age is important: 

Maternal antibodies are passed to the puppies, if the Mother has a high immunity level these antibodies can last as long as 3 months, if she has lower immunity then those antibodies may only last 5 or 6 weeks. If the pups still has antibodies when they are vaccinated then they effectively block the vaccination, which means they do not have protection. 

Health: 

It is necessary for the patient's immune system to be functioning properly in order to respond  to the vaccine. If the immune system is immature it will be unable to do so. If the pet has a disease that suppresses the immune system or a fever, it will respond or react poorly. Stressed and re-cooperating pets can also be affected, and also pets receiving medication.

Full Proof: 

Although most  vaccines have a very high success rate in dogs and cats, none produce immunity in 100% of the dogs/pets being vaccinated this figure varies on type of vaccine it can be as low as 73%.

Strains :

There are several diseases, that have variant strains, Parvo Virus and Letpo being the main ones - so whilst a vaccine may have taken, a pet can be unfortunate to pick up a different strain not covered by the vaccine. There are different variants and diseases known to mutate, just like Flu does both with humans and pets.

Breed Differences: 

Several breeds are known to react poorly to different types of vaccine.

Ineffective Vaccine:

Storage and correct temperature is key. (more of an issue abroad).

Non Responder 

A pet who does not develop protective surface antibodies after completing two full series of a vaccine.

ᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪᏪ

So how do we know that any pet has immunity? Two options - put the dog in a area where the disease is and hope for the best  .. (not recommended) or Titre Test.

What is a titre test?  

A titer test is a laboratory blood test. It checks for the presence of certain antibodies in the blood stream. Testing involves drawing blood from a patient and checking it in a lab for presence of bacteria or disease. It is often used to see if someone is immune to a certain virus or needs vaccination. Especially important if a pet is traveling from one country to another.

So if we titre test we know our pet is immunised?  Its not that simple. 

Rabies Vaccinations:

In a medical study full article  - 'Ensuring the adequacy of response to rabies vaccination in dogs is important. It is known that some dogs’ fail to achieve an adequate antibody titer after vaccination (0.5 IU/ml) or more known as Geometric mean titers (GMT)  Dogs vaccinated at more than 16 weeks of age had a significantly higher GMT compared to dogs vaccinated at a younger age.  (The majority of dogs failed to reach an adequate titer within the first 3 days of primary vaccination; failure rates were also high if the interval from vaccination to titer check was greater than 90 days. The ideal timing for blood draw is 8–30 days after primary vaccination. Therefore a 'failed titre does not mean a dog has not been vaccinated, it just means they have not reached a minimum standard of 0.5IU/ml'. (**see comment below)

In another medical study Full article  'A Research Laboratory for Rabies and Wild Animal Pathology in Nancy, France, has analysed over 25,000 sera from dogs and cats using a viral sero-neutralisation technique. The statistics show that cats respond better than dogs. Although no significant difference in titres was observed between primo-vaccinated and repeat-vaccinated cats, repeat-vaccinated dogs had titres above 0.5 IU/ml more frequently. In primo-vaccinated dogs, monovalent vaccines offered a better serological conversion rate than multivalent ones. Finally, the results of these analyses showed a significant correlation between antibody counts and the time that elapsed between the last vaccination and the blood sampling'.

Another study looked at breed, age and sex 'Most animals older than one year had already received more than one rabies vaccination. The influence of breed and sex on antibody titre seemed mostly insignificant. Young dogs had a high risk of results below 0.5 IU/ml after their first vaccination. . An important factor for the test outcome might be the virus strain used in the vaccine'.

Titre Testing

Titre Tests : https://www.facebook.com/vaccicheckuk/
 

** Another point to consider: 

What if the circulating antibodies are low?  Does that mean that immunity is low?  Well, the answer is no.  Immunity is an all or nothing thing:  a dog/cat is either immune or he is not.  There is no grey area or sliding scale.  According to Dr. Ronald Schultz, any amount of titer means your pet is protected.

Parvo Virus

In spite of proper vaccination, a small percentage of dogs do not develop immunity to parvovirus and remain susceptible to infection.

CPV 1, CPV 2a, CPV2b and CPV-2c "c are variants of canine parvovirus the virus that causes "parvo" enteritis in dogs. There are several variants of CPV-2; all of the variants of CPV-2 are genetically related. Canine parvovirus type 2c (CPV-2c) is a variant of canine parvovirus.

So pets can sometimes not be immunised with the strain they have come into contact with.

So because a pet has either a failed titre or develops a disease does not mean they have not been vaccinated, it is more likely that they have not been tested at the right time or developed immunity.

When looking at foreign rescue, pets do not have a full medical history, will be stressed especially prior to travel and their immune system could well be compromised.  


Parvo virus is rife in Puppy farms - its an horrific illness and can cost owners anything up to £4000 in vet fees.  

Puppy farmers rely on the mothers (low) immunity of the pups from 5 - 8 weeks - so to save money - they do not vaccinate the pups and do not clean their kennels of the live virus which can lay dormant for months if not properly cleansed. This is why they are desperate to sell the puppies as young as possible. They do not care about the poor mother who is just bred and bred and they don't care about the puppy who could die. Its is the public's responsibility to make sure they are not supporting this terrible and illegal practice.  Lucys Law  has been set up to try and stop puppy farming and make people more aware - read more:.Puppy farming and puppy smugglers

Foreign Rescue are mostly re-homing adult or older foreign dogs and so need to make sure their homes, kennels are not infected. Its highly unlikely they are not vaccinating, as it would actually cost them more to treat affected animals than to vaccinate. Once an area is contaminated they would also find it very difficult to eradicate and cleanse. 

In a recent conversation with APHA, they said if 30,000 pets landed in the UK unvaccinated for Rabies, Parvo and Distemper, we would know about it. Quite simply it would be pandemic. 


If a foreign rescue re-homes 200 dogs then (a minimum average of) 2 dogs would not be adequately covered by vaccination. 

That doesn't mean bad people don't do bad things - so caution is recommended - always do your research first. 

Always speak to an expert if you have any queries regarding your pets health.

Equine Flu - and Horse racing

Equine Flu

 

Updated 15/02/19   Luckily (or not so we will see what happens at the next 2019 races.) no pandemic 

What it means for the horses

Equine influenza (horse flu) is the disease caused by strains of influenza A that are enzootic in horse species. Equine influenza occurs globally, previously caused by two main strains of virus: equine-1 (H7N7) and equine-2 (H3N8).

Signs of equine flu

• A very high temperature of 39-41C (103-106F) which lasts for one to three days
• A frequent harsh, dry cough that can last for several weeks
• A clear, watery nasal discharge that may become thick and yellow or green
• Enlarged glands under the lower jaw
• Clear discharge from the eyes and redness around eyes
• Depression and loss of appetite
• Filling of the lower limbs 
    
  
  One method of calculating influenza mortality produced an estimate of 41,400 average deaths per year in the United States between 1979 and 2001. Different methods in 2010 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a range from a low of about 3,300 deaths to a high of 49,000 per year
  
  
  Whilst they don't think this is a brand new strain of the virus," . "It is suspected it has undergone a slight change that has allowed it to effectively infect animals who have been vaccinated.
  
  
  In due course there'll be a review of what's gone on – why the vaccines are no longer working – but the viruses [used to develop] this vaccine are 15 years old, so it won't be a complete surprise if we've reached the point where we need to update them."
  

 So in the mean time horse racing will stop and that in its own right will 

save some horses.

Horses are Dying

So how many horses die because of this sport? 

Look at the data on Horse Death Watch Link

30 Horses have died this year and its only February 19 that is shocking so Equine flu will save lives.. 

We know the scourge of Greyhound racing so is Horse Racing an acceptable sport?


Deaths on racecourses are just one part of the sorry story to be told about commercial racing. Animal Aid's extensive research over many years demonstrates that the industry treats thoroughbreds as mere reproducible commodities. It kills or dumps thousands every year when they fail to make the grade or when their racing days are over.
You can read our reports exposing the welfare problems associated with thoroughbred breeding, racing, and training, and the disposal of commercially unproductive stock on our main website: animalaid link

The Stats are horrifying

 Animal aid are saying ;-

Cheltenham Racecourse

More horses have died at Cheltenham Racecourse than any other in Britain. In 2018, ten horses died there, seven of whom were killed during the four-day Cheltenham Festival.

Aintree

The Grand National is a deliberately hazardous race. Since 2000, 28 horses have died on the Grand National course and, over the course of the three-day meeting, 49 horses have been killed in that same period.

Ban the whip!

Horses are the only animals who may be beaten in public for entertainment. Animal Aid has campaigned for many years to ban the whip from racing in Britain. Many jockeys repeatedly misuse the whip because, even when they are found guilty of misconduct, they still keep their riding fees and may not lose their winnings.

Drugs - Yet again we see people doping animals - all to make more money.

 

Horses suffer and Die 

Horses are often on drugs. Drugs, both legal and illegal, are as ubiquitous at the racetrack as silly-looking hats are at Ascot. Horses are often drugged to mask their pain and keep them running when they should be resting or receiving treatment. Recently, for example, trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned from racing for eight years after he doped horses with prohibited steroids at one of the world’s leading racing operations.

We have a voice why not use it sign here Link to petition 

 Ban Greyhound Racing

Vaccinations