Greyhound trainer Chris Sillars, based in the West of Scotland.
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has banned trainer Chris Sillars from racing after neglecting a dog so badly she had to be euthanised. A legal prosecution case may now follow.
A kennel inspector who discovered the emaciated black greyhound bitch, Dudleys Forever, said it was “the worst condition of a greyhound I have seen”.
The dog, who originally raced in Ireland before being exported to Scotland, weighed just over 16kg, with a body score of 1/5, and was put down by a vet a few hours later.
An inquiry by the disciplinary committee of the GBGB was held in December 2019 and found that Sillars had breached animal welfare rules.
A GBGB report said a steward at Glasgow’s Shawfield Stadium, Alex McTaggart, made a routine visit to Sillars’ kennels on 2 September 2019. Mr McTaggart reported that one kennel block had nine greyhounds and there were four greyhounds in another non-registered block previously deemed unusable.
The GBGB’s report said: “One of these dogs, Dudleys Forever, a black bitch that had last raced at Shawfield on 24 November 2018, was in such poor condition that Mr McTaggart described it as ‘the worst condition of a greyhound I have seen’.
Video evidence was presented to the committee. Mr McTaggart said that in his opinion this was a matter of animal cruelty.
“Mr McTaggart said that on the same afternoon as his visit, he had spoken by telephone to Mr Sillars who had informed him that Dudleys Forever was eating well, and had been to the vet two months previously. Mr McTaggart told Mr Sillars that the bitch needed to see a vet as a matter of urgency.
The report continued: “Mr Sillars complied and took the greyhound to Abbey Vet Group later that day. The veterinary report was given in evidence and stated that the bitch weighed 16.3 kg with a body condition score of 1/5. Further tests were not undertaken, and the bitch was euthanased.”
The committee was told that the following day McTaggart met Sillars who accepted it was not true that Dudleys Forever had been seen by a vet recently. The dog had last been seen by a vet on 2 December 2018 – 10 months earlier.
The GBGB’s disciplinary committee viewed this as “a clear case of animal abuse” and moved to ban Sillars from racing.
The GBGB report concluded: “The distressing video clip endorsed the opinion of a highly experienced stipendiary steward that this was the worst condition of a greyhound he had ever seen, and the committee concurred. The committee deplored the neglect of this greyhound and concluded that Mr Sillars had treated the greyhound with cruelty and in such a manner as to cause the greyhound unnecessary suffering.
“The deliberate decision of Mr Sillars not to seek veterinary attention was wholly unacceptable. The committee considered the offence to be a prima facie breach of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 and urged the GBGB to send the details of the case to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Edinburgh.”
Campaign group Say No To Greyhound Racing In Scotland said: “The treatment of racing greyhounds in Scotland is absolutely appalling and this trainer must be prosecuted and feel the full force of the law. We would also like to see criminal prosecutions where greyhounds are doped with Class A and human prescription drugs.
“To date there have been no prosecutions in Scotland with 14 GBGB confirmed doping cases in the last two years at Shawfield track in Glasgow which includes five for cocaine. We will continue to campaign for as long as it takes to shut this disgraceful industry down in Scotland.”
A spokesperson for GBGB, said: “We have the highest expectations of welfare and care in our sport so there is no place in it for trainers like Mr Sillars. This was a clear case of animal neglect and cruelty and the independent disciplinary committee has rightly decided to remove Mr Sillars’ licence, ensuring that he is never allowed to participate in our sport again.”
Reporters from The Ferret asked to see the video evidence presented to GBGB but it declined to release it.
The Ferret reported in October 2019 that dozens of greyhounds at Shawfield had been doped. Steroids, beta-blockers and prohormones – used by bodybuilders – were among other prohibited substances found in the bloodstreams of greyhounds at the Glasgow stadium since 2009.
Five of the 28 positive tests at Shawfield – Scotland’s only licensed track – involved cocaine, which is potentially fatal for dogs and can lead to seizures, strokes and heart attacks.
As well as those incidents, a trainer based in Edinburgh who races in England had three dogs tested positive for banned substances.
The Ferret
Our Dogs
Update November 2020
The Ferret reported that Chris Sillars is not to be prosecuted for animal cruelty.
The Scottish SPCA said it was notified of the case in February 2020. But because the legal timeframe for reporting animal welfare offences to the procurator fiscal is six months, the SSPCA said it only had three weeks to gather “independent evidence” and prepare a report, and was unable to do so.
Say No To Greyhound Racing in Scotland, which reported the case to Police Scotland in February 2019, told The Ferret: “This is a shocking case and Dudleys Forever has received no justice for the suffering she endured.
“We ourselves reported this case to the appropriate authorities in mid-January but the true culprits here, apart from Police Scotland for not acting quickly enough, are the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. That it took a full five months for the SSPCA to be officially informed by the GBGB is utterly appalling.
“This time delay is commonplace and smacks of delaying tactics to protect their own. Racing greyhounds are the forgotten dogs in this country and that is wholly wrong.”