Susan Stephens' Writing Diary

Saturday was Wiggy's b'day and she celebated with a barbeque for all her friends and family at her new flat- where only one glass of red wine found its way onto the sofa- Fortunately, Wiggy has developed some unsuspected housewifely skills that she certainly didn't possess when she lived at home, and after packing the stain with salt she whisked it away with a proprietory brand cleaner. Blimey, I thought, how did she know how to do that...

However, I digress.

She then arranged for a fleet of taxis to take us all on to The Dogs.
I had never been before and was totally fascinated, both by the boisterous atmosphere inside the bar/observation area, and by the excitement trackside.
Of course, being me I had to 'know' the dogs, and started worrying about them almost immediately.

I guess the crowd yelling and screaming intimidated quite a few of them, but when they began to race you could only stand and watch in awe.
They reach speeds of up to 40 miles an hour and I took the picture above as they streaked past me.

At one time dog racing with greyhounds truly was the sport of kings with only certain people allowed to own them. Nowadays many are owned by groups of people and never see the outside of a professional kennel. The dogs race up to the age of five, after which time, if they're not lucky, they may be destroyed. Incredible and unbelievable to any animal lover. After all, some of these dogs earn their owners a lot of money over the course of their racing career.

I'm sure there are plenty of loving owners too and I did see some of the dogs receiving a lot of fuss both before and after the racing... and thankfully, there are rescue kennels just like this one for those that slip through the love/destruction net...
http://www.tiagreyhounds.org.uk/

Let's be kind to our animals, they depend on us for everything and give us so much in return.

Love to all, and happy reading everyone!
Susan