Champion greyhound being offered for stud services in China
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Gardaí are investigating the circumstances surrounding how a champion greyhound apparently sold to an Irish buyer to race is now being offered for stud in China.
Gougane Jet, a three-year-old former British sprinter of the year, won 29 races out of 42 runs from May of 2022 before reportedly being sold to an Irish owner to race in October last year.
However, the animal is now being advertised for stud services at a breeding kennel in Hebei Province in China.
Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI), the sport’s governing body, said it had investigated the matter in 2023.
In response to a parliamentary question from People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, GRI said that on foot of its investigation, a written complaint was made to An Garda Siochána in October 2023.
“As the matter is still under investigation by An Garda Siochana, it is not prudent for Greyhound Racing Ireland to comment further on this matter,” GRI said.
Whether it is the fact of Gougane Jet’s sale to China, or how the sale itself was conducted and funded, which is specifically under investigation by the gardaí is as yet unclear.
An Garda Siochána had not responded to a query regarding the investigation at the time of publication.
Greyhound racing is banned in China though illegal racing does take place there. There are currently no animal welfare laws in place in China.
Gougane Jet’s UK co-owners were Steve Oliver, Eammon Johnston, and Peter Curtis. Mr Johnston did not respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear which Irish owner brought Gougane Jet to Ireland.
The dog’s former UK trainers the MWD Partnership said they had been informed by his owners that Gougane Jet had been sold to a Longford owner named Liam O’Brien for £30,000.
Mr O’Brien did not respond to a request for comment.
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain confirmed that its own investigation, opened last December, into how the dog came to be in China remains ongoing.
When Gougane Jet was sold in October, MWD released a statement saying that the sale had been “solely” down to the dog’s owners who had said they had received “an offer they couldn’t refuse”.
When it emerged the dog had been advertised for stud in China, MWD posted a further statement noting that the partners were “saddened and very upset that he appears to have been exported despite all the efforts we made to prevent this happening”.
They added they had previously offered £20,000 to buy the animal themselves but had been rebuffed.
Speaking to the Mark Wallis, a multiple UK champion trainer and a partner in MWD, said he wished to make it clear that “myself, my family and our partnership had nothing to do with the sale of the dog” adding that the idea people could think he had anything to do with the sale was “most distressing”.
He added that trainers “have no legal right” to “stop owners selling dogs if they so wish”.
Mr Wallis’ partners at MWD are Mike Davis and Michelle Connolly, a Co Tipperary woman who the recently revealed had been banned from owning any dog for 10 years after pleading guilty to seven animal cruelty offences in early 2022.