Going To The Dogs

[adderslj]

Tonight, I went to the dogs in a very literal sense. Estates Gazette, the magazine I work for, was cosponsoring a greyhound racing event at Wimbledon Stadium, along with FPDSavills.

I really, really didn't want to go, I'd had a tough day at the office, writing two thirds of a feature and proofing and passing pages for my regular sections and a special report on the Property Computer Show. I was shattered. However, as virtually everybody else had dropped out, I dragged my weary frame down to Wimbledon, and vowed to leave early.

Yeah, right.

It isn't often you catch me on my feet shouting "Go ONNNN, son!" as a small, gray dog pelts its way down a track, but that's exactly what I was doing. My betting proved reasonably canny and I made a few bob on the races - all of which was donated to the beneficiaries of the event, Macmillan Cancer Relief, a cause close to my heart. Most of all, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

The only problem is that I can't help wondering how long it will be before people try and ban this sort of thing. There seems to be a strong movement of people in the UK whose idea of what animals actually is based more on children's TV shows than on reality. My fiancee has remarked more than once that animal rights people often treat their animals far worse than those who hunt, fish or race. They feed them all kinds of shit which masquerades as food amongst us humans, and the animals' digestive tracts are even less well equipped to cope with it than ours. They treat their animals like little humans and don't allow them to eat, behave or exercise like the creatures that they are. Anthropomorphism has much to answer for.

This wouldn't be a problem if the current government wasn't so intent on legislating every little aspect of our life. As one marcher on the Liberty and Livelihood march rather cannily remarked, their views on the countryside are formed in the holiday resorts of Tuscany, not in the wilds of the UK. I can't help feeling that will this victory on fox hunting behind them, the "animals are our cute furry little brothers" brigade will soon turn their sights on hunting and racing.

It would be a damn shame if the next generation of Britons missed out on the exhilaration of seeing an animal do what it does best, and rejoicing in its own physicality. Maybe this country should go to the dogs more often. They have plenty of lessons to teach us.

Comments

[point5b.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed greyhound racing the one time I've gone. I didn't cheer on "my" dog at any point simply because I could never figure out which one was "my" dog. I'd bet based on the numbers, watch the skinny dogs dash faster than I've ever seen an animal move before, and then after a minute check the board to see which dog won.