Traumatic injury most likely cause of death for greyhounds found buried in Newbridge, County Kildare

The most likely cause of death for the seven greyhounds discovered at Roseberry bog in Newbridge last year was 'traumatic injury.'

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue made the revelation in response to a question put forward by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy.

Mr Murphy asked the Minister he will reveal the results of post-mortems carried out by his Department's Regional Veterinary Laboratory on the remains.

He also asked the Minister about the 'breed of the dogs, the nature of injuries, and the cause and approximate date of deaths.'

In response to his query, Minister McConalogue said: "Incomplete skeletal remains of seven dogs were submitted for post mortem examination to my Department's laboratories at Backweston on September 1, 2022.

"It was not possible to determine when these animals had died but traumatic injury, evident in six of the dogs, was the most probable cause of death."

The Minister also said that Greyhound Racing Ireland has arranged for tissue samples from these dogs to be sent to another laboratory which specialises in DNA analysis 'to confirm that these dogs were greyhounds, and to attempt to identify the individual animals and their owner(s).'

BACKGROUND

Photographs sent in by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS) showed skulls, bones and skeletons belonging to greyhounds.

The group said that the remains were discovered earlier that month by a member of the public who was out walking in the bog.

Commenting on the find at the time, Aideen Yourell, the campaign director of the ICABS, said that the deceased dogs were 'the victims of the cruel greyhound racing industry that sees thousands of greyhounds abandoned and killed each year.'

Shortly after the news of the find became public, An Garda Síochana said that it would make enquiries into the remains.