Friday Hound Blogging

We're coming to you today from the If Wishes Were Horses Beggars Would Ride Department here in the marbled halls of IM Central. IWWHBWR is a division of the When You Wish Upon A Star Company, a wholly owned subsidy of  A Fool And His Money Go To A Greyhound Track, Inc.

First a little back story. There was this greyhound injury and death facility in London called Walthamstow. Like most places where living creatures like greyhounds are treated as commodities and daily placed in danger of their lives, it had been losing money for years. In the face of a tsunami of red ink the owners promised in December of 2007 not to sell it but to bring it back stronger than ever.(Editor's note: That should have been a clue as to what was going to happen next) So they closed it in 2008 and shortly after it was bought by housing association London and Quadrant (L&Q) who said, hey, let's build some houses on the land. You know, do something worthwhile with it.

Well, as you might imagine this upset the overlords no end as it was obvious to them turning the land into homes and shops would deny everyone years of watching the slow degradation of the area, the loss of jobs and rise in crime, not to mention the spectacle of dead greyhounds being carted off day after day after day.

So they appealed to the Mayor of London. "Mayor," they said. "How can you let this happen? You have a chance here to prop up a dying industry, to perpetuate heartless cruelty and to keep us from having to work for a living, and instead you want to provide housing for people? Where are your priorities?"

The mayor, though moved by their eloquence and cognizant of their lack of any marketable skill with which to get a job, nevertheless responded, "Nah. I think I'll go with helping people rather than killing greyhounds, but thanks for your input and here are some nice brochures on Walmart Greeter School. If you can tell me how old you are without counting on your fingers I might be able to get you a scholarship."

And you would think that would be the end of it, but if you did, you don't know how desperate the overlords were to stay out of the job market, and how little they cared how many greyhounds had to die to make it so. They needed a hero. Someone to take up their cause; someone who could feel their pain. Someone not too bright.

Fast forward to the present and meet just such a person:

Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford delivered a stinging rebuke to Boris Johnson’s Conservative leadership aspirations after the London Mayor approved a scheme to turn the Walthamstow dog track in east London into flats.A furious Duncan Smith asked “What’s the point of Boris?” and accused the Mayor of failing to show leadership following the decision to demolish the famous stadium. "That track could have sat there for years, sucking the life out of the neighborhood," Smith told reporters. "Instead our Mayor decides he'd rather provide low cost homes, shops, playgrounds and who knows what other social and economic benefits to the residents of London. Again I say, what’s the point of Boris?”

Mr Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford, said he was “absolutely furious” at the decision made by his Tory “friend”. He told BBC London 94.9: “This is a bad decision and I have constituents of mine saying ‘What’s the point of Boris?’ See, we're saying what's the point of Boris rather than what's the point of his decision because even we aren't stupid enough to miss the fact that this is really going to help a lot of people.”

In an extraordinary attack aimed at a fellow senior Conservative, the Cabinet minister went on to question Mr Johnson’s leadership pretensions. Mr Duncan Smith said: “I’ve been secretary of state for a while. You take tough decisions. OK, the track has been closed for four years and was dying years before that, so this wasn't such a tough decision, but Boris could have made it tough if only he'd picked stupid over right.”

Rick Holloway, of the Save Our Stow campaign, questioned L&Q’s pledge to create 250 new jobs and build affordable homes. “The world’s number one dog racing track until it went bankrupt and which used to have 5,000 people going to it every week until no one came to it is now going to be a fortress housing estate,” he said. "People living here! Shopping, working, raising families! What about the losers who used to come and bet on the dogs? Who's watching out for them?"

Hmmm...he might have a point. Looks like Mayor Boris just lost the idiot vote, huh Caroline?

Katjam Caroline is a very sweet and friendly girl. She loves everyone she meets. She loves to go for walks and play in the yard. She is very good on the leash. She is learning how to do stairs. She has not learned how to play with toys yet but she loves chewing on her rawhides. She does good in her crate; however, she does sometimes bark when her foster parents first come home so they leave her in the crate until she quiets down, which does not take long. She has had no accidents in the house or her crate. She lets her foster parents know when she has to go out. She is not cat or small dog safe. She has had some experience with children and has done well. She would be fine in a home with older well-behaved children. She gets along great with men and women. For more information about this dog, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.

Friday Hound Blogging

We're coming to you today from the Department of Odd Priorities here in the marbled halls of IM Central. The DoOP is a division of the Were You Dropped On You Head As a Child Corporation in partnership with Probably Too Dumb to Come In From The Rain, LLC.

A while back we told you about the good folks at the housing association London and Quadrant and how, after taking over the closed animal exploitation facility greyhound race track they put forth a plan to build some houses and stuff. Well, this upset the local rube population because instead of wandering out of their houses and having about a 50/50 chance of finding the track where they could proceed to lose the rent money, they would now have to take buses to one of the other two tracks in the area.

Now before you go getting all up on your high horse and start in with that elitist "Public transportation is a small price to pay for helping the over 14,000 peoples looking for housing" just take a minute and consider this:

1. Buses require bus fare and that seriously cuts into the money available to lose.
2. Riding the bus requires reading the bus schedule which contains both words and numbers together on the same page. Have you ever looked at one of those babies? It's like Whoa, man I just want spend a little time in the fruitless pursuit of a impossible fantasy paid for with the blood of innocent animals, not read a how to manual for building a nuclear submarine.

That's sort of where we left things back then. The housing people were interested in houses and the rubes were interested in continuing to support the overlords' lifestyle with their government checks. Then few weeks ago the housing people announced a meeting to show the folks the plan they had come up with to develop the area where the track had gone bankrupt because nobody came to it anymore.

Steve Yianni, L&Q Regional Director, said: “Our aim is to create a vibrant, high-quality and desirable place to live, that is also sensitive to the site’s unique character.

 "Unique character." Ha Ha. He's talking about the rubes there. What he's really saying is it's going to be a challenge to get new people to move to a neighborhood already populated with people who don't have teeth.

The announcement from L&Q comes the day after Boris Johnson pledged his support for Walthamstow Stadium as a 'sporting venue'. Mr Johnson's comments will be welcomed by Waltham Forest MPs Stella Creasy and Iain Duncan Smith, who have called on L&Q to negotiate with Bob Morton, a millionaire businessman who has offered to buy the venue and re-introduce racing.

 Um...perhaps you missed the part where Mr. Yianni said he wanted to "create a vibrant, high-quality and desirable place to live." See, you put a greyhound track in the middle of all that and it's sort of like a fart in church, you know? Everyone suffers because of  it, but no one will accept responsibility. Maybe you just need to explain this a little better so let's get everybody together and go over it one more time, OK?

Oh. Guess not.

The owner of Walthamstow Stadium has dramatically cancelled public consultation events on the future of the iconic venue over fears for staff safety. The housing association says its staff felt threatened by members of the Save Our Stow (SOS) campaign during the first consultation event at Christ The King Roman Catholic Church in Chingford Road yesterday. L&Q says it has been in touch with the police and a formal complaint is in the process of being made.

 Oh come on now. We're sure this is all just a misunderstanding. Surely you don't think someone with a third grade education, substance abuse problems and difficulty holding a job would resort to violence simply because there's no socially redeeming value to their position, no economic justification and no moral or ethical argument that can validate the suffering, injury and death of innocent animals just to give them a cheap thrill, do you?

Steve Yianni, L&Q regional director, said: "It is with deep regret that we are postponing these events but we cannot put our own staff's personal safety at risk from those who oppose our plans for redevelopment of the area.

Well, in their defense we have to say that it's likely to set tempers on edge when some outside company comes into a neighborhood and undermines one of the economic focal points of the area.

Mr Yianni added that the stadium was running at a significant loss at the time of its closure and L&Q's research showed half of residents never visited the venue.

Now, all that proves is that half the residents can read, or maybe it proves half the residents were exposed to lead based paints as children. It's all in your perspective, right Karmin?

“Karmin” is confident, friendly, sweet, and affectionate. She wants to be right near her foster mom and will nudge your hand for pets. She is very silly. She will “roo” on occasion. She is very excited when it is dinner time and she will spin in circles. She gets frisky when she sees her toys and at dinner time, but she also calms quickly. Karmin is an energetic, strong girl who loves to gallop around in the yard or go for a walk everyday. She is a quick learner and a ‘velcro’ dog. Karmin would do well in a working family home with well-mannered children. She is good with other dogs and she would probably be fine as an only dog with in a home that has a family member home most of the time. For more information about this dog, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.

Friday Hound Blogging

Frequent reader(s) of this blog know the true extent of the cosmic forces arrayed against them...er...we mean know that we have written on several previous occasions about the devastation brought to communities upon the closing of the local animal exploitation facility greyhound race track.

Well, as if that sort of wholesale economic disruption weren't enough, today we have the unpleasant duty of reporting to you an even more insidious element coming between the overlords and their simple desire to live out their lives leeching off the backs of innocent greyhounds, bringing excitement and thrills to the public through the exhilarating sport of greyhound racing, namely greed.

Dog racing will never return to Walthamstow Stadium under the current ownership, it has been announced. In a defiant statement, Housing association London and Quadrant (L&Q) has for the first time completely ruled out the sport becoming part of a future development - irrespective of the outcome of any future public consultations.

 "Defiant" and "...irrespective of the outcome of any future public consultations?" Who do these people think they are? This is America! Well, OK this is England, but that's sort of like America-Lite. Anyway the point is We The People aren't going to sit still while outsiders come in here and take away our right to lose the rent money two dollars at a time...umm...two pounds at a time we mean. Yeesh, it's no wonder they lost the revolutionary war. Bet they're metric too.

Save Our Stow (SOS) campaign leader Ricky Holloway expressed outrage at the announcement. He said: "They think they know what's best for our community but they don't."

Tell it Ricky! Greyhounds have been suffering and dying at the track since 1933, and now a bunch of real estate pirates show up and tell us just because no one comes to the track anymore they are going to get rid of it? We don't think so.

"This is the most blatant act of a developer putting its own profit before the wishes of any community and L&Q must now be stopped."

Amen brother Holloway! This isn't a community that's going to stand by while a bunch of profit hungry developers in their fancy suits and with their fancy cars runs rough shod over the rights and desires of the citizens. The last thing we need is some cheap, sleazy strip mall full of tattoo parlors, tanning shops and video stores. We love our neighborhood here mister, and our neighbors, so why don't you get back in your fancy car and take your fancy suit and your money grubbing greedy self back to where you came from?

L&Q said it will continue to push ahead with its plans for housing at the Chingford Road site. "There are a number of reasons for this. "There is a serious need for housing in Waltham Forest - over 14,000 families are currently on the waiting list in the borough."

Never! This community will not be turned into some post apocalyptic desert full of trash and drug users. We got rid of that when the track closed. You can't just...wait a minute...houses you say? 14,000 families? OK that's...uh...that's going to...um...say Skyp, why don't you entertain our friends here while we step out for a quick regroup?

Skyp is active, bouncy, happy and very friendly. He is very affectionate. He will seek you out and will stay next to you for pets. He gives kisses. He is a quick learner. He likes to play with toys. He has cute floppy ears. He is very comical, inquisitive, and a cute boy. Skyp would do well in a working family home with well-mannered children. He would do best as an only dog, as he is a bit pushy with other dogs. He has a lot of energy since he is young and is a greyhound mix. He would make a great jogging partner. For more information about this dog, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.