British comedian Ricky Gervais has many fans around the world and he fairly rarely shows his serious side, but one topic in particular has riled the former ‘The Office’ star recently after he condemned the exporting of Irish greyhounds to China.
Gervais who is a known animal lover has called on the Irish Government to put an end to the madness, saying the Greyhounds will face certain death on the notorious Macau racetrack.
The star made the emotional plea over the weekend after a number of Irish greyhounds en route to China were rescued in Britain earlier this week.
Gevais told reporters: “The Irish Government should immediately ban the export of Irish dogs to China, which is inter- nationally renowned for its barbaric treatment of animals.” “The annual June meat festival, Yulin, near Macau, where dogs are skinned alive before being cooked, should tell the Irish Department of agriculture every- thing they need to know about the horrific fate of dogs in China.”
“If they are unconcerned about the agony that awaits these innocent animals then the Irish Government will pay the price in terms of damage to its international reputation. “If it does not put an immediate ban in place it will be rightly viewed worldwide as a country which cares little about animal welfare or animal suffering. The solution is in the hands of the Irish Government to ban it now.”
The British comedians emotional and understandable outburst comes after 24 helpless Irish greyhounds were discovered at Heathrow airport on Thursday after staff noticed that the crates were in appalling condition to ship them to China.
The dogs were then returned to a dog breeder in Co Cork.