Raising awareness

By South Devon Greyhound Action (SDGA)

We first set up the South Devon branch of Greyhound Action when we received one of their newsletters and some of their leaflets from a friend who was a G.A. supporter. The info we were given brought to our attention the terrible plight of racing greyhounds and Galgos (Spanish greyhounds) and once we became aware of this, we felt compelled to join the campaign to abolish commercial greyhound racing, hence South Devon Greyhound Action (SDGA) was born.

When we first joined the campaign, there was a greyhound track (flapping/unlicensed track) in Newton Abbot and was located inside the Newton Abbot racecourse (horse racing) grounds. The greyhound track had been there for almost 30 years and we decided to hold a demo on a race night outside the racecourse to protest against greyhound racing, this was the start of our local campaign. 

We made sure that we contacted all the local press in the area prior to the demo and sent them all a press release giving the full details of the demo, explaining why we were doing the demo and inviting animal-loving members of the public to join us on the day, we also contacted local TV and radio. We emailed bulletins to the supporters we had and also to local animal protection groups and forums that we were in contact with and phoned indivual supporters who were not on email. We made posters advertising the demo, inviting sympathetic animal-lovers to join our peaceful protest, which we posted up in local pet shops, vets etc.

We set a theme for the demo to make it more interesting and to help attract more public attention. One of our supporters dressed up as the Grim Reaper and we made a large gravestone which we wrote on in large bold letters, some of the facts and figures about the death of racing greyhounds. We made poster boards and also large banners with big bold writing showing short, precise messages such as "You bet They Die", "Dying to Entertain You" etc. We made sure we had plenty of Greyhound Action leaflets which our supporters gave out to passing members of the public in order to educate people about the horrors of greyhound racing.

It was well worth spending time organising the demo properly as the event was a huge success on the day and we had great media coverage and attracted a lot of the public's attention. Local TV turned up and we did an interview on local radio. Local press also attended which all helped to get our message of "Don't support greyhound racing" out to the general public. We also had a good turn-out of supporters thanks to the bulletins/posters etc. Any new supporters that turned up, we took their phone-numbers so we could contact them again for any future events.

We organised further demo's/marches and also remembrance ceremony's outside the track over a period of about 15 months after which time the greyhound track closed.

So if you have a greyhound track locally, demos are a great way of encouraging local people to boycott the track and also for educating the general public about the cruelty involved in greyhound racing, particularly if you can get good media coverage. 

Information stalls is another great way of educating the public and also a good way of recruiting new supporters. SDGA has set up many information stalls over the past 4 years either at animal charity events or in Devon town centres. We would mainly organise our stalls in the towns to coincide with a relevant event such as 'Greyhound Awareness Week'. Another example of this is that on the day of the Greyhound Derby final, we would set up a stall outside a bookmakers and hand out leaflets, encouraging people not to bet on the dogs.

All you need to set up an info stall is a wallpaper table, plenty of leaflets and petitions against the greyhound racing industry and a couple of posters. We also recommend having a mailing list on the table, this way you can ask people that sign the petitions if they would like to receive information about your group and any future events you may plan. This is a great way of building up your supporter network. Setting up an info stall can also help to raise funds for your group via collection cans on the table, however, if your stall is on public land then you MUST apply to your local council for a permit which allows you to collect money on the day. We would generally recommend having at least 2 people to run a stall.

Getting local public figureheads involved in your campaign is also a great way of attracting the media and drawing the public's attention to your cause. SDGA were holding an info stall at a Christmas charity event in Newton Abbot one Christmas and the then elected Mayor of Newton Abbot attended the event. The Mayor was a lover of animals and was very sympathetic to our cause, he even agreed to sign the petitions we had on the stall. A member of the SDGA team thought this was a golden opportunity and asked the Mayor's permission to take a photo of him signing the petition for our newsletter and also asked him if he would like to go on our supporter list, which he agreed to, he even attended one of our demos and gave us permission to announce this to the local media beforehand, the media and the public found this most interesting and immediately took an interest in what we were doing.

SDGA held a special remembrance ceremony outside the greyhound track every year on 'Greyhound Remembrance Day' and we thought it would be good to get a local Vicar who was sympathetic to our cause to come along and say a special blessing for all the greyhounds/galgos who had lost their lives. We managed to find a wonderful vicar and he too became a supporter and attended a march we did at a later date. Again, having a local public figure supporting our campaign, helped to attract public and media attention.

Sponsored events is another way of attracting media/public support and is also a great way of fund-raising. When you hold a sponsored event i.e. a sponsored walk, this gives you the opportunity to contact the media before and after the event, explaining why you are holding the event and inviting the public's support.

Newsletters are a good way of keeping people updated with your campaign and showing the work that you are doing and if the newsletter gets passed on by your supporters to people they know, can also educate and inspire them, maybe even encourage new supporters. (After all, it was a Greyhound Action newsletter that encouraged us to join the campaign!!) Your newsletter could include mini-articles about the previous events you have organised showing pictures from the events. You can also advertise any future events in the newsletter. Obviously, sending out newsletters costs money, both the cost of printing and then the cost of posting so you may decide that you would rather put the group's funding towards other areas of the campaign.

Websites and Emailing: Setting up a website is an ideal way of raising awareness as you can include all the information you need on the site and then direct people to the site as often as you like via your website link. You can also update the information on your site accordingly. The main UK Greyhound Action group has an excellent website which we always direct people to if they want to know more about the plight of sighthounds www.greyhoundaction.org.uk.

Emailing is an excellent form of communication. You can send out bulletins and updates to your supporters keeping them regularly informed about your campaign and you can also send press releases to the media via email. 

Recruiting Individuals: We always keep G.A. leaflets at hand so that if we happen during our day to pass an individual who has a greyhound with them, we first ask them if they have rescued the greyhound and if they have we then give them a leaflet and ask them if they would like to join our campaign. Not all individuals we have approached have been interested in joining us but some of our most dedicated supporters were recruited this way. 

And finally....... Another way of raising awareness is to put up a presentation display in your local library, again perhaps you could do this during 'Greyhound Awareness Week'.

Any work you can do to help raise awareness on the plight of sighthounds is invaluable and through your dedication and commitment you can encourage and inspire others to do the same. The South Devon Greyhound Action team will continue to work tirelessly to raise awareness until we see greyhound racing abolished and the suffering of sighthounds throughout the world brought to an end. We wish you the very best of luck in raising awareness.

Keep up the greyt work!!