Great Global Greyhound Walk in Mullingar

In the light of the RTÉ investigation, it's good to know that there are people looking after retired greyhounds.

Catriona ni Duill, a volunteer for the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust, and Billy hosted the Great Global Greyhound Walk on Sunday morning, the first one in Mullingar, in the 10th year of the event internationally. Catriona said the aim is to “make people aware of the great pets that greyhounds make”.

She has been rehoming dogs all her life, she told the Westmeath Examiner, and most of them go to Belgium and Italy, and she has been to both countries to visit some of the dogs. “It was a heart-warming experience to see the great homes they get.

“There was one lady, who was in her late 50s and who hadn’t left the house because her husband, who owned a big company, ran off with a 20-something-year-old secretary, so you can understand, she was depressed.

“So her daughter decided to get her a greyhound, and by going to the dog park (areas where dogs can be let off their leads), she made so many friends that after a couple of months it was ‘what husband’ – he was a distant memory. That’s a great story.”

Catriona added that Billy, who has saved the lives of nine dogs because he’s a blood donor, is starting his film career on July 2 in ‘Ghosts of Tubber Hill’.