John: Going to the dogs

May 27 2010 by John Avison, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

POPULAR entertainer Dara O’Briain – he of Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You and QI fame – is also a greyhound racing enthusiast.

He owned a dog, Snip Nua, which was featured in a BBC show, Three Men Go To Ireland, aired last Christmas.

What was not revealed until later was that Snip Nua had been injured in a race in Dublin two weeks earlier and had been put down.

She was aged 19 months.

Dara has said he no longer takes part in the sport, but greyhound activists believe otherwise and think that Snip Nua is unlikely to have been the comedian’s first loss, since (they say) he’s been involved in dog racing for at least a decade.

“The general public is not always aware of the abuse involved in greyhound racing and Dara's participation gave it a veneer of respectability it does not warrant,” says reader Kevin McClements. “He’s a nice guy, and it sends out the message that nice guys go to the dogs too.

“We hope he will see sense and ensure Snip Nua was his last dog and uses his popularity to let the public know what really happens at the dogs.”