Our canine friends

Dear Editor, Little nuggets of wisdom come our way as we go through life. My Dad said to me one time: “Tom, just when you know what to do in life, you are too old and can’t do it.” It was his own case he was relating of course.

My Dad was an allround sportsman and a great man for the greyhounds. In 1940, he bought a greyhound pup - one I would describe as ‘ the best hound ever’. It was just six weeks old and he forked out £30 for the pleasure of owning the dog that he later named ‘ Mac’s Pleasure’. He always maintained a good greyhound doesn’t need to kill but if it’s good enough, will win anyway.

It was well known that owners were breeding cats and pet rabbits in cages which they later threw to the hounds for ‘blooding’ - the idea being that when the hound got the taste of blood, it made it all the more eager to chase the hare.

A well known local campaigner against blood sports maintained that when man gets used to the blood and the gore, seeing hounds tear other animals to pieces, killing will become easy for one man to kill another. Isn’t this happening every other day now? Life has become so cheap, so perhaps his words were wise ones. I salute you Pat.

My Dad also owned ‘Bonzo’ which was nearly as well known as himself. A Kerry Blue bred from a Wheaten Terrier bitch, Bonzo gave us many years of pleasure. The enjoyment and companionship a dog can give is immense, remembering of course that owners need at all times, to be responsible for their pets.

I remain, Yours sincerely, Tom McAuliffe, Cluain Dara, Fermoy.