A Tipperary woman was told by a judge that she could not have an interest of any sort in any dogs for 10 years, but continued to race greyhounds who had been placed in the care of other trainers.
A judgement handed down by Justice Elizabeth McGrath at Nenagh District Court on May 12, 2022 and now verified by the , saw greyhound owner Michelle Connolly banned from owning, keeping, dealing in, “or having control directly or indirectly of any dogs” in her possession for 10 years.
Ms Connolly’s conviction for seven offences under the Animal Health and Welfare Act, which she did not appeal, followed a 2019 inspection of her Nenagh farm by the ISPCA, during which three dogs, who were found to have been mistreated, were found in a small cage on the premises, seized, and placed in care.
Last week the reported that following that conviction Ms Connolly — who forms one third of the successful MWD greyhound partnership along with champion trainer Mark Wallis in the UK — had continued to own and race greyhounds in Ireland until at least March 2023.
Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI), the sport’s governing body, had said at the time that while the issue of whether or not Ms Connolly had breached her court order was one for the courts, its own investigation of the matter had concluded that none of the greyhounds she owned after her conviction were in her possession, and that the organisation was “satisfied that no welfare standards of greyhounds are being breached in respect of this case and no greyhounds registered or otherwise are in Ms Connolly’s care”.
This had suggested that a loophole to the judgement may exist, allowing someone disqualified from owning greyhounds to do so as long as the animals were not resident in their care.
However, the text of the judgement seen by the confirms that no ownership, either direct or indirect, of any dogs was permissible under the ruling.
When the wording of the judgement was put to GRI, a spokesperson said that the body “was not a party to the case taken which was progressed by the ISPCA and prosecuted through the Chief State Solicitor's Office”.
“GRI has no remit in same. Any queries should be directed to the prosecuting body,” they said.
The body chiefly responsible for the prosecution was the Department of Agriculture. The department had not responded to a query on this matter at the time of publication.
Last weekend, Mr Wallis told the that Ms Connolly is taking “ongoing action” regarding the court order, without specifying what that action is.
Ms Connolly did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Wallis replied to a query to say: “I really can't comment.”
In his interview Mr Wallis noted that the judge had allowed Ms Connolly to retain ownership of her two pet great danes, which he said “indicates to me that the judge saw that she was fit and proper to keep and own dogs even though a ban was ordered”.
“There is obviously more to the incident than meets the eye and the different parts of the order contradict themselves,” he said.
However, the understands that such a qualified judgement is a relatively common feature in rulings concerning animal welfare cases in Ireland.
