Following the huge backlash against the article that Emma Milne wrote for last month’s edition, Dogs Today has done a pretty good job at redressing the balance. This month’s issue features a soulful greyhound head shot on the cover, and a full page RGT ad on the back, plus a ‘Greyhound Special’ inside. There’s a nice positive article about managing the instincts of greyhounds, another called ‘Judge deed not breed’ by behaviourist Victoria Stilwell, yet another about responsible ownership by GRWE, a four page spread of readers’ greyhounds peacefully co-existing with various small furries, and pages of letters about the Emma Milne article, most of which appear strongly against her rather biased point of view. I wrote a piece about it myself here, with the provocative title ‘TV vet Emma Milne hates Greyhounds’.
Celebrities and experts, such as author Jilly Cooper and Michael Watts of the Society of Greyhound Veterinarians weighed in on the side of the greyhound, and Emma Milne issued an ‘apology’.
Well, the words ‘I unreservedly apologise’ were certainly in there, but they were preceded by ‘if’, and in my view, the tone of the piece was that of a kid caught doing something wrong and being forced to say sorry. For example, Ms Milne says in her apology that she accepts that the killing of dogs and cats by greyhounds is rare, and that she never said otherwise, yet in her original article she talks of the ‘countless owners who have lost sheep, rabbits, cats and dogs to greyhounds’. And she continues to try to justify her actions by telling us what a perfectly horrible day she’d had at the office.
I’m impressed that Dogs Today put such effort into damage limitation, but quite frankly, I think they’d have done better to leave Ms Milne right out of it, if she couldn’t bring herself to be a little less defensive.
The whole thing is a crying shame. When a TV celebrity says something, people listen, and it can be hard to change their minds.
If only she’d thought before she opened her mouth in the first place.
Well the good thing here is the proof of the power of the people. Kudos to the magazine for running a positive article for this breed that we all have such a passion for. Hopefully the editor will pay closer attention to future articles and make sure another of such ill content isn’t published in the future.
Preferably never again from that jackass Emma Milne.
TJ
(the happy hillbilly LOL)
Hey, TJ! You made it over! Thanks for the support, honey.
I think that the editor will pay VERY close attention in future. Let’s hope so.
Jay,
I’m glad you published this. I was wondering what had happened. I’ve tried hard to get a copy but Cavan obviously doesn’t embrace Dogs Today! She’s a petulant little shit, but I hope Emma’s learned her lesson – an entire issue inspired just to make amends for her ill advised words!
Blimey, we’ve all been there – Bert’s broken a thick leather collar trying to kill a hare and has regularly nearly dislocated my arm when he sees a cat. Still, I’m a sensible greyhound owner and he stays firmly on a leash, even in our garden. I accept this pain in the arse, especially on a sunny day when I’d love him to swan about with me as I weed the borders, as a small price to pay for owning an adorable, adoring, lanky, lovable, lazy and frankly useless ex-courser. May every reader know the joy of waking up to a greyhound giving them a major league face wash, I say! xxxx
English Mums last blog post..The Friday Photo take 2: Holy f*cking moly!
EM – I was very lucky in my first greyhound, Jim. He was a rabbiter, but would never harm a small dog, so I was safe to let him off even in the busiest environment like a family park. NOT near traffic or any hazards, naturally.
I’m much more careful with these two, because greyhounds naturally hunt in pairs, though in fact neither has much of a prey drive.
I try very hard to be a responsible owner too. I sometimes think greyhound owners try harder than most. So many small dogs are allowed to get away with murder because ‘they’re cute’.
If only That Woman could see my Princess doing her therapy stuff, huh?
As soon as I read Ms Milnes’ hateful article I remembered my old greyhound sitting regally waiting for his Dog Training medal sat next to four miniature poodles with bows in their hair. I have been bitten by a border collie and a westie but I would never advocate extinction of those two breeds. Best piece of advice you can give a dog owner is to presume all dogs are potentially aggressive pop yours on a lead then ask the owner if the dog is ok to pat and/or play with your dog.
Ellen – I couldn’t agree more. I’d like to give all new dog owners a copy of ‘How To Speak Dog’ or ‘The Other End of the Leash’ for starters, but it will never happen.
As I said in the previous comments answer, my first greyhound was 100% safe with small dogs, too. But the ‘good guys’ don’t get the media attention do they?
Thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment.