CATEGORY 2 MEAT FEEDING

GRI

There appears to be some confusion surrounding the communications in respect of the feeding of category 2 (Knackery) meat products to greyhounds. To clarify, Rásaíocht Con Éireann is not proposing a ban on the feeding of category 2 meat. What RCE is proposing is the introduction of a Proposed Screening Limit of 0.2ng/ml urine for the medicine Dexamethasone, effective 1^st November, 2023. This screening limit will be imposed on urine samples taken from racing greyhounds as part of RCEs ongoing testing regime.

The information being provided is that as Dexamethasone may be present in varying levels in Category 2 meat, in some cases there may be enough within the meat to return a positive result from a greyhound. It is important that owners/trainers need to be aware of this potential risk from the point of view of feeding it to competing racing dogs, should they wish to continue feeding this meat. Even after the introduction of the limit, it will remain the case that broods, growing pups and retired or non-competing greyhounds can be fed Category 2 meat.