GREYHOUND killer David Smith today said he was "doing society a favour" by slaughtering healthy dogs dumped by callous trainers.
For the past 15 years, the Seaham builder's merchant has been killing greyhounds no longer considered by their trainers fast enough to race.
According to two racing insiders, Smith works for 40 trainers, and has killed and buried at least 10,000 d
ogs at his smallholding off Northdene Avenue.
Government minister for animal welfare Ben Bradshaw today promised an investigation into the slaughter and potential health and environmental hazard of such a large scale dumping of dogs' bodies.
Smith, who charges £10 a dog, receives greyhounds from trainers then leads them to a shed in a one-acre plot at the back of his home where he would kill them using a bolt gun.
Then he uses a bloodied wheelbarrow to carry the dogs' corpses from the shed, before burying then in the plot using a mechanical digger.
The RSPCA has previously expressed concerns about the fate of up to 12,000 greyhounds that go missing every year.
Alistair McLean, chief executive of the National Greyhound Racing Club, which governs the sport, also pledged an inquiry. "This is disgraceful. We categorically don't endorse this kind of thing," he said.
Mr Smith, initially denied running a makeshift slaughter house for greyhounds, before being told there was photographic evidence of his activities.
He said: "I was doing society a favour, but now I have stopped because it is not worth the hassle.
"I don't put dogs down any more. I did my last ones about a week ago.
"These are sick and injured dogs that would otherwise be thrown out onto the streets because their owners can't afford vet's bills.
My dad has done the same thing and he is now 81. My own son doesn't want to carry it on so it had to stop sometime anyway.
"The little bit of money I was paid went to children's charities."
Greyhounds have only a short racing life.
About 9,000 greyhounds retire from racing each year, typically between four and six years of age — out of a natural lifespan of up to 14 years — when they are considered too slow to compete.
Some go to new homes as pets, as backed by the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC), the industry's governing body, thousands more simply disappear.
Every year £2.5billion is bet on the greyhound racing and about £70million goes to the Government in tax.
Restraining a pair of rottweiler guard dogs tied on long chains at the front gate, Mr Smith said: "It has been blown up out of all proportion, and I'm not doing it any more anyway.
"I have been advised by my solicitor not to speak but this has upset the whole family."
