17 Jul 2019

Botswana Greyhound Association (BGA) on recently treated many a canine lover to the first ever dog race in Kanye dubbed Thuntsha lorole.

About 54 elegant looking dogs with an athletic build, commonly known as speed hounds or the Ferraris of the sight hound family, hit the track chasing a spring hare like motor powered cloth to the merriment of spectators.

In an interview, the event sponsor, Tiro Kganela said his aim was to promote dog race as a sport across the country, adding it was so far the third he had organised.

He said dog race was one of the fastest growing sport codes in the country and urged Batswana to take advantage and make money out of it.

Through the event, Kganela further shared that he wanted to expose the tourism potential of Kanye. 

He said the fact that people came in numbers, made a strong business case for the village, known for unique its landscapes.

Business consultant, Taolo Moshaga described the idea as noble and urged the private sector to support the sport and derive countless socio-economic benefits among them employment creation for young people.

BGA vice chairperson Piet Gabosekwe thanked the event sponsor for helping grow the sport.  He said the sport was growing by leaps and bounds across the country, thanks to individuals like Kganela. Likewise, he called on the private sector to sponsor the sport and enable Batswana to take advantage of numerous opportunities along its value chain.

He said breeding, training dogs for racing was not just beer and skittles as many would think.

He said it involved money, hard work in terms of feeding, vaccines and training dogs to race among others.

BGA public relations officer Maatla Sephatla, for his part, commended Kanye residents for coming in droves to support the sport. He said it was not easy when they started a few years back but made it this far through perseverance.  He encouraged more greyhound lovers to join BGA and grow together. Sephatla also emphasised that supporting the sport would enable breeders to keep top bloodlines and grow big. Meanwhile, Quicksilver beat Strider and Captain K in the open males category while Zigorro outran Earthquake and Junior in the under 12 category respectively. In the open cross category, Motlhanka caused an upset, outfoxing Top Stranger and Saulo, respectively. ENDS