THE TEAM AT Newstalk Breakfast got a bit of a shock this morning when presenter Ivan Yates revealed live on air that he had sold their beloved greyhound.

The show’s team collectively owned RazlDazl Newstalk and had all grown quite fond of the pooch so Chris Donoghue was very much taken aback when he read out a question from a listener about whether they regretted selling him.

“You sold my dog?” he asked Yates, who coldly responded he had. The dog was snapped up by a syndicate in England and has apparently been doing quite well for himself since.

Chris: “Was it when I was in Gaza?

Ivan: “Well look, if you want to save the world, I’ve got to deal with the real world.”

The presenter said it is a long story, but a “happy news story for Ivan”, and declined to reveal how much he got for the dog.

“It’s confidential. There’s not going to be a commission of inquiry into this.”

He’s a hurdler and all the best hurdlers are in England. His future was always going to be in England, they don’t run enough hurdle races in Ireland. It was the right thing to do, believe me.

Poor Chris Donoghue was still said to be having trouble processing the news after the show.

This afternoon, however, he told us part of the deal to sell the dog dictated that upon his retirement from racing he will be returned back home to Ireland for a loving retirement with his trainer Dolores.

Listen to the full exchange here.

Read: Two men charged with using kittens as live bait for greyhound training>

Read: Thousands of greyhounds just disappear each year – what’s happening to them?>

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