Born in the spring of 2008, Snip Nua [1] was a racing greyhound who became famous because she featured in the BBC television show Three Men go to Ireland, which was broadcast over the Christmas holidays in December 2009.
[4] Due to its inclusion in the television programme, Snip Nua's performance at Mullingar Greyhound stadium in the Three Men Go to Ireland race was watched by an estimated 5-7 million people in the UK alone.
Notable members of the syndicate included Frank McNally, business editor of The Irish Times, and comedian Dara Ó Briain.
She appeared to be a promising racer who might break the syndicate's poor run of success, and in her first races, the young dog indeed put in some strong performances [9] Snip Nua's career as a professional racer was short; on 14 December 2009 she was euthanized after sustaining a hock injury at Harold's Cross Greyhound Stadium.
In early 2010 a series of demonstrations were held at Dara Ó Briain's UK show to try to persuade both him and the BBC to publicly denounce the sport of greyhound racing due to the dog's death.