364 Inez Hamilton-Smith - Queensland Greyhound Racing Industry

1
Review into the regulation of the Queensland Greyhound Racing
Industry Submission by Inez Hamilton- Smith
Introduction
I am a Queensland resident who has taken an interest in the welfare of greyhounds and the
greyhound racing industry for the last 4.5 years. My interest in greyhounds developed after I
adopted a greyhound from Friends of the Hound Inc in 2010. It became heightened when I was
out walking with my greyhound on the Gold Coast at the end of 2010. I was stopped by a man
who asked to pat my dog and he expressed to me how wonderful it was to see a greyhound out
walking, that was happy and loved. He explained that he grew up in a greyhound racing family
and that he had witnessed many horrific things, and he said it was a horrible industry. He said
that most greyhounds were killed and his family were the only ones, that he knew, that wouldn’t
kill them if they weren’t suitable for racing, or after they retired. He also said he had witnessed
greyhounds being beaten for barking, and even beaten to death. He told me live animals were
used for training. He spoke to me for a while and was visibly upset as he explained these stories
to me. I walked away from this man quite stunned, as I had never heard anything about
greyhound racing, let alone this. As an animal lover, I vowed to look into this industry and do
what I could about it.
I have spent the last 4 years trying to research this industry and expose what I believe is an
activity which is outdated and does not reflect the values of a modern civilised, compassionate
society. In 2011, I started a Facebook page called ‘Greyhound Racing - Don’t Bet On It’; formed
a group, Greyhound Freedom to collect statistics about injuries and deaths of greyhounds; I
spoke at a hearing for the NSW Upper House Inquiry into greyhound racing; and I started a
campaign with the president of Friends of the Hound, called ‘Gone are the Dogs’ which is a
campaign to draw attention to the plight of greyhounds. I also foster greyhounds and help retrain
and rehabilitate greyhounds
I oppose greyhound racing on ethical and welfare grounds and believe this activity no longer
has support of the majority of people in either Queensland or Australia.
Summary:
There are many welfare concerns about greyhound racing, in addition to the occurrence of live
baiting. These concerns have been largely ignored by racing regulators throughout Australia for
many decades. In more recent times, due to the growing awareness of the number of dogs
killed, the industry have made more attempts to convince the public that they have the welfare
of animals at heart and that ‘all is well’ in greyhound racing. I am of the firm belief that they, the
regulators and state governments are more interested in the appearance than the reality. This is
largely because within this industry exists: a culture and callous attitude towards animals, and
an difference to the large number of dogs killed and indifference to suffering while they are alive.
This indifference is exacerbated by the pursuit of the economic viability of the industry and prize
money for racing participants. Regulators are more interested in maintaining a positive public
2
perception, than actually dealing with animal welfare issues in any meaningful way. This means
consideration for the quality of life for dogs, and not killing them when they are not suitable, will
always come last to the economic realities of this industry. The regulators pursue economic
viability whilst lying to themselves and the public that they are ensuring animal welfare. The
reality is, Racing Queensland and racing bodies around Australia are simply out of touch with
the values and attitudes of mainstream society towards the treatment of dogs. They have shown
they are incapable of reflecting these values through self-regulation and cannot ensure the
welfare of any animal. And because of these reasons I support the closing of commercial
greyhound racing in Queensland.
Content
1. Welfare concerns
2. Live baiting
3. Lack of transparency and regulators not interested in welfare issues.
4. Regulators mislead the public
5. State Governments are not interested
6. Why self-regulation doesn’t work
7. The attitude of racing participants - you can’t make people have compassion for animals
8. Public opposition to greyhound racing.
9. Recommendations.
1. Welfare Issues
The welfare issues within the greyhound racing extend far beyond the issue of live baiting. The
issues are consistent with an industry which basically views animals as commodities to use and
make money from. The fact that live baiting occurs in this industry is not at all surprising. The
type of person that greyhound racing people attracts are often people that view animals purely
as ‘things’, and they often engage in other cruel activities like shooting and pig hunting. 1 This is
why they saw nothing wrong with killing rabbits and feral pigs to be used as live lures for
greyhound training as exposed in Four Corners shows ‘Making a Killing’. Many of the
participants are desensitized to animal cruelty and easily participate in an industry where
thousands of greyhounds are killed and disposed.
There are many welfare concerns within the greyhound racing industry. They range from:
- the large numbers of greyhounds which are bred and killed each year. 2
1
Submission 389 to the NSW Inquiry into greyhound racing raised the issue of the connection between
the shooting industry and greyhounds racing. In addition, often discarded greyhounds are given to pig
hunters with tragic results.
<http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Parlment/committee.nsf/0/16F04415E695DD48CA257C210079
16D9>
2
There is much debate about the number of dogs actually born each year and killed. Greyhound
Australasia only display litter sizes and greyhound names. I personally believe they do not list all
3
- the life of deprivation which many greyhounds endure: in bare paddocks or small cages on
concrete slabs with minimal interaction or stimulation other than racing. 3
- The drugs that are given to greyhounds to mask injuries and/or improve, or impede
performance. 45
- The insignificant repercussions for participants who break the rules and the lack of concern for
the impact and welfare of the dogs if they are given drugs. The industry is concerned about a
even playing field for the punter and not about the health impacts on the dogs. 6
- The bitches that are forced to have many litters which result in serious health problems and
then discarded. 7
- The harsh and cruel training techniques which include live baiting, and other gruesome
techniques trainers use to force dogs to race. 8
- The injuries which greyhounds sustain from race meets and from training which can result in
death or chronic injuries. 9
I have covered many of these issues in my submission 10 to the NSW Upper House Inquiry,
which I have attached to this submission. I encourage you to read it. It includes injury and death
greyhound born because they don’t care and or they don’t want the wider community to know how many
greyhounds are born. GA simple do not collect this information and cannot tell me why.
State racing bodies also do not know how many greyhounds are discarded each year, because they do
not care to know.
3
I have attached submission 500, which was submitted anonymously to the NSW Inquiry into greyhound
racing and which touches on the issue of boredom and deprivation.
4
See the story of Wynny - Drug hound racing. <http://www.drughoundracing.com/>
5
I take my own dogs to see a well respected rehabilitation vet, Toni Lynch, who also used to teach at the
Veterinary School at the University of Queensland. She told me that most greyhounds she has treated
have liver and kidney problems, which she attributes to the concoctions of things given to greyhounds to
make them perform. They are not necessarily illegal or prohibited, but they are detrimental to their health
and they are given to attempt to get a ‘winning edge’.
6
An example of this is the comparison of a number of stewards reports in 2014:
Stewards report 23rd January 2014, Mick Campbell was found to have a trap and unprescribed drugs at
his property. He received a $500 fine.
A stewards report 27th May, Mr Mort received a fine of $1000 for elbowing another trainer.
So an elbow gets a bigger fine for traps and unprescribed medications.
Stewards report 28th Feb 2013, Mr. Goodwin is found guilty of giving a dog a variety of drugs including
amphetamine and receives only a 12 month disqualification.
Stewards report 18th Feb 2013, Mr Miggins is found guilty of giving a dog a variety of drugs including
amphetamine and receives only a 12 month disqualification.
7
See Shandy’s story
<https://www.facebook.com/GreyhoundActionAustralasia/photos/a.534490356585545.122609.19524441
3843476/517308751637039/?type=3&theater>
8
This testimony was received from someone contacting me through the facebook page Greyhound
Racing - Don’t Bet On it.
<https://www.facebook.com/GreyhoundActionAustralasia/photos/a.534490356585545.122609.19524441
3843476/536477699720144/?type=3&theater>
9
People like myself can attest to the chronic health problems that lucky greyhounds must endure as a
result of being made to train and race. One of my own greyhounds has suffered greatly from injuries
which appear not to have been treated correctly. Many greyhounds have scars, muscle and skeletal
problems from racing. This has also been mentioned in my submission to the NSW Inquiry.
10
See attached Greyhound Freedom Submission to NSW Inquiry into greyhound racing.
4
statistics from tracks around Australia for 2012 and 2013.
A recent and local example of greyhound dying from racing: the 9 greyhounds died in 36 days at
Ipswich track at the end of 2014. 11 The table below has the date of injury, the race, the dog’s name,
what sort of injury, and the amount they had previously earned before being put to sleep at the track.
Tuesday 11th Nov - Race 8 STONE FIXER Injured in running, off side hock $7,845
Tuesday 4th Nov - Race 1 GET SET JET Injured in running, off side hock $0
Tuesday 4th Nov - Race 4 NEW ALLIANCE
Injured in running, near side fore $1,885
Thursday 30th Oct - Race 5 HIGH AND MIGHTY
Injured in running, off side hock $25,790
Sun 26th Oct - Race 7 DUSTY CRIB
Injured in running, off side hock $10,790
Sun 26th Oct - Race 10 MISS LUAN
Injured in running, off fore leg $2,625
Fri 17th Oct - Race 5 OHIYESA
Injured in running, off side hock $4,075
Wed 15th Oct - Race 5 EXPLODE
Injured in running, near side wrist $3,215
Tues 7th Oct - Race 9 SUMMERHOUSE
Injured in running, off hind leg $2,680
If the wider community knew that every 4 days a greyhound was dying from serious injuries sustained from
racing at Ipswich track, I don’t think there would be a great deal of support.
11
This information was obtained from Racing Queensland steward reports.
5
2. Live Baiting
I have had a number of people contact me over the last few years with regard to live baiting, either
with general or specific information. It was a challenging situation, as who would I go to with this
information? The people that had knowledge of specific people engaging in this activity were
unwilling to go directly to authorities due to possible repercussions to themselves or animals, or
because they didn’t have enough information. I knew there was no point me going to the RSPCA as
they couldn’t do anything receiving information third hand from me. I also wasn’t willing to go to
racing authorities as I had no faith that they cared or would do anything about it.
I have put two of the testimonies on the Gone are the Dogs website. 12
12
Testimonies on Gone are the Dogs, including Live baiting
<http://www.gonearethedogs.com/testimonies/>
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The other information I received, I haven’t received permission to share, I couldn’t verify, or it is
currently being investigated.
I did include information about live baiting in my submission to the NSW inquiry, but as far as I know,
nothing was done about it. In fact Brent Hogan in his submission to the inquiry said that there was no
evidence of it occurring. The reality is, there was no evidence that Greyhound Racing New South
Wales actually investigated it.
I also raised this issue with the former Queensland Minister for Racing, Steve Dickson. I had a
meeting with Steve Dickson, on the 27th June 2013. Steve Dickson just happens to be my local MP.
One of the issues I raised with him was live baiting occurring within the greyhound racing industry. I
said there were a great deal of anecdotal evidence about live baiting and I urged him to do
something about it. I also informed him that I had had a conversation with Mark Townend, CEO
RSPCA Qld, who also acknowledged that he has also heard information about live baiting. Mark said
that the RSPCA required concrete evidence for them to act and as they hadn’t received any photos,
videos or a witness, then they were unable to investigate. I brought this conversation to the attention
of the Minister. In addition, I told him that I had been given specific information about people who
were live baiting in NSW and so if they were doing it is NSW, there was every chance that it was
happening in Qld and he needed to act. Steve Dickson didn’t seem interested or convinced (to me)
that live baiting was an issue and as far as I am aware he took no action or no further inquiries about
this issue. As we now know, more than 40 people have been implicated from the footage obtained at
Tom Noble’s place. He has been training greyhounds for nearly 50 years and at no point was he
investigated for live baiting.
I have known about live baiting for some time, but unable to do anything about it. If the Minister for
racing doesn’t take the issue seriously and animal lovers are forced to take the issue into their own
hands, it shows that the industry is a failure. Tom Noble and his cronies have caused the suffering
and death of possibly hundreds, maybe even thousands of animals in their greyhound training
careers and prior to the Four Corners expose, not one single investigation about this issue occurred,
not one single person in Qld ( as far as I am aware) has been disqualified, and not one single person
from the industry has deemed this significant enough to report to any authorities.
It is not only a major failure by the regulators, and the government, it reveals the quality of people
that are engaged in the greyhound racing industry. More than 40 people knew about live baiting
occurring at the property and not one single person though that this activity should be reported to
racing authorities. This treatment and barbaric activity had become some normalised and such a
common occurrence they clearly became arrogant about not even being caught about it.
And what is even more significant is, that after the Four Corners - Making a Killing - documentary,
there was great deal of discussion about the issue on industry forums. I have been collecting
comments which indicate that many industry people knew that it was occurring and in fact they
believe that everyone knew. They are annoyed at the regulators for pretending they didn’t know.
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Below is an example of such a comment and I am able to forward more screenshots of such
comments if the reviewer is interested in them. I have approximately twenty more comments in the
same vein as below.
It appears to me that the culture of desensitisation of animal suffering has also permeated the racing
authorities. And why wouldn’t it? Often the people employed by racing bodies are people that have
been involved in the industry for years. The culture is about winning dogs and making the industry
economically viable. It is not a culture of compassion and caring for animals. This is one of the
clearest explanations to me, why live baiting was able to continue for so long without anyone doing
anything about it.
3. Lack of transparency and regulators not interested in welfare issues and wanting to shut
down discussion and exposure welfare issues.
On of the biggest issues from the public's point of view is that there is no transparency about welfare
issues, and members of the public are unable to find accurate information about; number of dogs
born 13, number of dogs adopted, number of dogs killed, number of injuries, number of deaths on the
tracks. It appears that racing authorities and racing ministers are more interested in placating people
who have welfare concerns, then actually genuinely dealing with welfare issues.
These are facts;
I have tried to get greyhound adoption figures from both Racing Qld and the industry run adoption
groups and have never been provided with them.
I have asked Racing Qld where they get the figure of 13% adoption rate from, as advertised in an
information booklet available on the website, and have never been given any evidence of where
they got this figure from. 14
13
No authority will provide accurate figures about the number of greyhounds born in Australia.
Greyhound Australasia provide litter size only and use a figure of 6 or 6.5 average litter size, depending
on who you speak to.
14
Queensland Racing Information Booklet, p84.
8
Figures I have obtained from Greyhound Australasia and from rough figures I received from GAP
staff (they would only give me ball park figures), I estimate the adoption rate of around 4-5% and yet
Racing Queensland have on their website 13% adoption rate.
I have written to Greyhound Australasia, an Australia-wide greyhound body concerned with
uniformity, integrity and longevity, on many occasions. I have never received one reply or one return
phone call. Not one.
I have written to Darren Condon, Racing Queensland Chief Executive, on a few occasions and I
have never received any replies.
I have written to Michael Byrne, the chair of the Qld Greyhound Racing and on the board of Racing
Qld and I didn’t receive a reply.
I have phoned Racing Queensland on many occasions asking questions with regard to welfare
issues and trying to get information. I have spoken to the stewards on a few occasions trying to find
out how often they do inspections of facilities, in particular training facilities. I have rarely been
passed on to anyone willing to discuss welfare issues and provide me with information.
This same attitude at Racing Queensland is prevalent at GRNSW.
I have written to GRNSW and former CEO, Brent Hogan, on many occasions and I have never
9
received even one reply. I was later told in a phone call with Tony O’Mara, the General Manager of
GRNSW that was because I did not live in NSW, that they wouldn't answer my emails.
I have written to Eve McGregor, the former chair of the Board of GRNSW (via personal email) and I
received a reply initially to say that she would contact me when she got back in the office. Well that
was 5 months ago. Maybe she didn’t get back in the office?
I have written to GRV on a few occasions and I received only one reply, which didn’t actually answer
my question.
In addition, I have been threatened with legal action by Michael Byrne,and Racing Queensland in
relation to comments I made about them on Facebook with regard to animal welfare. I received
threatening legal letters insisting I remove my comments. The legal issue seems to be bogus and
said that my comments were misleading and deceptive conduct which is a fair trading/ consumer
issue. I am able to provide copied of communication with regard to this if required. I believe this just
reflects the mindset of Racing Queensland: they do not want people knowing what is going on, they
do not want their activities questioned and they don’t want people criticizing them.
This is the treatment I personally have received from the industry when I have asked questions and
tried to highlight animal welfare issues within the industry. These people are not interested in
welfare, they are not interested in being transparent about the industry's activities: it is my opinion
they simply want me to go away and shut up, even if it means bullying me with legal threats in order
to do so.
4. Regulators mislead the public
Rather than genuinely dealing with welfare concerns, it appears to me that racing bodies are
more concerned with their image and misleading the public that there are not welfare issues
within the racing industry.
A perfect example of racing industry regulators trying to deceive the public;
Darren Condon, Racing Queensland Chief Executive made this statement on 4BC Radio on
April 30th, 2014 - as part of a discussion on greyhound racing, and in response to a billboard
that went up near the M1 south of Brisbane. The billboard had this wording: ‘Killing greyhounds
for gambling is NOT ok’. This billboard was organised by the campaign that I am involved with
Gone are the Dogs.
Darren Condon replied: “they were not aware of greyhounds being killed for gambling”
Everyone who takes an interest in greyhound welfare knows that thousands of greyhounds are
discarded every year by racing participants because they won’t chase, they are injured, or too
slow. It is very difficult to believe that Darren Condon, who holds the most senior position within
racing in Qld, would not be aware of the large number of greyhounds that are born and then
discarded. Therefore, I can only deduct that when Darren made such a comment, that he either
didn’t know that large numbers of greyhounds were killed, which would indicate his total
10
incompetence, or his intention was to deliberately mislead the general public about what really
goes on in the greyhound racing industry.
Just recently Darren Condon made the comment to the media:
“He hadn’t seen anything previously to indicate mass dumping of dogs” 15
Once again, how is it possible that the most senior person in racing in Qld has not heard about
the possibility of greyhounds being dumped? He is just playing on the word ‘dumped’ as
opposed to mass burials. Did he not watch Four Corners and see John Thompson’s comment
about the holes they dig to put dead dogs in? Maybe Darren Condon doesn’t see that as ‘mass
dumping of dogs’.
Darren Condon clearly missed the following news items and stories relating to mass dumping of
greyhounds:
- ‘Woman
Calls for re-investigation into greyhound mass grave on
the Central Coast’.
12 March, 2015
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-12/woman-calls-for-re-investigation-into-greyhoundmass-grave-on-c/6305394
- Drug doping, live baiting and mass animal burials plague
greyhound racing industry in Victoria, says former trainer
24 Feb 2015
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/doping-plagues-greyhound-racing-formertrainer/6252258
I know that someone from Racing Queensland reads the Facebook page - Greyhound Racing Don’t Bet On It, which has 2 stories of mass graves of greyhounds. Did he miss those as well?
They are some time ago, but surely Darren Condon knows that this happened within the
industry?
15
Comment by Darren Condon on 4ABC Radio, 2 April 2015
<http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/more-than-50-greyhound-carcasses-found-in-bundaberg-bushland201504011md2ub.html?stb=twt&utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=nc&eid=socialn%3Af
ac-14omn0013-optim-nnn%3Anonpaid-25%2F06%2F2014-social_traffic-all-organicpost-nnn-smho&campaign_code=nocode&promote_channel=social_facebook>
11
1) Greyhounds found at tip in South Australia
https://www.facebook.com/GreyhoundActionAustralasia/photos/a.534490356585545.122609.19
5244413843476/507008549333726/?type=3&theater
2) Greyhound dumped in a paddock, over fences in Orange, NSW.
https://www.facebook.com/GreyhoundActionAustralasia/photos/a.534490356585545.122609.19
5244413843476/588279407873306/?type=3&theater
So even if there were no specific information or rumours of greyhound dumps or graves in Qld
in recent history, surely Darren Condon knew that dumping greyhounds had occurred in the
past and there was always the possibility that it was still happening? But no, once again Darren
Condon pleads ignorance. He is either a liar or incompetent and it shows how he thinks that the
public are stupid. He is the man at the helm of this industry and if he can’t even be honest,
about what is occurring, then how is it possible that the public have any confidence in the as a
whole organisation?
Darren Condon clearly didn’t remember the following segment on Four Corners
12
5. State Governments are not interested
As mentioned already , I had a meeting with Steve Dickson in 2013 with regard to welfare
issues on greyhound racing. His attitude made me realise that I wasn’t going to get anywhere
with him.
This attitude is prevalent in many sectors in the Qld State Government with regard to welfare
and greyhound racing.
On October 13, 2013 I decided to ring office for the Minister for Agriculture concerned that the
greyhound races were going to go ahead that day, when SE Qld was experiencing a heat wave.
I tried to get someone in the government to show some concern and action to ensure that
greyhound races would not be held.
I spoke to Bruce Mills, Chief of Staff, who said this, word for word:
13
“what is wrong with greyhounds running in 40 degree heat, it is not like they have a jockey on
their back?”.
I wondered who was looking out for animals, as it clearly wasn’t anyone from the Minister of
Agriculture’s office. Even though they administered the Animal Care and Protection act, they
simply didn’t seem to care about the welfare of greyhounds.
These were the dogs that I knew that had already died at Australian tracks in 2013 from fits or
collapsing on the track and I was concerned that more would die if they were forced to race in
temperatures approaching 40 degrees:
- Tuscan Storm - collapsed in catching pen and died 5/6
- Forty Insignia - collapsed in catching pen and died 10/7
- Why Not Lindsay - collapsed and died 7/8
- Nicky Bale - collapsed and died 21/8
- Jacas Mate - died after running. Respiratory failure from pulmonary oedema and haemorrhage. 19/9
- Lend Us Five - cardiac arrest and died - 12/8
- Paper Trail - died after running couldn't be revived - 13/5
- Black Fashion - seizure and heart attack and died - 3/9
- Mega Mac - seizure - 12/2
- Buckle Up Arvo - collapses and had a seizure 19/3
- Suzie La Que - collapsed and pronounced dead 18/1
- Cool Fly - was dead in the catching pen after racing 10/1
- Another Nat - seizure - 16/1
- Hotshot Jake - collapsed 29/3
- Konung Bjorn - suspected seizure 19/4
- As If - collapsed 15/6
- Bee's Girl - collapsed 16/4
The Minister for Agriculture and staff administer the Animal Care and Protection Act and they
don’t seem to be too interested in the welfare of greyhounds.
The Racing Minister is supposed to administer the
Qld Racing Act which has the following main purposes 16 (a) to maintain public confidence in the racing of animals in Queensland for which betting is
lawful; and
(b) to ensure the integrity of all persons involved with racing or betting under this Act; and
(c) to safeguard the welfare of all animals involved in racing under this Act.
But with my experiences, including numerous letters, with the former racing Minister, he was not
interested in my concerns with the racing industry. He never once addressed the issue of the
large number of greyhounds being killed or seriously dealt with concerns about live baiting. He
16
Racing Act 2002 (Qld) s4(1).
14
dismissed these issues, instead his only interests from my perspective was in promoting what a
great industry it was and misleading people how many people were employed by the industry
and the economic benefits. 17
Steve Dickson regularly made comments that could not be substantiated.
A spokesperson for Steve Dickson made the statement that ‘The Queensland Racing Industry is
a recognised leader in the treatment and care of registered racing animals’. 18
I phoned the Minister for Racing and asked on what basis did the make the above statement.
What facts established Racing Queensland as leaders and who recognises them I asked? I
was told to ring the Office of Racing and a staff member told me ‘because in Qld there is
legislation established by parliament’. Yes that was the answer I got. Yes another attempt at
hoodwinking the public that Racing Queensland is doing a superb job.
6. Why self regulation doesn’t work
The fail of the regulators to do anything about live baiting and other welfare issues is entirely
forseeable. Expecting the greyhound racing industry to be at the forefront of animal welfare and
to make it a priority, is like expecting the coal industry to be the leaders of the solar electricity
industry. Ridiculous right?
17
18
Letter from Sunshine Coast Daily Mail. October 23, 2014.
Sunshine Coast Daily Mail, October 2014.
15
There are 4 reasons why self-regulation does not work in terms of animal welfare.
1) The goals and aims of Racing Queensland are diametrically opposed to animal welfare.
2) The purposes of the legislation are diametrically opposed.
3) The culture of racing industry participants, in a particular the callous attitude towards animals,
is also ingrained in the racing bodies and many staff.
4) You can use the welfare of rhetoric; it doesn’t mean that is a priority. You can’t regulate an
industry if you lie to yourself.
1) Goals and aims of Racing Queensland:
The main objectives of RQ as established in the 2013-14 Annual Report include:
- Broaden the appeal of racing
- Optimise attendance and wagering outcomes
- Make it a viable industry
But at no point is there any discussion whether expanding racing, increasing prize money
actually is mutually exclusive to the welfare of animals.
Doesn’t making the industry bigger mean more greyhounds bred and then killed?
Doesn’t that mean more prize money and more incentive to cheat and engage in behaviour
which is cruel if it creates an edge, like live baiting?
Doesn’t that encourage more drug taking to mask injuries or improve performance?
Doesn’t more races, mean more injuries and more deaths?
The economics of this industry mean that the longevity of the industry, the money, the viability is
always placed above the welfare of the dogs in this industry.
If welfare was the priority you would not have an industry, because you would not breed a dog,
deliberately make it do something which there is a risk of serious injury and then kill it. That is
not animal welfare.
2) There is a fiction in the Qld racing legislation, that the purposes can be fulfilled at the same
time.
One of the main purposes is to maintaining public confidence in greyhound racing, but this
actually results in welfare issues being swept under the carpet in order to maintain this public
confidence.
Maintaining the public perception that the industry is great has been to the detriment of animals,
because it means the public doesn’t know what is going on and they can duck under any real
scrutiny, until recently that is.
This results in the misleading and hoodwinking comments that are all about giving the
perception the industry is great and therefore never really doing anything meaningful for the
16
dogs in the industry. We have seen such comments by Steve Dickson, Darren Condon and
Michael Byrne.
Michael Byrne the Chairman of Qld Greyhound Racing has been involved in racing for decades.
His father was a trainer, he owns greyhounds and he is the president of Brisbane Greyhound
Club.and yet he continually ducks and weaves and ignores the serious welfare issues that
plague the industry, in attempts to persuade the public that there is nothing wrong with
greyhound racing. I can only assume that Michael’s ducking and weaving is because he is trying
to fulfil his legislative obligations to maintain public confidence and yet in the same breath he is
ignoring and deceiving the public with regard to animal welfare issues.
Michael Byrne made the following comments:
“The Queensland Racing Board is working tirelessly on all aspects pertaining to animal
welfare” 19
(Just not trying to stop greyhounds being killed and live baiting.)
“ They're loved by the participants and the people who own them... …Greyhounds have to be in
the care of a responsible person from the time they're born to the time they finish racing and go
into retirement.” 20
"It's a great industry “
This comment was made not long after 5 Queenslanders were banned for life due to live baiting.
Michael Byrne has regularly ignored the issue of the number of greyhounds being killed and
seemingly the board has ignored issues of live baiting. Is this because Michael is upholding the
legislation and that the public confidence in racing is the main issue? How it that Michael Byrne,
has is being involved in the industry for decades, races greyhounds and yet he had no whisper
of live baiting in the industry. Was he just trying to uphold the image? Was he putting his
personal interest in racing above all, was he sweeping the issue under the carpet or is he
incompetent?
I clearly don’t know what the answer is and it could be a combination of all these reasons. What
is clear, however, that the object of maintaining public confidence is an objective that is not
consistent with an open discussion about the issues in any industry and it certainly not
conducive to ensuring the welfare of animals, which includes not killing them.
19
The Chase magazine July 2014.
Brisbane Times, 11 October 2014
<http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/logan-greyhound-track-draws-200strong-protest20141011-114s1x.html>
20
17
3) Culture of racing participants
As already raised, many RQ staff have actually been involved in the greyhound racing industry
for years and so the culture and attitude that permeates racing participants, also permeates the
regulators..
I have spoken to stewards on a number of occasions and when I have asked questions with on
a range of issues ( from whether positive swabs for illegal substances are passed on to the
police ot how often kennels and training tracks are inspected etc..).
The attitude I have received from stewards has always been somewhat defensive and
‘everything is alright jack’ kind of attitude. And wondering why I would be concerned about how
often tracks are checked and what sort of training techniques they use.
I understand that many Racing Queensland staff were racing participants themselves and the
attitude towards animals has seeped into the staff. That attitude I am talking about is one that
animals are disposable objects to laugh at and make money. This attitude was clearly prominent
in the Four Corners expose when they laughed and jeered and made fun of animals that were
suffering.
These people are desensitized to animal suffering. It is like they have a seared conscience and I
believed that this attitude infiltrates racing bodies like Racing Queensland, which is why the
deaths of thousands of dogs from racing continues to occur and why live baiting was never
investigated within this industry.
This is another reason why self-regulation does not and cannot work.
The conscience of Racing Queensland has also been seared.
4) Over the last 2 years in Queensland there has been increasing pressure for the greyhound
racing industry to do something about the welfare of dogs, meanwhile they continue to pretend
that they are at the forefront of this issue.
Well it is pretty difficult for an industry to regulate itself properly about animal welfare when they
simply lie to themselves and use rhetoric to convince the world they are doing something when
they are not.
In the Racing Queensland 2012 annual report the number of times the word ‘welfare’ is
mentioned is zero. The number of times the word ‘adoption’ is mentioned is zero. 21
In the Racing Queensland 2013/2014 annual report the number of times the word welfare is
mentioned is 18 times! The word ‘adoption’ is mentioned twice. See how they respond to public
21
Annual Report, Racing Queensland, <http://www.racingqueensland.com.au/pdf/RQL_1213_Final_Report.pdf>
18
pressure. they now throw the word welfare and adoption around more. It doesn’t mean they do
anything, but they like the public to think they do something. In fact they think they are pretty
special:
“We set the standard worldwide in the humane treatment of our animals and champion their
welfare” 22
They make this comment without ANY facts to back it up. There is nothing in the report which
shows that they set the worldwide standard, in fact, I personally believe they just make things
up. And a worldwide standard of large number of greyhounds dying is not much of a standard, is
it?
Racing Queensland are once again trying to use the right rhetoric and make out like they care,
without actually implement strategies that they care about the welfare of dogs. If they did they
would say it is wrong to kill and do something about it.
The perception is always more important that the reality for Racing Queensland. After Darren
Condon spoke on 4BC in April 2014, many people like myself shared the form that greyhound
owners must fill in when their dog dies or is adopted There is the option to say a greyhound was
killed because he or she didn’t perform. Once this became public, do you know what Racing
Queensland did? They changed the form! They didn’t deal with the killing of greyhounds for
non-performance. They changed the form so people in the public couldn’t see their callous
attitude towards animals in writing. It reminds me of when Kentucky Fried Chicken changed
their name to KFC. They didn’t stop frying their chicken, they just changed their name so people
forgot they fried the food. Racing Queensland want us to forget the reason greyhounds are
being killed. They just wanted to improve perception. But it didn’t work.
Old form
22
Annual Report, Racing Queensland, 2013-14. p4.
19
A racing body can’t regulate itself if it is only interested in the perception of what they are doing,
rather than actually what they are doing. If they keep lying to themselves and the public then
self-regulation is detrimental to the welfare of animals.
7. The attitude of racing participants - you can’t make people have compassion for
animals
In 2013 I phoned GRNSW with regard to a specific welfare issue, to see what they had to say
about it. Surprisingly I was put through to Tony O’Mara, General Manager GRNSW, with regard
to this issue. It was about a greyhound puppy that had sustained a fractured fibula, but had
been left several months without veterinary treatment. Eventually that puppy was taken to a vet
clinic to be euthanized. This phone conversation was most intriguing as Tony O’Mara said to
me: “the problem they have in the industry, is they can’t get the people to report welfare issues”.
I don’t think it matters that Tony O’Mara was referring to NSW people. Greyhound industry
participants are the same Australia wide.
Well it doesn’t surprise me as you look at the attitude of the people in greyhound racing.
20
What is clear is that they attitudes do not represent the a mainstream public’s attitude towards
dogs whether they are greyhounds or any other breed.
Janice King is a trainer NSW
This comment was made by a racing participant after the Bundaberg 55 dogs were found:
And here we have the attitude of the Bruce Teague who is a writer for Australian Racing
Greyhound. Bruce who sees nothing wrong with killing greyhounds as long as it done
21
‘humanely’ and sees the Bundaberg greyhounds as simply dumb and embarrassing. 23
And then we have the attitude of Tony Zammit, the president of the Greyhound Breeders,
Trainer and Owners association who said, in response to the 55 Bundaberg dogs being killed - it
makes him angry if done inhumanely. 24
So why doesn’t the death of 55 greyhound make him angry if it is does humanely?
Answer - because the killing of greyhounds in greyhound racing is part and parcel of this
industry and people like him are used to large numbers of greyhound being killed.
The reality is that this view and action of killing greyhounds because they don’t make the grade
is inconsistent with the attitudes of mainstream society in Australia.
8. Public opposition to greyhound racing
The reality is this 23
Australian Racing Greyhound, 4 April 2015. <http://www.australianracinggreyhound.com/australiangreyhound-racing/animal-welfare-australian-greyhound-racing/bundaberg-incident-dumb-andembarrassing-but-thats-all-sofar/63588?utm_content=bufferd56f1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=b
uffer>
24
ALQ calls for resignation of Tony Zammit
<http://alq.org.au/zammit-should-resign>
22
- the Australian public do not support the breeding and killing of dogs for a racing industry.
- they do not support the deliberate use of dogs for something which there is a high chance of
injury either acute or chronic.
- they do not support pushing dogs to their limits by using drugs or otherwise to make them
perform
- they do not support dogs being used like breeding machines.
- they do not support greyhounds being sent to universities for dissection, to China and their
blood being drained before they are killed.
- they do not support the hideous techniques used to train dogs like live baiting.
- they do not support that they live like this ( in the kennel below) so people can gamble: 25
These were online polls published on various media websites in 2014.
I do not have an official poll, because no government agency has ever asked the public whether
they support greyhound racing.
I would imagine that the position toward greyhound racing is even worse since the Four Corners
expose and the discovery of 55 greyhounds in Bundaberg.
25
This is Debra Arnold’s kennel as feature on Four Corners, Making a Killing.
23
9.Recommendations
1. Commercial greyhound racing be abolished in Queensland.
2. Funds to be provided for the re-homing of all greyhounds, including a sanctuary if necessary.
3. Provisions of funds for people working in the greyhound racing industry, in order to retrain
and find alternative work.
-
Submission
No 500
INQUIRY INTO GREYHOUND RACING IN NSW
Name:
Name suppressed
Date received:
1/11/2013
Dear Sirs and Mesdames, INQUIRY INTO GREYHOUND RACING IN NEW SOUTH WALES I live in Queensland and worked in a Greyhound breeding and spelling complex on a seasonal basis from 2002‐2006, most of the time when the owners of the facility went away on holidays. I believe the Greyhound situation is much the same in each State and hasn’t changed since that time, so would like to offer the following comments on the points you are reviewing: (j) Sale and breeding of greyhounds including the market conditions and welfare of animals; (k) The welfare of animals in the industry and the role of Greyhound Racing NSW in establishing and enforcing standards of treatment of animals. It was my experience that the care given to the dogs on the 120 dog licenced property I worked on was just adequate under the “food, water, shelter” umbrella. Bitches were spelled there following racing, waiting to come into heat for mating and be bred from. Over the time I worked there, several bitches were known to be hypothyroid and needed the veterinary equivalent of Thyroxine (Oroxine, Eutroxsig, a thyroid‐hormone replacement medication). I take this medication myself. It needs to be kept refrigerated or at the very least a week’s supply at a time stored below 25oC and discarded after four weeks as quickly loses efficacy. It needs to be given daily, at about the same time each day and is a lifelong medication. At this facility, the medication was stored in a holding cup on the door of each dog’s pen, outdoors. In Summer, temperatures could reach the mid‐40s. The medication was given haphazardly and discontinued after the first prescription was completed. This facility had several dogs boarded at their owners’ cost permanently after retirement from racing. Presumably these dogs were boarded until they died, serving out their term of life imprisonment in a bare pen with nothing to do. Usually they had a large yard (20m x 20m minimum) to themselves, occasionally they would share with another retired dog. These dogs were somewhat forgotten apart from the old “food, water, shelter” tick list – they were not being “watched” for season, they were not valuable racing dogs so not frequently observed for injury risk etc., they were not walked, brushed, washed, or given any other attention that domestic pet species usually have. I know of at least one bitch – we (the other seasonal kennel hand and myself) called her “Nana” ‐ whose teeth had all rotted away and infection had set into her upper palate to the point where she had a hole through it. Nana drooled bloody saliva constantly. She was still given bones to eat and she would walk around with them in her mouth growling at anyone who tried to take them away, but completely unable to eat them. She was unable to chew her food. Nana was quite obviously sick, dull, disinterested in anything but still well enough to feel hungry. Nobody had noticed and certainly nobody had brought it to our attention when we began that work cycle. When we realised what was wrong with Nana, we soaked her kibble in water and treated her with antibiotics. We discussed her situation with the vet over the telephone as we felt it would have been kinder for her to be put to sleep but as permission was required from the dog’s actual owner (not us, nor the facility owners), there was nothing we could do, except bring the condition to the facility owners’ attention when 1 they returned from holidays. We knew Nana’s actual owner would not spend a fortune on corrective surgery and take her into his lounge room and look after her for her remaining days. We realised by raising the situation with the facility owner that we were condemning this dog’s life, but Nana was suffering. Once the facility owners returned from holidays and we advised them, they were quite blasé about it, didn’t see it as a problem, along the lines of “she’ll be right, she’s just old”. This condition was NOT a condition of age, it was a condition of complete disregard for a dog’s health. This was a chronic, long‐term, slow‐developing condition and Nana had been in many Greyhound facilities throughout the country in her life, it was not the responsibility nor the fault of one single person and to me, evidences a complete lack of knowledge of canine husbandry on the part of the industry as a whole. It was around this time that I stopped working at the facility. The other kennel hand told me Nana’s general health picked up a bit after the antibiotic treatment but then she disappeared, presumably was shot and buried which was standard practice there although it never occurred when we were on the premises. Once weaned, litters of puppies were separated from their dam and placed into yards by themselves. There they would stay until they were sold, some of them were there together until adulthood as often whole litters were bought by syndicates and just stayed together until they went off for “education”. The yards were very large, bigger than the standard backyard, so the pups had lots of space, although in my opinion, the shelter sheds were never big enough for the bigger litters because there were always a couple of pups who would guard space and hunt the other pups away from the shade. The shelters may have been physically big enough for eight Greyhounds to lie down in if they’d all lie quietly alongside each other but they weren’t that co‐operative (dogs generally aren’t)! As the shelters were in the centre of large open yards with very few trees, there were often pups or dogs that didn’t have shade, or who went from one small shady patch to the next as the sun moved, all the while avoiding the bullies. Unfortunately none of the dogs on the property were given any form of environmental enrichment. This meant that puppies made their own fun, usually digging holes, massive craters to lie in, little holes to find crickets. Making a moonscape of their pens due to “nothing else to do”, created a danger for the dogs when they played chasing games and leg injuries were common. The other kennel hand and myself frequently provided the pups with things like empty soft drink bottles or cardboard rolls to chew and play with but this was discouraged as it encouraged the dogs to chase each other and injuries may have occurred. This would cost the dogs’ owners money or the facility owner to lose the dogs as boarders and ultimately a leg injury in a young, unraced Greyhound is a death sentence. There were huge mounds of dirt outside many of the pens for the purpose of resurfacing the yards and filling in holes, but I cannot recall this ever being done while I was there, grass just grew over the mounds. Due to lack of environmental enrichment, these litters of pups grew up guarding their food bowls, fighting with each other and killing any birdlife that happened to land in the pens – many times while cleaning up pens I would also scoop up Kookaburra and Magpie carcases. The pens were not overcrowded and there was ample space but boredom does create delinquency and many dogs lost chunks of flesh from fighting with others and I witnessed 2 one dog with its gullet torn out. The wound was wide and flapping, extremely bloody and in my opinion required qualified veterinary attention, surgical repair and a drain inserted. A kennel hand who was new to the property applied first aid and the facility owner was happy with that. I don’t know what happened to the dog. (k) (l) (m) (n) The welfare of animals in the industry and the role of Greyhound Racing NSW in establishing and enforcing standards of treatment of animals. Financial incentives for reducing euthanasia and prosecutions for animal mistreatment. The adequacy and integrity of data collection in the industry, including the number of pups born, the number of dogs euthanased and injury rates, and Any other related matter. I do not believe any financial incentive is possible for reducing euthanasia rates. Once a dog has finished winning money or producing puppies, it has no further monetary value to the owner and is disposed of in the cheapest way possible. At the facility I worked at, the owner told me himself that “good” dogs, i.e., dogs that had won their owners a lot of money and were retired, were shot and buried along the front fenceline. Dogs that weren’t “good”, i.e., dogs that couldn’t run well, had an injury, etc., were shot and buried elsewhere, quite likely with the excrement. Surely someone with an ounce of gratitude or genuine affection for these dogs – as all Greyhound owners, breeders and boarding facility operators claim they have – would do their utmost to find homes for dogs that helped them earn their livelihood rather than expecting someone else to financially reward them for not killing the dog? Why should a financial incentive be offered for something that should be a basic human action? They need to breed less dogs – that will create less dogs to euthanse or rehome and be cheaper for all involved! At any one time I worked at this facility there was an average of 70 adult Greyhounds in residence. It was only the last time I worked there that there were a couple of dogs waiting to be adopted, being boarded at their owner’s cost. Times are not changing quickly enough. Laws for prosecution for animal mistreatment exist in every State and Territory in Australia but the problem is that nobody is watching this industry. There is no independent body visiting facilities and spot‐checking the condition of animals, therefore no reporting or prosecution can take place. Staff (such as myself) working at these facilities, are not in a position to report these types of problems as time and again the old “food, water shelter” rule is presented to us, it becomes a deterrent to reporting as if one does report something, notification of inspection is given to the owners, a cursory inspection is carried out, the boxes are ticked and nothing changes for the dogs. It is too easy to move a Greyhound, in a sea of 70+ Greyhounds, to hide a particular dog with a problem, or for a dog to simply disappear. There are so many ways a dog can disappear, an imaginary snake can bite it, for instance. A system needs to be put in place where independent inspections are carried out without notification, at the cost of the Greyhound Racing Industry. Inspections of facilities, large or small, should be carried out at least twice a year. What would work well is if, for instance 3 one inspection a year (and follow-ups from that inspection for compliance, as necessary)
was carried out by staff and a veterinarian from the RSPCA and then the another inspection
was carried out annually by staff and a veterinarian from AWL, this would leave the system
open to scrutiny and the Greyhound industry is open to all. Every single puppy and dog on
every single facility should be examined thoroughly, not for the owner's benefit as a bulk
veterinary check-up, but for the overall health of the dogs and transparency of the industry.
This is an opportunity for every dog to have it's microchip scanned or one inserted at the
owner's cost if it doesn't not yet have one .
One thing that is not included in your list of things to review is the necessity for people involved in
this industry to have some form of formal education in animal care, to be able to carry out a health
check beyond being able to tell if a bitch is on heat, and to be able to care for dogs throughout their
lives, including aging dogs, to be able to identify the signs of a dog in pain or illness, and to avail
themselves of the use of a qualified veterinarian when necessary, and especially before the dog has
no choice but to make a one-way trip.
In conclusion I would like to say that the family who owned the facility I worked out were a lovely,
Church-going family who would readily give you the shirts off their backs if you needed them.
However, they had no empathy towards the Greyhounds on the property and saw them only as, at
best, income-producing livestock of monetary value, and at worst, bloody mongrels who barked all
night. This is the attitude that needs to change- dogs of all kinds, and Greyhounds are dogs- feel
pain and emotion, they need all their needs met, not just "food, water, shelter''. I do not believe
that conditions would be vastly different at other facilities in other States, I believe it is the standard
and it needs to change.
I would suggest that as a group you go and visit some facilities of all shapes and sizes. Reading
abstractly about a facility with 70 dogs is not the same as being there on a mid-Summer's day and
feeling it. Don't give the owners much warning so they can do a big tidy-up, just go and spend a day,
smell the food (very often it's rank), watch them at feed times, see how much aggression is shown
(aggression is one sign of stress), go into the yards and spend time with the dogs, breathe in the
dusty, faeces-laden air they spend all their days smelling. listen to the frustrated barking and see
the joyful dogs that are forced to live in these conditions because of this self-regulating,
unmonitored "industry". Is this how you'd like your pet Labrador to spend his life? Should
conditions be like this for a Greyhound just because it can run fast?
Yours faithfully,
4
Submission
No 530
INQUIRY INTO GREYHOUND RACING IN NSW
Organisation:
Greyhound Freedom
Date received:
12/11/2013
1 Submission to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into
Greyhound Racing by Greyhound Freedom
Contents Introduction
1. Death and Injuries at New South Wales and Australian Greyhound Tracks – statistics collected by
Greyhound Freedom
- Table A - Australia wide injuries and deaths summary
- Table B – Deaths
- Two examples of greyhounds dying on the tracks in 2013
- Table C – Fractures not included in the death statistics
- Table D - NSW Fractures by Track
- What happens to greyhounds after they suffer fractures?
- Take a look at some of the greyhounds that had fractures
- Table E – NSW Injuries in detail
- Steward reports represent only a part of the injury picture
- Long term medical concerns for greyhounds
- Should racing a greyhound for commercial racing purposes be deemed an act of cruelty?
2. Large Number of greyhounds discarded and killed is unacceptable
- Figures do not include accidental matings and discarded puppies
- Industry participants lie
- More than 3000 greyhounds are killed –
misleads the public
- Extremely poor adoption figures from GRNSW who say its main concern is welfare
- Breeding dogs to race and kill them so we can bet is no longer acceptable
3. Why cruelty and welfare issues don’t get reported
4. Cheap days at vet clinics – they do this because they know the industry participants can’t be trusted
5. Conflict of Interest GRNSW and welfare
6. The NSW govt collects $158 million yet accepts no responsibility for greyhound welfare
7. Attitude of people in the greyhound racing industry
- Why do people race greyhounds?
8. GRNSW trying to mislead the public
9. Syndicates and competitions– no responsibility
10. Hot days and no air conditioning
11. Live Baiting
12. Other industry issues:
-Kennel Inspections
-Breaking in and training establishments
-Dogs being given prohibited substances
-Transferring of dogs to another trainer’s name
-You shouldn’t be allowed to bet on dogs to loose
13. Other health issues in greyhounds
- Brood bitches being overbreed
- Pannus
- Bald Thigh Syndrome of Greyhound Dogs
2 - Drugs
14. Greyhound as Pets
15. Other welfare concerns:
- Exporting to Asia and expansion in China
- Used in research and universities
- Blooding
16. The impact on vet clinic staff on large numbers of greyhound euthanased and blooding
17. Compassion fatigue in greyhound adoption organisations
18. What do leading animal welfare and humane groups think about greyhound racing?
19. A glimpse at what is happening with greyhound racing worldwide
20 Why doesn’t the general public know about the high injury rates, track deaths and high kill rate of
greyhounds?
21.Final word and Dawson
Conclusion
3 Introduction
Greyhound Freedom is comprised of a small group of concerned individuals from around Australia that call
themselves greyhound advocates. We have serious concerns for the welfare of greyhounds on and off the
track.
Some of the information we are presenting concerns not only NSW, but also the racing industry in Australia as a
whole. We believe it is impossible to consider NSW in isolation as the attitudes; deaths and treatment of
greyhounds do not change simply because there is a state or territory boundary. Trainers and owners travel
around Australia to race meets and greyhounds are sold often many times to different trainers in different
states. What happens in NSW has an impact on, and reflects what is happening in other states and vice versa.
Although hearsay and anecdotal information is generally not strong enough to present to an inquiry, we ask that
such information presented by ourselves and other groups not be ignored. In a recent 3 way phone call I had
with both Bill Fanning, the GRNSW Integrity Officer and Tony O’Mara the GRNSW General Manager , they
admitted to me that a “they know they can’t get people in the industry to report welfare issues”. If this is indeed
the case, you need use whatever information you have and go outside the industry to find information and look
at the information welfare advocate groups have, which is often anecdotal. Our concern is not how much money
we can earn or the thrill of winning, our only agenda is the wellbeing of animals.
1. Death and Injuries at New South Wales and Australian Greyhound Tracks
Three years ago Greyhound Freedom tried to find out information about greyhounds that have died on the
track, fractured their legs and general injuries suffered by greyhounds from racing. We did this to try and
ascertain just how dangerous an activity racing was to the health and welfare of greyhounds. Every now and
then you hear about horses breaking their legs and dying on the track, but what about greyhounds? GRNSW
collects a great deal of information and statistics which are available to the public. They provide a plethora of
trainer statistics, dogs’ performance statistics and track statistics. All of it exists to help the punters determine
which dogs to bet on, and yet none of it relates to animal welfare issues like injuries and deaths. We were
unable to find any comprehensive information from GRNSW or Greyhound Australasia (that they were willing to
admit or share with us) so we decided to start looking at the stewards reports that were available online. From
2012 we started collecting all the data that was available publicly.
Here we present the data we collected.
Notes :
1. This data is collected from steward reports available online and in the case of the Northern Territory from
emails sent from a racing inspector from the NT Government.
2. See list of tracks below to see where from where the data was received.
3. This compilation does not represent all races run in Australia. For example is does not include qualifying
heats in Victoria and it does not include these non-TAB tracks in NSW - Mudgee, Potts Park, Tweed Heads,
Coonabarabran , Kempsey, Muswellbrook, Temora, Appin, Armidale, Goulburn, Coonamble, Lithgow, Broken
Hill, Tamworth, Moree, Cowra, Gunnedah, Wauchope, Taree, Young. (Goulburn and Gunnedah have had
some stewards available in 2013).
4 4. To give you an idea of how much racing occurs at these non-TAB tracks: in October 2013 there are 224 race
meets in NSW and 84 of these are at non-TAB tracks where we are unable to obtain steward reports.
- This represents just over 30% of race meets in NSW that we do not have any injury or death information.
5. There may be other races that we are unaware of that do not publish steward reports that we are unaware of.
6. In addition please note that different states report different information:
- South Australia does not report injury types,
- Western Australia does not report deaths,
- New South Wales have stopped reporting deaths.
This means essentially that the deaths and injuries are considerably higher than what we have
recorded.
7. Also note we have previously shared statistics with interested parties via social media. The figures have
changed as we have updated our data.
Disclaimer
We have made all attempts to provide accurate information as is possible. There may be some inaccuracies
due to errors on steward reports and human errors from data entry and collation.
Table A - Australia wide injuries and deaths summary
Year
Aus 2012
Aus 2013 Aus total
Jan - Sept
Dead
184
140
(see table B
below)
(see table B
below)
333
199
(see table B
below)
(see table B
below)
Scratched dead
85
Injuries at the track
7936
Fractures
NSW 2012
NSW
2013 JanSept
NSW
total
224
11
4
15
532
165
82
247
46
131
26
20
46
6466
14402
1583
1274
2857
(see table C
below)
(see table C
below)
Scratched due to injuries
11166
5618
16784
3386
2497
5883
Scratched due to sickness
2 192
2035
4227
1078
908
1986
Vetted, no apparent injuries
8105
6916
15021
2588
2360
4948
5 Dead = Number of greyhounds that either died on the track, died at the end of the race, or were euthanased as
a result of their injuries (regardless of whether they were treatable) or were reported as being deceased at later
due to a race or were told to a Greyhound Freedom person via steward or vet. In other words these greyhounds
left the track in a body bag.
Tracks - NSW : Bathurst, Bulli, Casino, Dapto, Dubbo, The Gardens, Grafton, Gosford, Lismore, Maitland,
Nowra, Richmond, Wagga, Wentworth Park. Qld : Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Ipswich, Townsville,
Rockhampton, Capalaba. Vic : Ballarat, Bendigo, Cranbourne, Geelong, Healesville, Horsham, Meadows,
Shepparton, Sale, Warragul. Sandown, Traralgon, Warrnambool. SA: Gawler, Angle Park, Mt Gambier,
Strathalbyn. WA: Mandurah, Northam, Cannington TAS: Hobart, Launceston, Devonport .ACT – Canberra. NT
– Darwin
From January 2012 – September 2013 there have been a total of 32 073 injury events and 9 048 in NSW.
A look at injury types and deaths in Australia :
Table B - Deaths
Year
2012
2013
Total
Jan - Sept
Died on track or in catching pen
5
12
17
Euthanased due to fracture/s
(see details below)
133
96
226
Euthanased due to head trauma
1
-
1
Euthanased due to dropped
muscles
2
-
2
Euthanased due to severe ligament
damage, severe lacerations,
tendons
1
2
3
Euthanased due to dislocation
2
1
3
Includes heart attack, required
autopsy
6 Died or euthanased reason not
given
40
29
72
Fractured hocks
71
26
97
Fractured foreleg
19
32
51
Fractured radius/ulna
11
13
24
Fractured tibia
8
4
12
Fractured femur
5
1
6
Fractured shoulder
5
-
5
Fractured toes
3
2
5
Fractured metatarsal
3
-
3
Fractured wrist
3
6
10
Fractured elbow
3
4
7
Other fractures
2
4
6
Fractured neck
-
3
3
Fractured back
-
3
3
Description of fractures that
resulted in euthanasia :
The number one reason for a greyhound dying at the tracks was being put to sleep after fracturing a bone.
The number one fracture received that resulted in being put to sleep was a fractured hock.
 Note 17 greyhounds died on the track or collapsing in the catching pen after running. We have not been
able to determine the cause of all of them as the autopsies have not been made public.
Two examples of greyhounds dying on the tracks in 2013
Kool Brock – On the 4th April 2013 at Dapto, Kool Brock came together with another greyhound on the first
turn. Kool Brock fell and broke his neck. Although there is no mention on the stewards report, Brian Daniels, the
track vet for the day, informed me that this dog died on the track. There was no mention of this on the stewards
report as GRNSW, as has been mentioned before, stopped reporting deaths.
7 Jacas Mate – On the 19th September 2013, Jacas Mate collapsed immediately after racing and died. An
autopsy report revealed that Jacas Mate died from respiratory failure and pulmonary odema.
Table C – FRACTURES not included in the death statistics
Some of these will have been euthanased or died, but this information has not been provided on the steward
report so they are just listed as injuries. Some dogs had multiple fractures.
Year
2012
2013
Total Aus
2012
2013
Total
NSW only
NSW only
NSW only
Fractured hock
163
140
303
99
45
144
Fractured foreleg
31
18
49
23
9
32
Fractured radius/ulna
7
7
14
-
-
-
Fractured tibia
1
4
5
1
1
2
Fractured femur
2
3
5
1
-
1
Fractured shoulder
14
10
24
7
5
12
Fractured toe
49
39
88
19
10
29
Fractured metatarsal
9
29
38
2
5
7
Fractured wrist
9
5
14
5
3
8
Fractured elbow
8
1
9
5
-
-
Other fractures
24
14
38
3
2
5
Fractured tail
6
4
10
1
2
3
Fractured neck
(likely to be dead)
2
-
2
1
-
1
Fractured fibula
3
2
5
-
-
-
Fractured spine
(likely to be dead)
1
4
5
-
-
-
Skull/ nose
-
2
2
1
-
1
8 Table D NSW Fractures by Track
Track
2012
2013
(Jan –Sept)
Total
Bathurst
14
6
20
Bulli
4
4
8
Casino
16
-
16
Dapto
18
8
26
Dubbo
10
9
19
Gardens
24
13
37
Grafton
2
3
5
Gosford
11
3
14
Lismore
9
-
9
Maitland
10
6
16
Nowra
11
7
18
Richmond
18
13
31
Wagga
5
-
5
Wentworth Park
13
10
23
Gunnedah & Goulburn
-
4
4
Once again please note: NSW have stopped reporting whether greyhounds died or the track or were put to
sleep as a result of injuries. Often the greyhounds that are put to sleep are given no stand time.
They don’t need time to recover if they are dead.
In 2012 - 77 in NSW dogs with fractures were given no stand time, which may be indication there were put to
sleep at the track
In 2013 – 34 in NSW dogs with fractures were given no stand down
It is possible that these dogs were euthanased, but it was not recorded As you would expect the tracks with more races had more fractures.
9 Also note that Casino had 16 fractures in 2012 and none so far in 2013. Is it because they have improved the
track or they are not listing fractures anymore? I spoke to someone from Casino in November who insisted that
everything was recorded and said they haven’t done anything different to their track other than add water. He
wasn’t happy about being questioned to say the least.
What happens to greyhounds after they suffer fractures?
Greyhounds will generally take 2- 12 months before they can race again if at all, depending on the fractures. So
we have looked at the greyhounds with fractures that occurred on NSW tracks in 2012 to see whether they
raced again
NSW greyhounds that had fractures in 2012. Where are they now?
Of the 165 greyhounds with fractures after racing on NSW track in 2012 - 152 out of 165 did not race again.
This was determined by looking at the GRV fasttrack website
Of the 13 greyhounds with fractures that raced again;
7 - broken toes,
2 - broken bones in the feet
2 - broken shoulder bones,
1 broken nose,
1 broken tail.
Most of these are less severe fractures, as would be expected.
Of the 152 greyhounds that did not race again, 11 have been used or will be used for breeding.
We don’t know what happened to the other 141 greyhounds that did not race again or are not being used for
breeding.
92% of greyhounds with fractures did not race again
None of the greyhounds with hock injuries raced again.
For the 141 greyhounds that did no race again and are not being used for breeding there is no way of knowing
what happened to these greyhounds unless the owners or GRNSW tell us. We suspect the majority of these
greyhounds will be dead.
So that is potentially another 141 greyhounds that need to be added to the DEAD column.
Take a look at some of the greyhounds that had fractures;
Broken legs usually cost thousands of dollars so it is highly unlikely that the majority of dogs would have
received the expensive medical treatment required to fix these breaks . Many of the dogs had not even ‘earned’
their owners any money;
- ‘Demolition Jack’ broke a foreleg on his first race at Bathurst on the 4th June 2006 and had ‘earned’ his owner
10 a total of $20. Do you think thousands will be spent fixing his leg?
- ‘Zin Zin Zumba’ broke a foreleg and ‘earned’ $20 over 2 races,
- ‘Frisky Marble’ broke a foreleg at Nowra on her the first turn, on her first race and had ‘earned’ $40 for her
owners.
- The greyhound
received a broken foreleg at Dubbo in November 2012. She had ‘earned’ just
$255 for the syndicate that owned. The possibility of the syndicate forking out the money for her operation is
almost nil. It seems that the chance of getting medical treatment and being re-homed reduces if the dog is
owned by a syndicate. More about this later.
is most certainly dead. Incidentally I phoned Dubbo
race track to find out whether
was put to sleep and the response I got is “Why do you want to
know?” and “We don’t have that information”.
Why all the secrecy, is there something wrong with a greyhound dying from racing or not?
I have encountered similar attitudes when I have phoned or emailed tracks, trainers and owners to find out the
whereabouts of a particular dog. No one wants to admit to me a dog was put to sleep. Maybe they don’t want to
admit a dog ran for its life and died.
Table E – NSW Injuries in detail
Note there are injuries than injury events as some dogs had multiple injuries
Injury
2012
(some dogs have multiple
injuries)
2013
Jan - Sept
Fractures already mentioned above
165
82
Legs (hock, hind etc)
200
140
Shoulder
230
115
Muscle torn or pain
(pin, bicep etc..)
244
328
Groin
185
194
Wrists
104
107
Hips
133
112
Torn or Dropped back muscle
36
49
11 Lacerations/ deep lacerations
105
81
Back
25
19
Webbing Split
52
35
Neck
18
19
Foot
72
60
Toes
57
43
Elbow
15
21
Hamstring
7
8
Sever Bruising
5
3
Ligament or tendon ruptured
18
16
Dislocation
19
24
Torn dew claw or nail
19
5
Tail broken or amputated
3
1
Cramping, severe cramping
5
16
Spike Marks
13
14
Heat stress/ stress/ winded/ thumps 7
11
Chest
18
20
Concussion
2
4
Vomiting
1
-
Blood in urine
2
-
Acidosis
2
-
No details. other
18
13
Ruptured blood vessel
-
2
Total Injuries at 14 tracks
1615
1460
Total injury events at 14 tracks
1582
1274
12 In 2012 and 2013 so far there was a total of 3075 injuries recorded at 14 NSW tracks on race days.
What this information doesn’t tell us is how severe these injuries were and whether it stopped them from racing
again.
Steward Reports represent only a part of the injury picture The problem with these tables:
 There are more than 20 tracks that are not included in the data
 It gives you no indication of the severity of the injury
 It also doesn’t show the injuries that will be picked up the next day or later on.
It does not reflect the pain and suffering that may last the rest of their short life or if they are lucky to be adopted
the rest of their adopted life.
John Kohnke, an Australian expert in racing greyhound and author of the book “Veterinary Advice for
Greyhound Owners” 1993 , had this to say at a greyhound conference ;
“Studies of the types and incidence of injuries on race tracks indicate that only a very small percentage
of injuries which occur on the race track are actually recognised and diagnosed on the day or evening
of the race.”
John Kohnke has also pointed out that 50% of greyhounds sustain one or more minor injuries and only 16% of
major injuries are diagnosed at the track.
Aetiology and Epidemiology of Racing Injuries .An Australian Perspective. By John Kohnke BVSc RDA
http://www.greyhoundvets.co.uk/pdf/conf%202012/Aetiology%20and%20Epidemiology%20of%20Racing%2
0Injuries%20John%20Kohnke%20SGV%20Conference%202012.pdf John Kohnke aslo says this in his newsletter;
“Many stress related conditions, such as subclinical cramping, post-race urinary shutdown and
respiratory distress can occur with obvious external physical signs within 1-6 hours after a hard race.
However, a number of less common metabolic and other conditions related to extreme physical
exertion, often without visible symptoms, can also affect greyhounds over the 6-72 hours during the
post-race recovery period”
http://www.stargreyhoundproducts.com/assets/LetsTalkGreyhounds%20Issue2 1.pdf So it is quite clear, that although there were 3075 injuries on the track there are so many more injuries, pain and
suffering that we are unable to record and establish.
Long term medical concerns for greyhounds We are unable to obtain data about the long term impact of racing on the health of greyhounds, but we do know
from our own experience and anecdotal evidence from adoption groups that this issue needs serious
consideration.
13 One can get a picture of what we the acute injuries are for greyhounds, but what impact does it have on their
muscles, their skeletons for their entire life?
Probably the most common problems seen in ex-racing dogs are musculoskeletal injuries.
Strains, sprains, ruptured muscles, and avulsions and tears of tendons and ligaments are frequently found.
Some of the more common injuries are those of the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons leading to a
"dropped toe" or the gracilis muscle, known as a "dropped back muscle."
(from “Care of the Racing Greyhound”, by Blythe, Gannon and Craig)
We also know from our own greyhounds that there is a high incidence of arthritis, pain, muscle and joint
problems. So the injuries they endure on the track can continue to plague them throughout their whole life.
Greyhound adoption groups have many stories of greyhounds, their injuries, their pain and the long term
medical care required as a direct result of their racing “career”. Should racing a greyhound for commercial racing purposes be deemed an act of
cruelty?
What the greyhound industry will try and do to deflect the seriousness of these injuries is to look at the
percentage of animals that are injured as per the number of greyhound races. The problem with this approach
is that it totally negates the very real suffering and pain inflicted on each individual dog that races and receives
an injury. These dogs not only suffer injuries, but as we have mentioned often they will have ongoing health
problems throughout their life if they are lucky enough to be re-homed.
If you look at this reality and what individual greyhounds endure, there is no way this could not be called
deliberately inflicting pain and suffering on an dog :3075 injuries in NSW, more than 756 greyhound dying at the
track or breaking legs, 50 % of dogs suffering some sort of injury either minor or severe, 92% of greyhounds
with fractures never racing again and injuries like this : severe near side hind leg & tear near side thigh, severe
laceration nearside hind leg, cracked offside shoulder, severe dropped offside back muscle, concussion &
lacerated tongue, extreme case of cramping, torn offside back muscle, head and neck injury,suffering mild
concussion, severe back injury, serious offside fore leg injury.
There is whole gamut of other injuries which are directly related to pushing a greyhound to perform to its limit
including acidosis, and water diabetes,:
* “Acidosis is a term used to describe soreness and swelling (‘blowing up’) of the backline and hind limb
muscles following a sprint exercise and racing in an otherwise healthy greyhound.”
* The term ‘racing thirst’ is used to describe an excessive thirst for water that can develop within hours of a
hard race, leading to the passing of large volumes of dilute urine and dehydration.
The humans who race greyhounds know that injury is part and parcel of this industry. They know there is
always a risk. They know that there is a high chance of harm and suffering could result from racing their
greyhound.
There is not a clear definition of cruelty in the NSW Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979, however, we do
know that is an offence 3) A person in charge of an animal shall not fail at any time:
(a) to exercise reasonable care, control or supervision of an animal to prevent the commission of an act of
cruelty upon the animal
So if a human deliberately engages in an activity in which there is a 50% chance of injury and there is always a
14 chance of a serious, life threatening injury that causes suffering, how can racing a dog be deemed “to exercise
reasonable care to prevent an act of cruelty upon an animal”? Industry participants are making their dog do
something which there is a high chance they will suffer.
Greyhound racing deliberately inflicts injury, pain and suffering on to animal.
We also ask this question: how many greyhound die, break bones, suffer dropped muscles, have concussion,
received lacerations, suffer head trauma, break their hocks, suffer stress before racing them is considered a
cruel and a breach of the Prevent of Cruelty to Animals Act? How many does it take? Is the cruelty to individual
greyhounds not enough or 3075 greyhounds not enough?
Recommendations
 Acknowledge that members of the general community deem the very act of greyhound racing committing an
offence in accordance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ACT.
All deaths be recorded on steward reports, whether the dog died itself or was put to sleep as a result of
injuries suffered.
 All injuries and deaths to be recorded for all NSW tracks and races not just TAB tracks.
 A summary of all deaths, fractures and injuries be made publicly available.
GRNSW should encourage all racing bodied in Australia to follow suit and make this death and injury
information available and easily accessible to the public for all tracks in Australia.
If there is nothing wrong with greyhound racing, then there is nothing for them to hide.
Greyhounds receive injuries when turning corners, crashing into each
and falling
2. Large Number of greyhounds discarded and killed is unacceptable
The Australian greyhound racing system cannot exist without breeding and disposing of large numbers of dogs,
because the economics of this industry mean that you have to get a fast dog, fast dogs means higher earnings.
It is this aspect of the industry which is particularly abhorrent and which the industry has done very well so far in
covering up. But they can’t keep it hidden any longer.
15 In 2012 Brent Hogan the GRNSWCEO said in the ABC story on Background Briefing on greyhound racing that
3000 greyhounds were killed each year in the NSW racing industry. We believe it is significantly more than this.
The problem is that it is incredibly difficult for the public to obtain accurate information about greyhounds that
have been ‘discarded’ in NSW and Australia as a whole (as the industry calls greyhounds that are not good
enough to race due to injury or lack of performance).
Figures do not include accidental matings and discarded puppies
In 2012 after questions were asked in the NSW Parliament about the racing industry we know how many were
born in NSW from 2003 to 2011, however, these figures do not include greyhounds that are discarded before
they are registered (ear tattooed) and it does not include unregistered or accidental matings which are all
consequences of a racing industry. So whatever figures we achieve do not represent the full picture.
I recently spoke to Tony O’Mara and Bill Fanning from GRNSW about a particular investigation of a cruelty
case. It involved a greyhound puppy called Dawson. Dawson suffered a serious leg injury at 6 weeks of age.
The injury was deemed to be a fracture of the tibia, and yet the owner did not seek further vet treatment and the
leg was left in that condition for 2 more months, before he was eventually taken back to the vet to be put to
sleep. Tony and Bill questioned why this greyhound would have an ear tattoo when clearly he would not be
suitable to race? In this case he was given an ear tattoo. This shows to me that greyhounds if they are not
deemed suitable would not be tattooed and therefore not registered with GRNSW. These dogs would be then
lost and unaccounted for. How many greyhounds does this happen to? How many more puppies are born that
we have no idea of because they didn’t show the right traits or had medical problems.
We have been given anecdotal evidence and testimonies from people who used to be in the industry about
puppies being drowned.
“I actually found a brown sack on day when washing my hands in the river than ran through the
property, full of dead newborn pups”
from someone who used to be involved in the racing industry but wishes to remain anonymous due to concerns
for his wellbeing from exposing the industry.
Industry participants lie
We also know that industry participants lie about the nature of how greyhounds die and as expressed in this
comment on a greyhound forum.
“Getting Bit by a snake or running into a post can only happen so many times before they become weak
excuses”
June 28th 2012 in a discussion about high euthanasia rates on the Greyhound Knowledge
Forum
More than 3000 greyhounds are killed –
misleads the public
16 From the questions asked in NSW Parliament 2012 we know there were the following births recorded from 2003
– 2011 there were 80 133.
If you look at the Greyhound Australasia website and how many litters there were, you can work out that there
were on average 7 greyhounds per litter.
So we can see that on average there were 8900 recorded greyhound births.
So we can estimate that from 2003 – 2012
Greyhounds live on average 12- 14 years of age. In theory, not accounting for accidental deaths and illnesses,
there should be 89 0000 greyhounds still alive. But where are there?
there were over 89 000 greyhound born in NSW.
In NSW according to the Division of Local Government, from correspondence I had with them in September
there were currently 2 5T51 greyhound registered as pets, and 6150 greyhounds registered with GRNSW as
racing greyhounds. hat only totals 8 701 greyhounds. Where are the rest of the 80 000 or so greyhounds?
Brent Hogan has admitted that 3000 are killed each year. This amounts to 33 000 greyhounds – as staggering
as that figure is – but where are the other 47 000 or so greyhounds?
Extremely poor adoption figures from GRNSW who say its main concern is welfare
On a number of occasions I have requested the adoption figure from Greyhounds As Pets from GAP
themselves, from GRNSW . Neither organisation was willing to give to give me this information. I asked for their
financial year adoption figures but was refused. The only figures I could fine was in an annual report which said
in the first year of operation GAP re-homed 43 greyhounds. In addition it was announced in the 2012 questions
in Parliament they have re-homed 300 greyhounds since 2009.
What do GAP and GRNSW have to hide? Why do they want to keep the figures so private? Not even the NSW
Minister for Racing or the Minister for Agriculture (who administers the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act)
knows how many greyhounds are adopted. I suspect they don’t want these figures released as it highlights what
a poor job they are doing, especially when you consider that independent adoption groups like Greyhound
Rescue and Friends of the Hound are now re-homing over 100 are year each and together have re-homed well
over 800 greyhounds with no industry support or involvement.
The 300 greyhounds re-homed represents .0003% of the estimated 80 000 greyhounds born in NSW over the
last 11 years. It is a figure the whole industry should be ashamed of.
So what happened to all the other greyhounds, where did they go, how were they killed?
These are answers that need to be addressed and immediately.
17 Breeding dogs to race and kill them so we can bet is no longer acceptable
The community’s attitude towards animals is changing and people no longer see them as commodities. To
breed an animal to make it race, and then kill it purely so humans can bet it simply not acceptable in the
community. It is entirely out of touch with what is ok and means to live in civilized society.
Killing 3000 a year or the more realistic figure of 8000 a year is no acceptable in this day and age.
Killing even one single dog because it is not suitable for racing, it has injured itself or it has retired is not even
acceptable. The only acceptable reason to kill an animal is to euthanase them humanely when they are
suffering. And not because you have made them do something like racing which has caused them serious
injury. Killing animals for betting is NOT acceptable.
Recommendations
 All greyhounds need to be tracked from birth to deaths
 This information needs to be publicly available, if there is nothing wrong, what does the industry have to
hide?
The industry needs to take responsibility for the life of every single animal that it breeds. An adoption and
welfare fund which is financed by an increase in registration fees and a portion (a suggested 1%) of the NSW
Government receives from betting, to pay for retirement for every single dog. This fund should also be available
for greyhounds requiring veterinary treatment where the participants cannot afford.
 A small number of greyhounds are not suitable to be re-homed, largely due to either the high prey drive or
poor socialisation of the dog, which is again another industry failure; therefore these dogs should be looked
after in greyhound sanctuaries which are financed by the fund.
If the cost of providing for the retirement of 8900 greyhounds breed a year is prohibitive then the breeding
restrictions need to be introduced.
The re-homing and adoption of greyhounds should not be restricted to industry run adoption groups like
Greyhounds as Pets. We will deal with this issue later, but there has been a great deal of in effective and
deceptive behaviour from this organisation. Other independent groups and charities or private bodies should be
involved as well provide a higher rate of re-homing and rehabilitation.
 The fund should also be used to assist those leaving the industry find resources and support if they have a
large number of greyhounds they are unable to keep.
 A separate fund should exists to help greyhound racing participants deciding to seek employment and
training in other industries which not exploit and kill animals. Education, counselling and financial support
should be considered.
3. Why cruelty and welfare issues don’t get reported
It should be acknowledged that the industry and welfare groups generally don’t report welfare issues. The lack
of reports does not accurately reflect welfare issues in the racing industry.
18 1. As mentioned in the introduction Bill Fanning and Tony O’Mara from GRNSW openly admitted on the phone
to me that the industry “participants don’t report welfare issues”. There could be a great psychological debate as
why this is so, but regardless of the reasons this is the reality. Which ultimately means a change in strategy and
an outside, independent body needs to be actively and aggressively investigating welfare issues.
2. Veterinary staff won’t report cruelty and high kill rates as they believe that the industry participants won’t seek
veterinary treatment which leads to further cruelty and welfare issues.
3. Adoption and rescue groups generally won’t report welfare issues because they believe if they report
someone then they won’t be given any dogs to save either direct from trainers or from veterinary clinics. There
is this constant unspoken threat “we’ll just kill the dogs if you say anything”. This threat is very real and very
pervasive. I know someone who saved a greyhound in Qld that was severely beaten and couldn’t walk properly.
This person wanted to make sure she had saved more dogs before reporting to the RSPCA, as she believe this
person would do anything he could to hurt the dogs if he founds out. The trainer that is responsible for the
treatment of this dog is well known to
clinic in Brisbane and yet they haven’t reported this trainer (as far as
I know either). This is one reason why the abuse and poor “management” of greyhounds, amongst some
trainers and owners, that treat their dogs poorly, is allowed to continue.
4. Cheap days at vet clinics – they do this because they know the industry
participants can’t be trusted.
Many vet clinics around Australia that have greyhound racing clientele offer cheap euthanasia rates.
One such vet clinic is Northern Rivers Vet Clinic in Casino NSW. They have a special rate of $20 for
greyhounds on Thursdays. The reason they offer this service they claim, as do many other vet clinics, is they
want to offer a humane way of killing (killing is our word, not theirs). The cost to euthanase a pet dog of 30kg is
around $110 depending on the clinic.
This is quite important as it highlights this important issue: vet staff recognise the potential for racing
participants to dispose of greyhounds using means that are deemed humane such as shooting, hanging,
drowning, buried alive, fed to crocodiles, dumped and left to die, etc..
So matter how much GRNSW or the participants cry that the welfare of greyhounds is the most important
aspect of racing, and how much they love their greyhounds. Money speaks louder than words. Vets are willing
to forgo the possibility of receiving $110 for a euthanasia service for only $20 as they know the sort of people
that congregate in this industry cannot be trusted to do the right thing by their dogs if it costs too much.
- Recommedations
 Establish mandatory reporting of cruelty complaints and welfare issues for industry participants.
 A separate body to actively and aggressively investigate all aspects of greyhound racing, cruelty complaints
19 and welfare issues
 A welfare hotline to be established to report welfare issues.
5. Conflict of Interest GRNSW and welfare
The NSW Greyhound Racing Act of 2009 establishes one of the main roles of Greyhound Racing New South
Wales is to initiate, develop and implement policies considered conducive to the promotion, strategic
development and welfare of the greyhound racing industry in the State
There is no mention of welfare issues in the Racing Act, only the “welfare” of greyhound racing.
This position of GRNSW is in direct conflict with the welfare of greyhounds. The promotion and expansion of the
racing industry is the goal, not the welfare or greyhounds. If there is a decision to be made which may impact
the welfare of greyhounds the economic decision always overrides the welfare of greyhounds.
Tony O’Mara is the General Manager of Growth and Sustainability and yet he is re has been given the
responsibility for welfare issues. It seems that GRNSW are only interested in welfare is as much as they don’t
want welfare issues to affect the growth and sustainability. It is a bit like getting the fox to watch the hen house.
If you main goal is to steal the eggs you are not going to make welfare of the chickens your main responsibility.
6. The NSW govt collects $158 million yet accepts no responsibility for
greyhound welfare .
The NSW government happily collect millions of dollars from betting and yet accept no responsibility or
involvement with the welfare of animals.
The Minister for Racing has no involvement with welfare issues.
The Minister for Agriculture has no involvement with the racing industry except if cruelty cases are reported
directly to the DPI, even then they may be passed on to GRNSW.
Neither Ministers have knowledge, involvement or collection information on greyhound adoptions, deaths,
injuries, kill rates, kennel inspections or other welfare issues. It is all left up to a body, GRNSW, which is totally
independent and not subject to direction or control to deal with these issues.
If the government wants to tax the betting industry, it needs to take responsibility for the issues it creates.
You have created a body, GRNSW which is a law unto themselves and not answerable anybody and you have
wiped your hands of any involvement with the welfare of animals which are exploited to obtain these finances.
20 7. Attitude of people in the greyhound racing industry Like any industry there is a spectrum of attitudes and treatment of animals.
There is a predominant attitude amongst greyhound racing participants that there dogs are treated as “kings
and queens”. What they mean I am not really sure. Maybe they think providing food and shelter and the fact
that they are not being beaten up is a luxurious life. The majority have no qualms about the large number of
greyhounds killed.
This honest statement recorded on social media sums up nicely and succinctly the attitude of many in the
industry
. What seems to be the overriding concern is that this activity is allowed to continue with as little rules as
possible and how much money they can earn.
them
from
on social media openly admits to taking pups off the vets when he couldn’t sell
21 An attitude that is extremely hard to swallow is the attitude of participants that would have their dogs killed, even
though someone offers to re-home them. We have heard a number of situations where a veterinary member
has offered to help re-homed greyhounds booked in to he put to sleep and many have said NO! They worry that
they will be breed and someone else will win money, they make excuses they don’t know what sort of a home
they will go to, they despise people who re-home greyhounds as they know many are against greyhound racing.
Why do people race greyhounds ?
Many people in the industry participants because of the thrill of a win
“Once you have tasted that winning feeling you just want more and more success”
- Sharp Greyhound Racing website
Greyhound Australasia tell us that 95% of greyhound racing participants are classified as hobbyists.
Why do dogs have to suffer and die so humans can have a hobby and have the thrill of a win?
80 0000 greyhounds discarded and 756 deaths and fractures so humans can have a hobby and the thrill of
winning. What sort of humans are we?
8. GRNSW trying to mislead the public
Covering up the number of greyhounds killed
I believe that
and GRNSW are trying to mislead the public and cover up the grim reality of this
industry. I do understand why they are trying to cover up, because if the reality of this industry was exposed to
the general public then there would be a bigger push to close it down.
In 2012 Brent Hogan said in the ABC report in Background Briefing that 3000 greyhounds were euthanised as a
result of the racing industry. It is interested that this figure is so nice and neat and rounded? As mentioned
above our figures that is more like 8000 a year that are disposed.
The bogus Dapto inquiry
In April 2013 it came to my attention that 3 greyhounds died in one night at Dapto on the 10th April. It was not
mentioned in the steward reports (of course) so I rang up the track vet Brian Daniels to confirm this. Brian
Daniels told me honestly what happened to the dogs. One greyhound broke its neck and died on the track. The
2 other dogs had fractures and were subsequently put to sleep. I rang up the local Illawarra paper and asked if
they would do a story on it. They were very interested and ran a story the next day. Interestingly enough Brent
Hogan launched an investigation.
Well I have tried to find out what has happened to this investigation and have just been given a run around by
GRNSW. I personally don’t believe there was one and why would there be? Greyhound racing sometimes kills
dogs, it happens when you run at high speed. So I don’t believe there is an investigation. I believe that Brent
22 Hogan as lied to the public, misled the public as he needs to put out some flames. Further more I would like to
know where are the investigations with other track where there have been high injury rates -
3rd March 2012– 3 greyhounds broke legs at Bathurst and have never raced again. It is possible all were put to
sleep on race night. There was no inquiry.
3rd May 2012 – 3 greyhounds broke legs at Dapto and have never raced again. It is possible all 3 were put to
sleep on race night. There was no inquiry.
10th May 2012 – 3 greyhounds broke legs at Dubbo and have never raced again. It is possible all 3 were put to
sleep on race night. There was no inquiry
Where was the inquiry after these injuries happened? Maybe there will only be an inquiry when I ring the media
and get the story in the paper?
Hiding the number of deaths. In 2011 on social media we started sharing information about greyhounds being
injured and dying on the track. In 2011 greyhound dying or being put to sleep were mentioned on NSW steward
reports, but they are not anymore. The only way to find out if greyhounds died or were put to sleep is to speak
to the owners/ trainer, the vet or the track. On many occasions I have tried to find out this information and as
expected, people are not forthcoming. I believe that GRNSW have deliberately tried to hide deaths on NSW
tracks and furthermore I believe that greyhounds that fracture legs are not always listed as fractures now to
cover up the number of occurrences.
Misleading the public that there are no cruelty complaints
After a recent ABC 7.30 Report on the racing industry
released this statement;
“Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) today received confirmation from RSPCA NSW that there is currently no
evidence or investigation to suggest acts of animal cruelty are occurring in the greyhound racing industry in
NSW.”
When I questioned
and
recently on the phone I asked: so you are telling me that
GRSW have never had greyhound cruelty cases to investigate and neither to the RSPCA? Their answer was no
,that what
meant was that there were no CURRENT investigations. Talk about totally misleading
the public and industry participants. It actually could be considered not just misleading, but an outright lie.
GRNSW have resorted to lies and falsehoods because they know people are finding out just how disgusting this
industry is.
9. Syndicates and competitions– no responsibility
Syndications are a way for the general public to own a greyhound and get involved in greyhound racing.
Syndicate members pay an upfront fee and some up keeping fees and share a proportion of the winnings
The problem with this type of system is that it makes it very easy for syndicate members to ignore that this is a
breathing, sentient being and the dog is viewed purely as a money making scheme, as an “investment”.
Quite often syndicate members have not even met “their” greyhound. There is no mention of what happens if
23 the dog is not good enough to race, if they get injured or when they retire. There is no mentioned, no plan in
place or money kept to look after the dog if there is a serious injury. There is little consideration given what
happens to the dog if it is not winning money.
Last year the Hoey Moey Pub in Coffs Harbour advertised shares in a greyhound to be managed by the pub.
When we spoke to the Pub management there was no mention or discussion of what happens if they injure
themselves racing or what happens if they are not good enough or retired. The discussion was all about how
much money you could win.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012‐11‐12/north‐coast‐pubs‐poised‐to‐race‐
greyhounds/4366966?&section=news
We did a survey of syndications in Australia and looked at the information to see whether there was an mention
or discussion of what happens if the dog has an injury or what happens when it retires
Predominantly syndications are about encouraging people to invest their money in a product.
Race a Chaser says ;
“Does it ever happen that a racing greyhound doesn’t win any prizemoney?
“Never. If you greyhound is fit and injury free, Race A Chaser will always place your greyhound to its
best advantage to maximise your ownership experience and your financial returns.”
Sharp Greyhound Racing
“Our goal is to provide members a chance to enter the Greyhound Racing Industry at an easy,
affordable cost and enjoy the thrills of Greyhound Racing”
Greyhound Racing and Syndication at least were honest about the risks
“Because of the risks involved in greyhound racing, we would like each member to know exactly what
they will be getting into before committing. I am more than happy to discuss all the risks involved to all
members. It can be a lot of fun, but can also bring a lot of disappointment. Not all greyhounds will make
it to the track and this is one of the risks in greyhound racing. On the other hand, we may strike a classy
race dog/bitch that wins many races”
Only one syndication we came across emphasised the life and welfare of the greyhounds instead of the
investment however, they were not representative of the syndicate websites we looked at
“Oz Greyhound Syndicates is motivated by seeing their dogs live long, healthy lives beyond their racing
careers with an emphasis on enjoyment rather than profitability for shareholders”
The structure of syndicates mean that it seriously diminishes the responsibility that people have to take for the
welfare of a greyhound. There is no requirement for syndications to concern themselves with the long term
welfare of the dog. Unless syndicate systems can be revamped to provide for the welfare and life of a
greyhound, they should be phased out.
Recommedations
It should mandatory for syndications to explain to prospective shareholders about welfare issues, injuries and
what happens to the dog if they are good enough or when they retire. They need to have a plan in place to pay
for medical and injury costs for dogs and a plan for it to have a home it if is not good enough to race, it is injured
24 or it is retired. It is not good enough to simply say GAP.
GAP do not re-home many dogs and have limited places. If there is no comprehensive plan to provide for the
welfare of this dog, the syndication should not be able to be registered.
Compulsory for syndications to tell the purchaser what will happen if the dog gets injured, the costs
associated and what is going to happen when if it is injured or retires.
 If syndications cannot meet these requirements then they should be phased out.
 Winning greyhound in a competition whether it is by syndication or direct ownership should be banned.
10. Hot days and no air conditioning
Greyhounds are not like most breeds in that they have very little body fat which makes them intolerant to hot
and cold temperatures.
Although GRNSW have developed a hot weather policy and guidelines information sheet, we express great
concern for the fact that on days that races are not cancelled until the temperature reaches 40 degrees heat.
Owners are not allowed to withdraw dogs until 38 degrees. There are a number of tracks in NSW which do not
have air conditioning including: Kempsey, Muswellbrook, Taree, and Wauchope.
What is too hot for greyhounds? Well we don’t know. But common sense tells us that humans are extremely
uncomfortable running around in 30 degree heat let along 38 degree heat. Anyone with a companion greyhound
can tell you when it is a warn day they don’t move and they plonk themselves down in the coolest part of the
house. They don’t cope well in 30 degrees, so how can the racing industry say that welfare is their number one
concern? This is clearly a blatant lie. The cost of cancelling a race and the inconvenience to punters and
participants is their number one concern. Anyone with serious concern for the welfare of dogs would not
suggest – it is 38 degrees – ‘let’s go for a run’.
Jane McNichol from Adelaide University is currently doing a study on heat stress in racing greyhounds say that
the hot weather policies around Australia
“ have been formulated without any validated evidence”
http://www.workingdogalliance.com.au/portfolio/heat‐stress‐greyhounds/
Recommendations
The temperature at which race meets are cancelled needs to be reviewed and the temperature selected
based on health findings and the welfare of dogs, not what would be financially inconvenient.
 All tracks in NSW should have air conditioning and heating or they should not receive a licence to operate.
25 11. Live Baiting
although live baiting was banned approximately 30 years ago there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest
that the practice still continues. Mark Townend from the QLD RSPCA admitted to me in a phone conversation in
2013 that they know live baiting still occurs but they need the evidence to prosecute people. If it is occurring in
Qld, common sense would tell you that it is probably occurring in NSW.
A number of trainers and owners have raised the issue when passing on greyhounds to independent greyhound
adoption groups to provide help to the adoption group in assessing a dog’s temperament. They say things like
“he won’t chase anything, not even a live rabbit”
This information has been reiterated from people who have contacted us to tell us that live baiting still happens.
“ From a young age greyhound pups are encouraged to kill if they don’t they are taught. Wild rabbits,
chickens and baby chicks, guinea pigs, baby pigs, domestic rabbits, cats and kittens, possums
anything that squeals. If they don’t kill they are mainly put down depending if they still chase”
– from someone who used to be involved in greyhound racing in NSW but wishes to remain anonymous as he
fears for repercussions of exposing this information
“You can always tell a greyhound that has had a possum as they fight back and can cause big facial
damage” - anonymous
We have been given information that live baiting has taken place in the past at the following venues:
greyhound track in
. They use rabbits and they often are put in the rubbish bin half alive
after they have been “used” on the dogs.
Greyhound Track
. This place has used both cats and possums
collected by a local possum catcher. The claws from the possums are removed.
Recommendations
 An independent welfare unit be established and actively investigate any reports of live baiting. They need to
police training, break-in establishments and slip tracks.
 Anyone found doing or knowing people doing this and not reporting this needs to be banned for life
 There needs to be mandatory reporting of live baiting occurrences for all industry participants
12. Other industry issues :
Kennel Inspections
I have met people when walking my dogs that have told me they have been in the industry for 20 or 30 years
and have never had their properties inspected.
26 Breaking in and training establishments
We have heard of gruesome techniques used at breaking in and training establishments in addition to live
baiting. Using hot items to prod them out of the boxes, rubbing hot cream on their genitals, poking them up the
anus with sticks, using electric shock,
Dogs being given prohibited substances
When a trainer or owner has been disqualified for the use of prohibited substances there is no consideration of
actions taken on behalf of the dog.
The person should have a cruelty case filed against them if there is deemed to be long term side effects of a
drug and GRNSW should take action to help the dog in question with potential medical problems.
Those found to be have given a dog an illegal substance should also reported to the police.
Transferring of dogs to another trainer’s name
It has come to our attention that some trainers/ owners after being disqualified simply transfer a dog’s
ownership to someone else but still receive financial reward when the dog races.
We have also heard of trainers/ owners taking their dogs to New Zealand to race during the disqualification
time.
Procedures need to be put in place to stop both situations
You Shouldn’t be allowed to bet on dogs to loose
We understand that that punters can bet on a dog to loose. This provides opportunity for dishonest members of
the racing community to do something to their dog which will affect the outcome of a race. Not only does this
make it easy for participants to cheat the system it means the welfare of dogs can suffer from being given
‘something’ to affect their performance.
Recommendations
 GRNSW allocate more money into kennel inspections and a separate welfare body to do regular surprise
inspections of kennels and training establishments. This may cost quite some money, but if this is what needs
to occur to look after the welfare of greyhounds, then it needs to happen regardless of the cost. The money
needs to be found from somewhere, otherwise don’t have an industry.
 Trainers should not allow to be earning money from racing after they have been disqualified in either
Australia or New Zealand. GRNSW needs to work with other bodies to ensure this does not occur.
 Trainers/ owners charged with the use of illegal substances needs to be reported to the police
 Trainers/ owners charged with giving greyhounds toxics substance needs to be reported as committing an
act of cruelty.
 Greyhounds given prohibited or illegal substances need to have their health/ medical issues addressed and
GRNSW needs to ensure action is taken to see that their long tern health is not compromised where possible.
 Ban betting on dogs to loose.
27 13. Other health issues in greyhounds
Brood bitches being overbreed
We have heard on a number of occasions of brood bitches having so many litters of puppies which has lead
serious health problems including miscarriage, and so such much scarring that desexing was almost
impossible. There need to be a limit on how many litters a greyhound can have.
Pannus
Pannus is an inherited disease that creates inflammation in the eyes and leads to blindness if not managed.
Symptoms start to develop between 2-5 years of age. GRNSW does not recommend breeding greyhounds with
pannus, but it does not restrict it. The reason why GRNSW could be reflected in this comment made by a
Greyhound Racing Victoria official;
“well it doesn’t matter if greyhounds are breed with pannus as most greyhounds are dead by 4 years of
age by the time it develops so it doesn’t matter”
As pannus is an inherited disease greyhounds should not be allowed to continue breeding dogs with pannus
Bald Thigh Syndrome of Greyhound Dogs The majority of greyhounds that are racing or recently escaped the racing industry have a a condition which is
known as bald thigh syndrome. In time many greyhounds after number of years will grow this hair back. Whilst
this condition is seemingly cosmetic it reflects the overall health of the greyhound.
One of the contributing factors according greyhound health expert, Tom Meulman, in a racing greyhound is due
to the fact the adrenal glands are responsible for stimulating the “fight or flight” response, and in a racing
greyhound are for the most part kept in a high state of activity. Overstimulated adrenal glands that can cause
the hormone imbalance between the adrenal cortex and the thyroid gland which in turn results in damaged hair
follicles, causing hair loss and bald thighs in some greyhounds.
“Because this system is controlled from the brain, there is little doubt that general hair loss is often
worse in highly excitable greyhounds. That is also why in retired greyhounds that are in an environment
which encourages a far more relaxed lifestyle and therefore less stimulation of the adrenal glands, the
hair loss often corrects itself.”
So hair loss is not cosmetic. Every greyhound you see with bald thighs has had the over stimulation of it’s
adrenal glands which course hormone imbalances. These greyhounds are in a state of imbalance caused by
the forced racing and training which is leaving their health in an unnatural state. All because humans want to
have a bet, greyhound health suffers.
Drugs
Another health issue which is of great concern is the legal and illegal drugs given to greyhounds which affect
their short and long term health.
28 It seems the decision to allow trainers and owners to give drugs to greyhounds is based on whether this will
give a dog an unfair advantage rather than based on the health problems that drugs can cause.
Wynny is a greyhound who died from the effects of giving her drugs. Here is her story :
"Wynny the Greyhound was racing in Western Australia until November 2012, under the name
. She came to me as a foster dog straight from the racing kennels on 7 January 2013, at the age
of 3, through the rescue organisation Greyhounds as Pets (GAP), which is run by the racing industry
(Greyhounds WA).
I was to be her foster carer while she learned how to live as a happy, loved and well-behaved family pet,
so she would be ready for a permanent adoptive home a few months later.
Unfortunately by the time she left the trainer's kennel she was already ill, as well as obviously having
painful hips (possibly due to a bad fall). Nobody told me about this, or I would have sought proper
treatment for her immediately, and it wasn't until she suddenly became seriously ill that I discovered
she had chronic liver disease. In the absence of any other cause, the vets attributed the damage to the
prolonged use of drugs to keep her racing despite her hip problems. Here's the story of the 7 lifechanging weeks she was with me, and her tragic death due to the invidious industry to which she gave
all 3 years of her life."
http://www.drughoundracing.com/
Recommedations
 Introduce limits of the number of litters brood bitches can have
Acknowledge that greyhounds suffer enormous physical stress and this can affect their wellbeing for their
entire lives.
Ban the breeding of greyhounds with pannus by GRNSW participants
29 Examine drugs given to greyhounds and make recommendations of restricting use of drugs that have
detrimental impacts on their short or long term health
14. Greyhound as Pets
Greyhounds as Pets NSW, the industry funded adoption program, have a bad reputation in the welfare
community, and from comments I have read on greyhound forums, from the industry as well.
The criticisms include;
- They re-home only a small number of dogs.
- All dogs are assessed using a stringent testing procedure and if they do not past they are either returned to
owner or are killed.
- Industry participants have complained of dogs that were killed even though were supposed to be returned if
failed.
- Industry participants have questioned their assessment methods given they know the behaviour of a dog and
it has failed even though they didn’t expect them to fail.
- There is a high kill rate. This is only hearsay as GAP refuses to release their figures to the public, both
adoption and fail rates. What do they have to hide? Perhaps the suggestion they exist as more to reduce
concerns of the public about high kill rates rather than find homes for large numbers of greyhounds may be true.
The more greyhounds that get re-homed, more people fall in love with greyhounds and they begin to question
their treatment in the greyhound racing industry.
- Even dogs that are shy fail their assessment and are killed.
- Dogs that are not small dog friendly do not past the assessment are killed or returned to owners, even though
they are given very little re-training (if any) to learn not to chase.
- So the industry discards the greyhounds that are not chasers and GAP discards the dogs that are chasers
without any re-training even though it is an industry which has encouraged greyhounds to chase.
- The method of assessment and the abilities of the assessors have been called into question. The people who
determine whether a greyhound is suitable for re-homing have questionable skills.
- There is little or no retraining even though the majority of greyhounds have had very little exposure to the life
of a companion animal.
- GAP has restrictions on greyhound’s age and medical issues. If this is what the GRNSW has produced, then
this is what GAP should help find homes for. Their rule should not exist to make their lives easy, their primary
objective should be to help greyhounds have a quality life (and be alive!), adjust to the life of a companion
animal and find a home.
- Recent announcements by GRNSW on additional funds for welfare initiatives do not seem to include
expansion of the GAP program.
- It is recognised by those in the adoption community that the longer a greyhound has had to adjust into the
community, and the more re-training they have had then the better they will perform on an assessment.
- The assessment should be used a guide to find suitable homes, not a guide to kill dogs. Not all dogs are small
dog friendly or take time so get used to what small dogs are. The industry has to take responsibility for the fact
they have trained them to chase small animals and give them time to re-train. Friends of the Hound and
30 Greyhound Safety Net reports after discussions with them earlier in the year that 90% of dogs do not have this
issue and a high percentage of those remaining can be worked with.
- My own personal experience after saving a greyhound from a Sydney pound when she was on death row: my
dog acted in a way that indicated she thought small dogs were things to chase. And why wouldn’t she? She
would have been encouraged to chase. I have had dog training experience and I used this knowledge to
expose and socialise her to small dogs in a safe manner. Now she is great with small dogs and you would
never know that she behaved this way. I am a responsible dog owner, however, and do not let her off lead with
very small dogs. Why is it that I can spend the time re-training a dog not to chase and yet the industry adoption
group who have so called behaviour experts cannot do this?
- I have a friend that had a greyhound that would have easily be deemed a cat killer. She was pretty keen to get
at her cat. For 2 and a half years she kept them separated using safety gates etc. After a period of time she
could see that they would both be fine and for the next 5 years they lived happily together. All dogs are different
and this would not always be possible, but it shows you what is possible with dogs that would have easily failed
the GAP test and would have been dead.
- It seems that many people in the industry actually do not know dog behaviour and could benefit from
workshops or training to help prepare their dogs for the life of a companion animal.
Recommendations
 Make available to the public all adoption and kills rates since the inception of GAP.
 Get an independent assessment of the abilities and knowledge of the people within GAP that do the
assessment test from someone who has actual dog training, and behavioural abilities. Both the assessment test
and the assessors need to be examined to see whether they are most effective tool to help greyhounds be rehomed.
 Organise workshops for industry participants on how to prepare greyhounds for the life of a companion dog.
GAP to stop putting restrictions on old or sick dogs. The object should be to help greyhounds discarded by
the industry, not make GRNSW “look good” or make life easier for GAP staff.
 Funding should be provided, as already has been suggested to expand adoption arrangements and that this
funding support non industry groups re-train, and find homes for adoption
15. Other welfare concerns
The issues will have been addressed by other parties, however, we would like to emphasize we are concerned
about the following issues;
- The exporting of greyhounds to countries like China and Vietnam that have no animal welfare laws and a poor
record of treatment of animals.
- There are commercial interests that are looking at expanding racing in China and we have to ensure that
Australian greyhounds are not sent to China.
- The use of greyhounds for research, dissection and blooding and universities. There are a number of
universities and research facilities which accept greyhounds discarded by the racing industry his practice is not
only abhorrent, it is a practice stopped some 30 years. Many people in the industry deny this, but it doesn’t take
much effort to find out that it still goes on. Veterinary and science students can attest to this as they often use
greyhounds cadavers study anatomy. I recently phone The School of Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt
31 University and asked something about greyhounds. The receptionist respond “ah do you have some
greyhounds for us?”. I have been promised statistics from the senior animal technician on how many
greyhounds they use and what they use them for, but I am still waiting for this information.
-How do we know GRNSW and GAP are not enlisted to provide greyhounds for research? In Victoria well
known trainer
was used to find enough dogs for a drug trial under the guise that they were being
re-homed.
Recommendations
-An immediate ban on export of greyhounds to countries with no welfare law or laws not equal to or better
than states in Australia. Ban GRNSW participants from exporting dogs or breeding products.
 Stop greyhound participants dumping their greyhounds on universities or research facilities.
NSW government to supply list of vet clinics which use the blood of greyhounds and then kill them – so this
information is publicly available. Both need to support a dog blood bank initiate so that greyhound blood is not
relied upon.
-NSW government to supply information to the public, which public and private companies and educational
institutions use greyhounds for experimenting, dissection and drug testing. That the government support
initiates to find other sources and ways to train science and vet students as they do in the UK
32 16. The impact on vet clinic staff on large numbers of greyhound euthanased
and blooding
The large number of greyhounds taken to veterinary clinics has a huge impact on the staff that are forced to kill
healthy animals.
Here is part of a testimony from a vet nurse that worked in a NSW vet clinic where greyhounds were regularly
discarded by trainers:
“On countless occasions I found myself out the back literally sobbing over these dogs I was unable to
save. Sleepless nights & the sickening feeling that comes with being utterly helpless when trying to
save an innocent life from an inhumane death”
The short term and long term effect on staff that are made to kill healthy greyhounds is very real. The emotional
and mental wellbeing of people can seriously be affected.
The racing industry need to acknowledge and take responsibility for what they are doing to veterinary staff who
overwhelming wants to help animals. Not kill them.
33 17 . Compassion fatigue in greyhound adoption
An issue that has been totally ignored when discussing the greyhound racing world, but definitely should be
considered is compassion fatigue.
As we have established, thousands of greyhounds are discarded and killed by the racing industry every year in
Australia. There are only a small number of groups in Australia that re-home greyhounds. Many mixed breed
rescue groups have left greyhounds to greyhounds groups believing they have difficult or have special needs.
Many groups are unaware of the large number of greyhounds disposed of. So it is left to a small number of
greyhounds groups to help greyhounds. The pressure placed on this small number of groups to save the large
number of greyhounds is enormous. Greyhound Freedom is in contact with a number of these groups and I
have witnessed the stress and emotional strain of trying to help as many greyhounds as possible. Trainers and
owners contacting them regularly asking if they have space and when they are asked them to wait, they say
“nup - I have to get rid of her/ him. I’ll take her somewhere else” which usually means they will kill them .The
emails, the phone calls are constant. They are unable to help all greyhounds and this causes a great deal of
emotional stress in addition the pressure place on them by people in the industry. This stress is exacerbated by
the suffering they witness from the greyhounds they help due to physical or emotional trauma.
The volunteers within these groups will suffer from stress and from compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue
stems from an over commitment to work that involves caring for others and is considered by some to be a kind
of secondary posttraumatic stress disorder. Because they often invest themselves deeply in the animals they
care for members of an animal care groups may be particularly vulnerable to compassion fatigue.
Many people who rescue animals, who work in animal shelters, and who are otherwise involved in animal
welfare and animal rights are exhausted and suffering from compassion fatigue. They are not able to talk about
their grief and exhaustion openly with either their animal rescue co-workers or their other friends and family, and
are looking for a safe place in which to share their feelings so that they do not burn out.
In the paper Bradshaw et al in the paper Caring for the Caregiver:
“Assessment of Animal Care Professional and Organizational Wellbeing.” Says that compassion fatigue has
systems of post-traumatic stress disorder as in many instances, caregivers are simultaneously an instrument of
animal salvation and euthanasia.
http://www.kerulos.org/programmes/service files/Kerulos%20Caring%20for%20Caregiver%20Assesment.p
df
How can the NSW government and GRNSW continue to ignore the impact that this industry is having on the
mental health and wellbeing of those in the veterinary industry and rescue groups by allowing this situation of
high numbers of greyhounds killed?
Recommendation
34 GRNSW and NSW Government to provide counselling and support services for vet industry staff and
greyhounds adoption
18. What do leading animal welfare and humane groups think about
greyhound racing?
The Humane Society of the United States, is the largest animal protection group in the USA and one of the
largest in the world, have this to say about greyhound racing:
“Greyhound racing constitutes animal abuse because of the industry's excessive surplus breeding
practices, the often cruel methods by which unwanted dogs are destroyed, the daily conditions in which
many dogs are forced to live, and the killing and maiming of bait animals, such as rabbits, during
training exercises. The industry exists solely for the entertainment and profit of people—often at the
expense of the animals' welfare”
“Could the greyhound racing industry ever be operated in a humane manner?
No. The racing industry is inherently cruel. Greyhound racing is a form of gaming in which the amount of
money a dog generates determines his or her expendability. The answer for greyhounds is neither regulation
nor adoption of "retired" dogs, but the elimination of the greyhound racing industry.”
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/greyhound racing/facts/greyhound racing facts.html#.UnoM6XBmi
So The RSPCA of the UK has this position on greyhound racing:
“The RSPCA is opposed to the racing and training of dogs where distress or injury result from placing
excessive demands upon the animal”
19. A glimpse at what is happening with greyhound racing worldwide
The United States, the UK and Ireland along with Australia are the 4 largest greyhound racing nations in the
world.
In The United States:
- Greyhound racing has now been banned in 38 states and stopped in another 5 states.
- The number of greyhounds bred for racing has declined for 10 consecutive years.
- Between 2001 and 2011, the total amount gambled on greyhound racing nationwide declined by 67%
source : Grey2K website http://www.grey2kusa.org/index.php The UK - Falling attendances have seen the number of licensed tracks that used to attract hordes of race fans reduced
from 85 to just 25.
35 - The number of people going to dog tracks has slumped 40% in the past eight years, down from 3.5million in
2005 to around 2.1million now
- 2 tracks closed in 2013 – Oxford and Catford and 2 more tracks up for sale which could see them
redeveloped : Belle Vue (Manchester) and Hall Green (Birmingham) .
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest‐news/348756/Gone‐to‐the‐dogs‐Fears‐for‐greyhound‐racing‐as‐
Walthamstow‐track‐closes Ireland In August a strategic review of the industry was announced by The Irish Greyhound Board
“….the semi-state firm had combined debts in excess of €30m and its tracks lost €1.1m last year: "Confidence
in the industry is shattered. Breeding figures and racing pools are dangerously low. The regulatory function is
completely and utterly failing on a regular basis with one scandal after another."
http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2013/0806/world/greyhound‐industry‐to‐be‐reviewed‐
238960.html 20. Why doesn’t the general public know about the high injury rates, track
deaths and high kill rate of greyhounds?
1. Because the greyhound industry does not make it public how many are discarded, die on the track or how
many injuries there are. They don’t collect this data or advertise this information to the public. If you want to
know, you have to go digging. I have sent emails to GRNSW and I have never received a reply. When I spoke
to Tony O’Mara recently, he said “well you don’t live in NSW so we didn’t respond”.
2. The media is reluctant to report on such issues due to the money they get from the racing industry. I recently
spoke to John Davis the racing writer for the Telegraph. I rang up in response to a story in which they printed
this comment;
“greyhound racing is the only one which invests heavily in finding homes for its retirees via its “greyhounds as
pets” and adoption scheme programs.”
I rang up to point out that rehoming less than .o1% of the greyhounds born in NSW doesn’t exactly equate to
investing heavily. The response was John Davis the senior racing writer for the Telegraph made this startling
comment;
“we would never print that information. We are a pro-racing paper. We are a Murdoch newspaper”
Recommedation
-The NSW government do a survey of the general public about what they think of greyhound racing and
whether this activity should be government supported after explaining to the public the number of greyhound
injuries, deaths and numbers being discarded.
36 21. Final Word and Dawson
If there are spelling errors, grammar errors or poorly explained points in my submission this can be blamed on
the greyhound racing industry. You see for the last 5 weeks I have been caring for a greyhound puppy called
Dawson. Looking after this little guy has taken a great proportion of my time I have already referred to Dawson
earlier on, however, let me explain in detail;
Dawson was born in NSW and when he was 6 weeks old he injured his leg. He was taken to the vet by his
owner and the diagnosis was a broken leg, but not confirmed with an x-ray. The owner opted to take Dawson
home without an x-ray, without further treatment and as far as I know without pain killers. Dawson’s leg was to
heal “naturally”. The pain must have been tremendous. Dawson’s leg did heal, in way, but it was bent.
Approximately 2 months later Dawson was taken back to the vet to be put to sleep because clearly a bent leg
was not going to be suitable for a racing greyhound. Dawson puppy was expendable because he was worth
nothing to the racing industry. Lucky Dawson did have a few things on his side that day 1. A caring vet nurse
asked if they could take him and help re-home. 2. The owner said yes – sometimes they say no. 3. An adoption
group, Friends of the Hound, had a space available. They don’t always, as they have a waiting list that is
sometimes 80 dogs. As a foster carer for Friends of the Hound, Dawson ended up with me until his leg heals.
The surgeon confirmed the injury would have occurred at 6 weeks and it was a broken tibia. Dawson has had
an operation to fix his leg and now 6 pins and an external bracket. This vet clinic has often helped greyhounds
and did this operation at a heavily discounted price. When his leg is good he will be adopted by a loving home.
I raise this issue because; the impact of these discarded greyhounds has immense costs to the community such
as compassion fatigue, stress, emotional, time costs and financial costs. All these need to be recognized by
GRNSW and the NSW Government. Do we want a compassionate society that cares for animals? If we do, why
is it that those outside the industry (adoption groups and vet staff) spend so much time and energy caring for
these animals when it should be the industry, participants, and the NSW government? Where is my
reimbursement for spending my time, my money and my life helping these dogs? I do it because I care, but
where the responsibility should not lie with caring humans, but the bodies that create the suffering in the first
place.
Dawson’s leg x-ray after his operation.
37 Conclusion
The attitudes towards animals are changing and as the general public find out more about the greyhound racing
industry, in particular the number of greyhounds that are discarded by the racing injury and the number of
greyhounds receiving injuries and dying from racing, it is becoming increasingly unacceptable for a government
to earn money from this industry and allow it to be a commercial activity. We accept that in the short term there
that greyhound racing will continue, but we will work towards the prohibition of greyhound racing on grounds of
cruelty. In the meantime we urge the NSW state government to bring about these most important changes for
the welfare of animals; that all greyhounds be tracked from birth to death, all this information be available to the
public, all death and injury information from all tracks be made easily available to the public, establish a welfare
fund to assist in re-homing every single greyhounds into a home or sanctuary, and an independent welfare unit
to be establish to actively pursue, investigate welfare issues including the mistreatment of greyhounds and live
baiting.