Greyt

These are my thoughts. My heart aches for the dogs who will lose their lives over this decision, but the ongoing cycle of breeding and killing simply cannot be allowed to continue. Agree entirely. Not to mention caging, baiting, drugging etc.

Mentioning dog fighting is another thing that worries me, who is to say this isn't just going to continue underground as well and remain totally unable to police? Dog fighting may be banned, but it isn't gone.... The collective infrastructure will not be available, nor will the TAB, Sky Racing etc. Remember the scale... up to 68,000 killed over 12 years. Won't happen if it is banned.

Between FORTY-EIGHT-THOUSAND+SIXTY-EIGHT THOUSAND in the last 12 years The numbers are shameful. I can't get them out of my head. And Wentworth Park has been going since 1932? And Greyhound Racing has been less popular over the last 12 years than the period between say, 1932-2004? Wow, what are the total numbers then? Oh wait, I'll just go and check GRNSW records for that. Or NOT, because they don't exist. So faced with 2 bad choices, I'll take the ban. And I'll wait for the mayhem and carnage to be unleashed on our suburbs by Greys on muzzles or green collared Greys that have passed their temp tests.

Hi Vehs, Older Greys are always hard to re-home. Like every other breed, Greyhounds have shared traits but if you can imagine a scale of 1 to 10, an individual dog will fall at different parts of that scale for different traits and it will vary from individual to individual. Find one that meets your needs! If it is possible to have (preferably several) on-lead group walks with your dogs and a Grey you like in a neutral territory, you might find that helps all of the dogs to become comfortable with each other. Good luck:-)

Obviously you are not from NSW, westiemum! The man is a right wing dictator who has his eyes set on Canberra and most likely leadership, in time, of the Federal Liberal Party. There are 65 greyhound tracks in the country, 33 in NSW. In our regional towns and cities, and particularly in Sydney, the greyhound tracks sit on valuable land that developers have been trying to get their hands on for decades. This is nothing more than a land grab and what makes it more obvious is that other states are not following suit. The exception is the ACT which has followed NSW. Coincidence that they have been trying to move the greyhound club off the land at Symonston for sometime and that they have also expressed a desire to resume the land at Thoroughbred Park? So when politics meets arrogance, politics wins? Couldn't have seen that coming.

But slow doesn't automatically mean less of a prey drive. Just means they can't catch the bunny Slow is a measure of speed. Greys are Sighthounds. Sighthounds have prey drive. Is this news? It certainly is to the people who think Greyhounds have to be abused to chase a lure and who post pictures of their dogs with kittens and bunnies showing their " true nature" No, don't think I have ever seen any AR group claim that the industry that breeds Greyhounds ever tried to prevent prey-drive..

The breed does not have a supply of bred for pets Greyhounds because there is such an oversupply of bred for sport Greyhounds. Greys are all but given away due to the oversupply so there is no pet market. So the current breeders do not breed for pet traits - personality, looks, geniality towards other pets etc Pet owners would gravitate more towards the docile end of the Grey population rather than the super chaser end. If you compared the two groups, one would be slower than the other. Slow is relative though - a slow Grey is faster than the speediest fluffy white dog on the planet.

But slow doesn't automatically mean less of a prey drive. Just means they can't catch the bunny Slow is a measure of speed. Greys are Sighthounds. Sighthounds have prey drive. Is this news?

And without function to drive their form, they will cease to be greyhounds as we know them. They will be bred by backyarders who don't care about maintaining their beautiful temperament or selecting the healthiest pups to breed from. They won't be just slow greyhounds, they will be the badly bred dogs. That is nothing to celebrate. HW- If I got a dollar for every misinformed/ignorant thing I've read in the last 24 hours regarding greyhounds, I'd have a lot of dollars. I'd still have a massive headache but I could buy heaps of Nurofen with all my dollars >.> The is an unnatural oversupply at the moment bred for speed so over time, the breed has already been changed in line with what works on the track ie, selecting bloodlines that have a better chance of having a running action, fast and want to chase. Future breeders will be selecting bloodlines for appealing looks, health and pet attributes - there is no difference to what happens with any other breed. Hopefully, some issues such as a proneness to rotting teeth brought about by poor diets, over exposure to supplements and drugs can be overcome with future breeding.

Yep. Indicative of the level of knowledge that's driving much of the current discussion. God forbid what is going to happen the dogs placed with inexperienced rescues who think they are just big spindly generic dogs. The idea that Greyhounds are sleepy couch potatoes that require no effort from an owner does the dogs a considerable disservice - especially the young ones. I know owners who will PTS their dogs rather than have them in the wrong homes. Chained to a kennel and used for pigging or left uncoated and ignored in back yards? I'd PTS too. I predict a rise in the abuse of greyhounds. It will move from the racing to the pet environment. A tragedy for the breed. So you expect the predicted increase in abuse will again come from within the ranks of those already within the industry? I guess that is just more reason to shut down the industry. There won't be any more litters for them to get dogs to abuse soon. My prediction is that somehow, society will survive with the expected increase in re-homed Greys.

The dogs that are bred today are bred for purpose ie, to win races. Ironically, the lasted decision flips the script and in a post racing world, the most demanded dogs will be those that have the highest compatibility with pet traits. Slow Greyhounds rule!

True that, but with all the legal eagles out there these days citing restraint of trade and other such laws, sometimes even creating what the average person would consider reasonable and just regulations and legislation becomes a minefield.

That is such a sad story m-j. One of so, so many.

Greys have a lot going against them 25 - 35kg dogs, with often bad recall, misunderstood muzzle laws, not experienced with pet life (often need to be taught to walk up stairs, deal with vacuums, often not house trained), easily injured if bitten, can't defend themselves with a muzzle on and the list goes on. With that said, they can be an incredible companion dog for older people - low shedding, short coat, very low doggie odour, requires very little exercise and a great height for those with bad backs - whether you are sitting or standing, their head always seem to be at the right height for a pat. Some studies also show that they are the least likely of all dogs to bite humans. They have different personalities within the breed ranging from - OMG, if we go to the MCG on grand final day, I will get 100,000 pats and it will be the best day of my life!! - to - just me and my human is all I need in life. The process of teaching an adult dog about pet life can be extraordinarily rewarding when you see that they start to "get it". I met one the other day with an owner that also had a mixed breed and the owner said that the mixed breed whom she had owned first said that the mix would always be her first love, but the Grey is her Soulmate. Kind of sums it up for me. The Grey was off lead and harassed my Whippet and the owner did not respond well (didn't put the Grey on lead), so I put the Whippet on lead and then there was nothing to chase so the Grey calmed down and that kind of sums up why I think Grey owners should have more education about the breed and be given practical strategies for owning a Greyhound (not withstanding that it was illegal for this particular Grey to be off-lead).

I know, the irony is almost incomprehensible. But governments look for easy options. Hopefully, they will have policy, oversight and policing duties only and not be let within a country mile of assessment for re-homing. I am considering getting tags for my dogs saying, "If I am lost, please do whatever you want to me but don't take me to the RSPCA - I'll never make it out alive!" ETA, I am only half joking about the tags... but then again, maybe it would be a good business to make them up and sell them ha,ha.