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.

This is what the momentum for change looks like... 7 trainers immediately stood down in Queensland; 5 trainers immediately stood down in New South Wales; 10 trainers immediately stood down in Victoria; Racing Queensland's Chief Integrity Officer stood down; Greyhound Racing Victoria Chairman resigned; a further 6 trainers stood down in Queensland; a further 6 trainers suspended in New South Wales; a further 5 trainers suspended in Victoria; 70 Greyhound trainers implicated across three states; high profile members in the industry involved - top trainers and officials; the board of Greyhound Racing NSW dismissed; CEO of Greyhound Racing NSW resigned; the board of Greyhound Racing Victoria resigned; the Victorian government announced two separate investigations; NSW launched special commission of inquiry to investigate animal welfare and integrity issues, led by former High Court judge Michael McHugh who will work with the state's police, the RSPCA and the greyhound industry; a review into the regulation of Queensland Greyhound Racing industry has been established, led by Alan MacSporran QC; a joint taskforce involving Police and RSPCA Qld are continuing investigations into Greyhound racing in Queensland; 23 more trainers stood down in Queensland bring total to 36 now suspended, with six now issued with life bans; 2 people have been charged with animal cruelty offences in Queensland; Joint House Parliamentary Inquiry into Tasmania's Greyhound racing industry; Queensland Racing Minister announces halt to new Logan track pending investigations. All within a 2 month period.... anyone seen this kind of impetus in their lifetime before within the same short period? In the absence of people listening to each other and working together, decisions are about to be made by those with the power to make them - consensus is not required, nor even necessarily a good thing. The people that are heading the inquiries will make recommendations for change. Some will be adopted and some won't. It is how the system works. My own suspicion (ie, my own opinion) is that at least in 1 state the greyhound racing industry will never again be trusted to look after animal welfare governance again which will be ceded to a group such as the RSPCA

@ Steve, It is a social cause that is gathering support, strength and momentum. If you think in terms of other social causes such as smoking, speeding, drink driving, women rights etc, change has happened over time, not overnight. Change might be incremental but as support or acceptance of ideas grow, so does the ability of those who are pushing for change, to get more change through. So the baseline of what was once thought of acceptable moves. That is what is happening here and it is being fueled by increasing knowledge - you have to give props to AA - video of live baiting is much more powerful than a submission to an enquiry or a radio interview or a newspaper piece or as you say, welfare groups telling the relevant governments over and over and over and over - only to be told that the sport has proper governance measures in place... etc Now, the pollies who didn't want to act in January are being forced to act - that is a by-product of the public outrage. If they feel that this is a cause that will elevate their standing if they are seen to be tough on the industry, then tough measures will be put in place. The days of self governance for example, may be over in some states. So the continuum of change is moving in the right direction for those that care about the welfare of greyhounds - some would say it is a momentous time because all of this publicity has given the appetite for change a bigger boost than at anytime in the sports history. The trajectory this change is on is very similar to the overseas experience, just years behind.

Boards don't get stood down and resign in multiple states, because the governments that provide funding and monopoly legislation approve of the level of governance. The current enquiries will make recommendations that governments will adopt to reduce over breeding and improve welfare outcomes for dogs. Corporate Australia now thinks that Greyhound Racing is a dirty word through their almost unanimous withdrawal of sponsorship and the public, ignorant of the poor practices of the industry, are being educated around how despicable some of the practices really are and they want change. The pollies want the revenue but they also want to be re-elected and to be seen to be doing something given the level of public outrage. Reading some of the comments in this thread is like looking backwards into a time machine for me. Community attitudes are changing but I guess some people can't see the blindingly obvious.

@Steve, The nexus between gambling and the sport is that the TAB collects 16-20% commission on every bet. In full year 2013, GRNSW received some $31M in distributions (but they believe that they should have received $45M based on their share of gambling revenue vs horse racing and trots. They also received close to $10M based on bookie turnover. As well, they receive various other, not insignificant funds from Govt such as money for capital works and money to prop up country races etc. Without all of the money swirling around you don't have an industry the size of the one we have in Australia.

Good job on the numbers you re-homeGAPVIC!! It is worrisome that accurate figures are not available in 2015. No doubt the RSPCA is piecing together their numbers too because the industry does not keep accurate numbers. This may be one of the outcomes that come out of all of the enquiries going on now. In order to achieve better welfare outcomes for the dogs, there needs to be transparency of the numbers.

@ Maddy, You are right about the numbers. The Greyhound racing industry does not publish them. The RSPCA estimates that 16000 die per year but I don't accept that number either as it is equal to the number that are whelped. A lack of transparency is one of the reasons organisations like the RSPCA are able to estimate numbers on the high side and people will take what they read on the RSPCA website as gospel. If, you Maddy will feel better, I can make sure that any future reference to numbers that I make include the following - the RSPCA estimate the number of dogs bred every year that never receive registration for racing and are considered by the industry to be wastage is 7000. "These dogs are described by the industry as 'wastage'. The RSPCA believes this is a disgusting term to describe the lives of sentient, companion animals." and they estimate 9000 adult dogs become surplus to industry needs every year and that about 1000 are adopted annually and over 650 are sent overseas. For the record, I think it was HazyWal who asked me in a previous thread that you participated in where I got my numbers from and I put forward the RSPCA numbers then too.

People here have tried to explain things to you but you continue to ignore them. As has already been said, it's a complicated issue with a lot of different things to consider. Any mistake in handling it could cost the lives the thousands of dogs and impact the welfare of god knows how many others. Groups like Animals Australia like to pretend it's a simple issue because they could give exactly zero shits about the actual animals. They want to ban the sport because it is an activity that involves animals, which they are against on principal. I accept that we have different points of view. But nobody has explained how the scale of the current problem would get worse, not better. More than 12000+ dogs every year die now - probably closer to 14000. Are you saying more than 14000 dogs would die annually if the sport was banned? Nobody explained how this could occur. I put forward this as an example of a solution: They could also have a carbon credit type scheme where there is a fixed amount of credits available for breeders that limit the overall number of dogs produced each year.. This could be linked to welfare outcomes so it would be cheaper for a breeder to buy credits if their previous litters had good welfare outcomes and more expensive if they had bad outcomes or were not discoverable. Nobody has made a comment about it.

Personally, I think the biggest threat is as WW says, breeders continuing to breed and sending the dogs to Asia where they will face a 100% rate of destruction. This can be made an illegal activity if it isn't already and dealt with through criminal processes - shutting down racing here in fear that criminals will move in and form dog export rings is no reason not to shut them down. But wouldn't it be far easier to send the dogs and bitches with good bloodlines to Macau directly (in the absence of an industry here) for breeding 1 time rather than establishing a on on-going criminal enterprise here and hope not to be caught? As you say m-j, societal attitudes are changing, not only here but around the world. If greyhound racing becomes politically unpalatable (if it hasn't already), the pollies will have to act, even if it is kicking and screaming. There will be further financial imposts at least that relate to improved governance and better outcomes around welfare. @ Maddy, if you think I have no idea, I would genuinely like to be educated as I do have limited experience with the breed and none at all with those in the racing industry. My observations and ideas are borne of a urban professional who has had a career in management, public relations and running my own business amongst others. Among my skill set is to look at the big picture and provide solutions to problems that work on a large scale. All I see here is years of chances being royally screwed up by the widespread practices perpetrated by too many in the industry and a PR nightmare to end them all (perhaps except if you are from the Catholic Church). I feel strongly that if the industry were made up of people like WW, it wouldn't have near the problems it does today, although as an entertainment product it would still face significant competition. Didn't anybody read the reports that Labore has provided links to that state the industry in NSW was already financially unsustainable without government assistance? Ford, Holden and Toyota didn't have the PR nightmare that the industry has and look what happened to them... and this was published even before even the ABC report which, it turns out was just a pre-curser to the wider issues that all of the inquiries are now looking in to. The sackings and resignations in the industry are a pointer that change is in motion

100% agree and people would still bet on the outcome and dogs would still be disposed of if they didn't win and people would still breed trying to find "the one" So just to be clear, you think that the breed is sustainable beyond the current racing industry? Beyond the sustainability of the breed, there is is nothing to suggest (is there?) that if their was an amateur sport, about 16000 dogs would be bred per year, upwards of 12000 would be killed per year. Breeders would not be able to command anywhere near the money for a good dog that they can now, mating fees would decline tremendously, there wouldn't be firms specialising in greyhound transport, supplements, vet care, er, disposal etc, etc. And their wouldn't be syndicates either. Not as we currently know it, no. I don't think dogs would be bred in the same numbers but I think the welfare of the dogs (and bait animals) would be far worse. The idea that money is a only incentive for people is absurd and only makes it harder to have sensible conversations about likely outcomes for any particular course of action. Typo Money is a powerful incentive - that much is obvious. There simply will not be 16000 dogs whelped every year if there are very few buyers. Live baiting is said to be widespread now. and More than 12000 are killed every year in the prime of their lives. The condition that some dogs are found in and subsequently rescued in large numbers is atrocious. If the numbers whelped every year fall to sub 1000 year, I am not sure how you think the welfare of Greyhounds overall could be worse than it is now. There is no evidence from overseas where the greyhound industry has already been banned to support a view that greyhounds (or bait animals) become worse off after the industry is banned.

I saw making extra allowances for my oldie as a time to for me to repay all the joy she had given me. For me it was a celebration of the cycle of life rather than a sad time. I carried her up and down the stairs to toilet for 2 years before she passed as sometimes, her legs couldn't bear her weight. I had her on cortisone and the difference in her spirit was like day and night compared to when she didn't have it. So long as your oldie can smell the the different scents that outside of the backyard offers, he will be happy. When it comes time that he may start losing hearing and night vision, it is better to take him out in full light. I love the pram idea. Good luck to you and to him.