mystify

Still not over yet as the inside info is that the court case is looking very positive with a 99.9% chance of success, but it needs to go to High court to get the ban overturned. Let's just hope Baird hasn't got all the judges in his pocket as well, after paying for a holiday trip last weekend for 60 of his MPs to attend so they could be bribed easily not to oppose him last night. Must be so nice to be able to throw taxpayers money around for himself. I haven't given up and neither has many people yet. We must not allow the Greens to have more than a foothold in government, as they will just destroy Australia eventually with a ban on everything.

I don't hate every trainer on the planet and I've acknowledged here and in other threads that there are some who actually do care. You basically popped up on Dol when this thread appeared and presumably couldn't be bothered to read older threads on the racing issue to get any sort of idea about me or how I feel about racing before you rushed into idiotic assumptions and imply that I am nutty and have no decency. I'm not an anti, I'm not a nutter and I'm not some AR vegan kook. It's people like you, however, who make me even more sure that banning the sport was probably the right thing to do. I wondered why you got angry and then I just re read my post and looked at this sentence "At least have the decency to say you hate these trainers that did the deed, not say "I hate everyone of you in the industry" " and I realised you must have took it to mean you personally, when I was speaking generally about all antis that say they hate all trainers. I've never seen you post that you hate all trainers, so it wasn't even targeted at you. So I apologise for this misunderstanding.

Maybe it'll give industry participants an insight into how emotionally damaging it is to have to rescue their dogs; one after another, year in and year out, a never-ending stream of dogs, never enough space, having to turn dogs away knowing they'd die, being emotionally blackmailed by trainers, having to hold dogs as they die because they can't be rehomed but their owners won't take them back. And that's on top of the abuse copped from industry participants- being called a do-gooder, being told that our rescued dogs would have been happier dead (seriously) and all the while, being treated as a free dog disposal service. Maybe Lifeline could talk to some of the burnt-out and broken rescuers who gave up their lives/money/family just for the love of the dogs, if they want to hear about people contemplating suicide or having breakdowns I really do feel for you Maddy, I have walked your talk also which is why I am an advocate for the industry to continue with strict reforms put in place. In 11 mths time I don't want to feel those feelings of helplessness, sorrow for the many dogs that will die. I just don't want it,it's bad enough as it is. To be honest, I don't understand people that think an avalanche of dogs that will die, because the industry comes to a screeching halt is better than a trickle being able to be rescued, due to the slow death because it may not be sustainable as has happened in America. Call me thick but I just don't get it. I absolutely agree that the shut down should have been organised differently- starting with a ban on further breeding, followed by a ban on new registrations or transfers into NSW after a certain point (24 months after banning breeding would be plenty of time to get the last pups through) and then allowing the industry to just age out gradually. A plan like that would be at least five years but by the time it finally stopped, numbers would have been reduced anyway by the breeding ban and proper rehoming systems could have been organised and put in place for the remaining dogs. I also have serious reservations about how the RSPCA is handling this- I got emailed an application form to help the NSW greys, by an organisation with a pretty dreadful history with regards to rehoming, and if I'm being honest, I was quite offended that I should be subject to "approval" by them. Now, I can understand why this approval process might exist but this particular application form was not at all suitable for weeding out the dodgy rescues from the good ones- it was just a pointless hoop to jump through and, I suspect, a means of weeding out as many rescues as they could. Transferring dogs to community rescue groups is more work than just putting them to sleep and I can't help but think (based on my experiences with the RSPCA down here) that outcomes for the dogs will come a distant second to expediency in disposing of dogs. ASAL, no offense, but you don't know shit about the sorts of people who drop dogs off at my house or call me about "disposing of" their dogs. You just read my post about the emotional strain that rescuing takes on a person (and believe me, it can be terrible) and then turned that into some absurd waffle about how people who are AR nuts don't think other people have feelings. In reply to me expressing how distressing rescue was/is for me. But anyway.. yes, these people who give no f**** at all about my emotional health are exactly the sort who I have to deal with. The very first dog I ever took was a phone call on a Saturday saying that if the dog wasn't collected by first thing Monday morning, it'd be going to the vet. The next dog came from the vet, owner had dropped it off, said they didn't care what was done with it and walked away. Another from a vet, same thing, over and over again. The worst was actually a few years ago.. a trainer called me to take a dog because he didn't want to pay the $45 disposal cost at the nearest vet. I agreed to take the dog and said I'd call him back to discuss details when I got home (I was at the vet at the time), when I got home and called him, he informed me that he'd had an offer on the dog and if I wanted to save her, I'd have to better the buyer's offer. I couldn't afford a few thousand dollars he claimed the other person had offered so I had no option but to tell him to call me if the sale fell through. According to FastTrack, that poor dog is now "retired". And these are some of the people I have to deal with- they know they can emotionally manipulate me, that they can lie to me, because at the end of the day, the welfare of the dog's is what matters most to me and I'll put up with the stress/lack of money/lack of time/emotional exhaustion. So yeah, they can cry me a f***ing river at this point. They think the industry shutting down is bad, maybe they should try cleaning up after it for almost a decade. I've worked as a vet assistant so I know how it feels to put down so many dogs, it is emotionally upsetting and draining. Most were pet dogs that had outgrown their puppy cuteness. In one year of working at the clinic in a country town though, I've only seen 3-4 greyhounds brought in to be pts. I usually walked out of the room if it was a greyhound as I have an affinity for the breed more than any other so it is more devastating to me and yes I felt enraged at the trainer for being such a shit to get rid of his dogs just because they weren't fast enough. However, I'm human enough to be aware that just because some trainers are shitheads, I don't go around hating every trainer on the planet. I'm not that nutty to do that. I am friends with a rehoming group lady who often speak to me about her despair and disgust at callous trainers who threatened to pts their greyhound if she didn't come pick it up asap by a certain day/time, or those trainers that dumped greys at a council pound tied to a fence etc etc She often has to go to a vet clinic to pick up unwanted greys as the vet knows her and will usually call her when a grey comes in to be pts. I sympathize with her and we often get details of earbrands and report the trainers to GRNSW however unfortunately being a corrupt government run body, GRNSW often cannot act on these reports and tell us they'll look into it but never seem to in most cases. The financial strain on her has been enormous and she relies on donations to help her small private rehoming group to be able to get the greys desexed and other vet treatments. She knows not all trainers are like this though and luckily hasn't turned into an anti. Guess what, because she hasn't been bashing trainers, she quite often gets more donations from nice trainers. I get so angry with antis because they seem to think they have a right to bash every participant in the industry for no good reason except they prefer to judge everyone to be the same. It's such a generalised assumption, when antis say all greyhound racing owners are scumbags, they're calling me that as well. At least have the decency to say you hate these trainers that did the deed, not say "I hate everyone of you in the industry" Those who take in greyhounds from trainers but don't get a name or details of the earbrands and don't report them to GRNSW, are just as guilty as the scumbags because they do nothing but whinge on social media instead of helping to fix up the problems. GRNSW won't know there are greyhounds being dumped unless the rescue people get off their bums and report the details.

http://ngru.org/dawkins-and-mchugh-agree-greyhound-data-is-flawed/ If parliament was a court of law, the Tasmanian Greens MP Andrea Dawkins would be charged with perjury! Twice now she has lied in Parliament, firstly the Wee Fire debacle, claiming she was dead, only to have the owners prove she wasn’t, and now Dawkins is claiming over 1600 race dogs have been killed in Tasmania in a 3 year period, and once again she is wrong! we’ll explain later. Clearly, she is on a mission to destroy greyhound racing, and indirectly by creating more bad press is attempting to influence the NSW Lower house to pass the legislation, which will end the near century-year-old sport with flawed findings similar to what Ms. Dawkins produced. But in a turn of events, all this misinformed MP has done is help prove that not only are her statistics flawed and unreliable, but the Greens MP has also created further doubt over the NSW McHugh report, of which you can read on 12.14 McHugh admits racing data is of poor quality and unreliable, something Ms. Dawkins unintentionally confirmed with her findings and is now on record with The Mercury for saying so. Embarrassed from being caught out in her lie, Ms. Dawkins posted on her Facebook page that she would have it corrected in parliament, we are yet to see that happen, and also she deleted the post of which she claimed was also an apology. Clearly, she was only sorry she got caught. The other frustrating thing about her claims is the way she conveyed them. To say 16 (revised to 15) died in 6 months sounds bad without knowing the full story. The fact is there were approx 6300 starters in that same time period, which equates to a track death rate of 0.23%. 15 out of 6300 starters! (figures are an Avg via Greyhounds Australasia) But to say 0.23% won’t have the emotional affect these animal extremists crave, it empowers them, it drives donations and/or results! But her eagerness to shut down greyhound racing, has again shown her to be a compulsive liar, she is sounding desperate to land a knockout blow to our great sport. So much so she released this bombshell about 1600 race dogs dying in a 3 year period, all based on an extremely poorly put together document that lacks evidence, and nowhere near the numbers she claims… much like the data McHugh relied on, and admitted that it was very unreliable. This document used by Andrea Dawkins is very vague, it doesn’t list the dog’s name, breeding, ear-brand etc… NOTHING! Just a reason why it “died”, a date and an area/state. It also combines injuries and illness, which as we all know are two VERY different things. See here how vague each type of listing is, all 31 pages of this rubbish: Capture.4JPG Before we even attempt to make sense of these vague entries, which are derived from a very lazy compiled documentation, it’s important to note that EVERY greyhound around the country over the age of 3 months is either ear-branded, micro-chipped or both, making each greyhound fully identifiable and traceable at any time thereafter. Why weren’t these recorded on this important document? Especially when the Greens MP is saying all 1610 greyhounds raced at some point. See below for an example of the Department of Primary Industries document, again, no name, age, sex, ear-brand, microchip etc! Please tell us who 4A – Due to injury/illness was, it died on the 2/7/13 somewhere in the Launceston area??? Anyone??? nope… this is by far the worst document I have ever seen! It’s primary-school level, it’s totally baseless and therefore useless to be able to gauge this industry on! But that didn’t stop this pig-headed MP’s mission on ending greyhound racing by any means necessary! example Also it’s equally important to note that, the breakin’ (education on a timed track to get a guide on ability) starts at around 13-15 months, all depending on the early development and maturity of the animal, so this is proof that the dogs listed as “4C – Lack of ability/unsuitable for racing” should be 100% identifiable, but no form of ID has been recorded, therefore these figures are very unreliable and open to manipulation! Actually, not all of 1610 were RACING greyhounds according to this mediocre document, in fact, it says 2 died at whelping, that’s hardly ready to race! And look at all the unsuitable for racing entries, all 550 of them, this tells me they didn’t even race! Here’s what else the NGRU found: Listed as “Other Reason”, = 154 of NON-racing life ending injuries etc. Died on a vets table during expensive operations, Humanely euthanized with rifle to end suffering, (as any farmer would do) Already recorded as retired, Died from snake/spider bites, Died of old age Reported late as a result of an audit, these dogs could be a backlog from many years before, 17 Predate the 3 year period. Found deceased in the kennel, in other words – natural causes, like all of these “other reasons”. That leaves 1455 dogs that apparently died in this 3 year period, and we still don’t know if they were RACE dogs… again NO PROOF! But let’s play along anyway… Here is the breakdown of the 1455 dogs: Not suitable for rehoming/GAP = 410 minus 12 from interstate = 397 Due to injury/illness = 496 minus 9 from interstate = 491 Lack of ability/unsuitable for racing = 550 minus 8 from interstate = 538 Not suitable for rehoming/GAP: It is no fault of the owner or GAP if a dog is not suited to a home. Like all pets, they vary in temperament, and some are simply not safe to be put in a suburban home. So the 397 can be excused from this exercise, however, it would be great to have more info on why these dogs failed, perhaps a mandatory stand down period could’ve helped them make the transition. Regarding pet dogs that end up in the RSPCA around the country, 30% of them fail a behavioral test, and subsequently, are euthanized, rather than risking bodily harm in a family home or any home for that matter, why are we being treated any differently? Due to injury/illness: Injury and Illness need to be separate. Illness should be in the same category as natural causes. All living things get ill, and some die as a result… All living things die, at various ages for various reasons. If the document listed the type of injury or illness, we could then get an accurate number on this subject. Instead, we are left guessing the ratio of injury vs illness. Therefore these figures are void and completely unusable. Lack of ability/unsuitable for racing: Assuming this document is 100% correct, and we have shown good reason to the contrary, as it lacks vital information as previously mentioned, but for the sake of arguing, let’s pretend Andrea Dawkins said this list included race and non-race dogs, and all ID’s were proven. The result would be (hypothetically speaking) we would have the same kill rate as RSPCA (pet dogs) PTS of 30%. To get that figure CLICK HERE, only focus on the dogs under “EUTHANASIA” & “REHOMED”, reclaimed are pets that escaped for a matter of hours, and reclaimed by loved ones. In the McHugh report, it says 50-70% of dogs are humanely euthanized for NSW, which was proven to be incorrect, the real figure is 6.9%, so we’ll take a guess and say Tasmania’s Humane Euthanasia rate is between(hypothetically speaking) 6.9%-30% based on breeding figures from Greyhounds Australasia. But once again, we are basing these figures on a document that has no evidence of any of the 1610 greyhounds ID, including microchip numbers, or even the very basic ear-brand. Therefore, this entire document is void and should never have been presented as the further reason to shut down Tasmanian greyhound racing, or to add weight to the NSW argument. RSPCA (pet dogs) which are based on tangible evidence and well kept records, 30%, TAS Greyhound Racing 6.9%-30% based on guesswork, just like Mike Baird’s based ban in NSW on. The point of this exercise was to HIGHLIGHT how flawed ALL figures used against greyhound racing are extremely flawed. Even McHugh admitted this, and Dawkins has now backed him up. We can’t be ending industries based on such “iffy” stats and figures, that will leave every single animal sport and industry, including pets open to severe punishment, such as being outlawed

Then you're judging people to be all bad, very harsh. I actually have known of live baiting years ago and witnessed it plenty of times and have reported it plenty of times to grnsw but guess what, plenty of other trainers have reported it to grnsw too, in the hope the authority would get off their bums and do something about stopping it but noooo, we cop the thin end of the stick, grnsw either didn't believe us or didn't investigate thoroughly (evidence probably hidden away before officials arrived) so the cases were always closed without any action being taken. so how can you as an ignorant society blame us for something that is clearly the fault of a governmental body for not doing anything about it? We paid huge fees to register as an owner/trainer, register our pups, register for breeding, register for every bloody thing under the sun and yet we're not being protected like we should be by a government body that is taking our money and not working to help keep the industry clean?? That's what really frustrates me, we're not policemen, we've dobbed trainers in plenty of times, but they still get away because of the government's incompetence/or lazy blindness. Also re earlier post about registering pups at 2 weeks old, every greyhound pup born is always registered at 2 weeks old, form has to be handed in to notify Grnsw before pups are 2 weeks old, about how many there are in the litter, how many dogs/bitches and if there are any stillborns or deaths. Puppies can die from FPS, (fading puppy syndrome)birth defects, genetic anomolies within hours/days of birth so to suggest that the breeder is sneakily killing off pups just to have less pups to pay registrations for, is pretty laughable. Every breeder I know, always whinge when there's a small litter, because they all want a big litter. the more pups, the merrier! They don't care about how much it cost to feed them all. They can sell the pups for $500 each if they have to make a quick sale to pay for the rest of the litter's feed.

That is a very different statement to what you posted above. Stop exaggerating and being ridiculous. And I'm no fan of the RSPCA. Their kill stats are abhorrent. But he did not say that every single greyhound that comes to them will be slaughtered no questions asked. Pointing to RSPCA kill stats is classic diversion tactics. Again the industry and its supporters try to just point the finger away from their own failings rather than accept the unacceptable issues from within. This is exactly why shutting down the industry is the only answer. Now, anyone want to provide any evidence of the move to erode pet ownership in the many countries that banned Greyhound racing long ago? Or is that all just scaremongering and sky is falling reactions from those who think that the level of 'wastage' needed to support people gambling is just fine and dandy? I think I know which it is... Could you please post the names of the countries that have banned grey racing? The USA for one has banned it in almost all States for some time. As for your quote - again, that is NOT what Asal said, which is that all Greyhounds will be automatically slaughtered without even being given a chance. I want a source for that quote (there isn't one, because it was never said). Some states in the USA doesn't count as a country so if we dont know what countries have banned it how do you expect us to answer your question? The USA is over run by PETA freaks who push for all manner of nutty things and just because the USA do anything regarding animals,trade wages, or people, presidents or wars is not reference for us following suit. USA pushes for desexing all animals and Norway makes it illegal. An assumption that things are the same worldwide are on par with an assumption that most involved here are the bad guys. If the facts point to a ban being justified then why the gag on parliamentary debate and natural justice being delivered. This isn't just about the greys its about how a group of fanatics have been able to press their opinion and will upon a group they dont agree with without due process. Actually that is misinformation by Baird and co... greyhound racing IS NOT banned in USA. I think according to reports I've read, only one or two tracks out of a dozen in USA closed down the tracks because of costs, not because it was banned, but of course the animal killing charities PETA and Greys2k jumped on and took the credit for the tracks closing down lol

No I don't support game hunters, cock fighting or anything that is cruel and I consider a sport cruel when the end result is certain injury or death or anything the animal involved in it, given a choice, wouldn't participate. Try walking a greyhound past the entrance to an area where they know they have the opportunity to have a free run without them indicating they want to go in there, it is a very very sick Greyhound that doesn't want to go in and have that run. Tail docking doesn't even vaguely compare to dogs doing something they were very much bred to and LOVE to do. Why is Greyhound racing, done as it should be with all on a level playing field and the wastage issue addressed, a deplorable sport?? From my experience the dogs don't agree with you. They would rather have a run than lie on a couch the only time a couch would take precedence is if they are tired after their run. As I have mentioned before a track is about the safest place for them to do this. Completely different. Greyhound racing is a beautiful sport for canine athletes doing what they love. Nothing to do with people. Cock fighting, bull fighting, dog fighting rings etc are blood sports. Greyhound racing is not a blood sport. You rarely see dogs killed while racing. Horse racing isn't a blood sport either. Plus people who say lamb tail docking is cruel, really don't have the sheep's welfare in mind. Are we going to ban farmers for docking lamb tails (which isn't cruel imo and I live on a sheep property) or letting sickly lambs die in the paddock? I love animals but God didn't intend for us to put animals above us. Who cares about dead lambs in the paddocks? Nature intended them to die, only the strongest should survive. I don't believe in live export either, it's cruel. Perhaps we should ban people from having kids, simply because we see so many abused children in society. So it's rather silly to ban the entire industry (greyhounds are working dogs first and foremost, they need to race to satisfy their competitive instincts) instead of getting rid of some of the scumbags in the industry.

Unfortunately the media will only print sensationalised stories :-( not the truth

If by nutty you mean her religion views.....she's a Christian, nothing wrong with it. Scott Morrison because he's her local MP, and GBOTA has been emailing every trainer in NSW (with a computer) advising trainers and breeders to send letters to their local MP as the MPs (particularly the lovely Sonia Hornery who supports us) will be going to debate on the petition in lower house in 2 weeks. Hopefully the more info we send to MPs who support the ban, the more we may make them think the ban is unfair and this will get more of them to go against the ban decision. At the moment it's 17 against 12 (I think roughly) so we need to sway more MPs

A lovely public letter this morning from my FB friend who is mature aged. This letter explains the injustice of the racing ban so honestly; My second letter to Scott Morrison MP. Dear Mr Morrison, Again I write, My name is Noelene Holloway, a 58 y.o. a committed Christian and Greyhound Breeder, Owner and Trainer from N.S.W. My main occupation being, after asking God about a job many years ago and turning to His Word “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:29 I present my second case of evidence to prove The Premier has had plotted to 'Ban' (and hence exterminate) our Majestic Greyhounds in N.S.W. for over 15 months with my firm belief that the N.S.W. Greyhound Industry is the cleanest, most organized and successful of any code of racing in the world. This smear/propaganda Campaign to poison the public's mind against us, The Breeders Owners and Trainers of Greyhounds in N.S.W. followed the live baiting video shown by the A.B.C.'s programme "4 Corners". Trespasses went onto private properties, and set up cameras for up to 5 months. A well-known Lawyer, Vince Murphy (brother of Chris), said all the video evidence did was to prove that Live Baiting was not widespread. Whilst other states rightly dealt with those caught breaking the law, as did N.S.W., the Premier's plan for our demise here in N.S.W. was birthed and given life. 1. Since the Greyhound Racing Industry was established in N.S.W. 90 years ago by our ancestors, only 2 people have ever been charged with live baiting in N.S.W. 2. Since the introduction of Mr Paul Newson into the position of C.E.O. of Greyhound Racing N.S.W. by the Government, breeding has dropped by up to half, being a very acceptable and workable level. 3. Mr Newson brought in the rule that euthanasia of a healthy Greyhound is prohibited without G.R.N.S.W.'s permission, with the purchased of a million dollar adoption/re-homing centre at Wyee on the Central Coast, plus many other outlets paid for from our Welfare Fund, to rehome Greyhounds. No other code of racing have this Welfare Programme in existence (until the past month, if at all.) 4. Q.C. McHugh in his report, said he could not establish how many Greyhounds had been euthanized in N.S.W. over the past 12 years as data was never required, nor documented by our Government Regulated Body. Firstly the Report presented that 12 years was the expected life of a Greyhound, hence the use of sensationalized numbers of 'somewhere between 48,891 and 68,448.' over 12 years were presented. Greyhounds Australasia where reported to have given the original number last year of 13,000 to 17,000 in Australia per year, (which would be approx. 3,000 per state). They testified to me personally that this number was 'Pulled out of the air." My question is "Who uses 'odd numbers", when using 'somewhere between'?" Catastrophic injuries are a rarity on our superb and very well-maintained Racing Tracks in N.S.W. The Premier cited 'fractured skulls and broken backs' as one of his four reasons for Banning our Greyhounds. I speak for the majority of Trainers when saying "I have never heard of, nor witnessed these 2 specific injuries." They would be a rarity, as are catastrophic injuries. The Commission said "180" Greyhounds per year suffer catastrophic injuries. The Premier, in his propaganda campaign says now "136". Greyhound Racing N.S.W. Have evidence that between 1/1/16 and 21/3/16, two Greyhounds suffered a catastrophic injury. If that was the usual, this would amount to approx. 10 to 12 a year. In the Commission, 3 vets presented themselves falsely as "experts", when giving false evidence. It has been ascertained that an 'expert' must have the name "Fellow" next to their credentials, of which none of the three vets of the Commission had. 7. The Premier says falsely that Greyhound Racing is only Legal in 8 Countries in the world. The truth is that Greyhound Racing is Legal Worldwide, with 'Google' saying 29 Countries race Greyhounds. Only two States in America have banned Greyhound Racing i.e. Idaho and Arizona. 8. The Premier keeps presenting the word "Slaughter". Both dictionary definitions would refute the usage of this word by the Premier. The only definition given (if you put 'slaughter definition" into google) is "Kill animals for food." Looking further, we find another definition "killing of great numbers of human beings (as in battle or a massacre). Never has it been found that great numbers of Greyhound were ever killed at once. The very large majority of Greyhounds 'euthanized' over the past 12 years were euthanized at a veterinary clinic. The Premier is strongly portraying that 'Greyhounds" are the only animals getting unnecessarily euthanized ("Slaughtered"). According to The Sydney Morning Herald report of 6th June, 2010 (www.smh.com.au › News › Environment › Animals):- . 250,000 cats and dogs are killed by the pound each year in Australia. According to the report of September 12, 2015 "http://www.news.com.au/…/shelt…/story-fncynjr2-1226480386569" . "Of the 67,573 dogs that ended up at the RSPCA in 2010-11, 19,583 (about one in three) were put down. Most cats that end up at the RSPCA are killed – 37,177 out of 64,617. Many of these animals are healthy and the figures do not include euthanasia at vets or other shelters. The RSPCA says it is a “highly complex” problem, with responsible ownership an important part of the solution." The Premier puts 'Animal Welfare' at the helm of his attack on us, whilst ironically, the rally before us in Sydney this month was against the Premier's 'slaughter' of the Brumbies. It is said that it would be rare that, from a helicopter, a Brumby would be shot in the head for an instant death, but more likely, shot in the back, falling to break its legs, with a slow and painful death. There is also outrage that a very horrible procedure is being used with Dingoes in that they are collared with a device that will explode after the 2 year period they are being used for, the purpose of them killing wild goats. "http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/hinchinbrook-shire-counc…/…" I could go on about the horrible myxomatosis virus that slowly blinds and kills off rabbits, or the poisonous baits councils put around to kill Dingoes that carry young, killing other animals along with it, all being slow and painful. Yet, Registered Greyhound Tracks have been banned from using purchased dead, gutted and defrosted rabbits from a reputable industry (that the RSPCA had no problem with)...us not even allowed to use a purchased rabbit pelt, or any animal other skin to train our Greyhound. It has to be 'synthetic." At one time we were forbidden to give our Greyhounds "Soft Toys" in the resemblance of an animal", but thankfully they overturned this very extreme measure. It is constantly reiterated by The Premier that we have lost our Social License i.e. Our Public Acceptance. That is a 'surmise' by our Premier. Contrary, I believe a large majority in N.S.W. know, or are associated with someone who has an involvement with a Greyhound. People of N.S.W. (in my informed opinion and experience), are very favorable towards Greyhound Racing. A young girl who interviewed me from N.B.N. Television, deeply and sincerely apologized to me for what is happening to us by our so-called Premier (A servant of the people.) Another woman said this also of the journalists who went to their establishment to interview them. Greyhound Racing Participants come from all walks of life. My whole family is involved, including my 93 and 89 year old parents having brought my 4 sisters and I up with the Greyhounds, our 14 offspring being 5 School Teachers, Electrician, Civil Engineer, Inspector for Welding, Cricketer hoping to play for Australia, Bank worker, Real Estate Agent, University student. My knowledge of Greyhound Owners and Trainers is that they are hardworking, honest, industrious and level headed individuals, who make a great contribution to the N.S.W. Community. As is true, the work Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers do each and every day in N.S.W. is a HUGE ASSET to N.S.W. "http://www.businessinsider.com.au/these-are-the-economic-be…" says:- "The industry is worth $335.7 million annually to the NSW economy in direct and flow-on benefits, according to estimates for the 2013-14 year. During that racing season, 1,296 greyhound race meetings attracted more than 282,000 people, says a study commissioned by the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing on the size and scope of the racing industry in NSW. Racegoers generated expenditure of more than $11.2 million, both on-course and in the community. Use of the greyhound club facilities for non-race day purposes generated another $3.3 million of spending." In this world we live in today, with the threat of "Terrorism" (TERRORISM = "The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.") we Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers in N.S.W. feel we we are being 'Terrorized" by our own Government who were elected to do the right thing by us. Never before have I, nor anyone else I speak to, seen anything so atrociously committed by a Government of our so-called Democratic Australia. Our Democratic rights have been severely violated. It is said "Make the lie BIG, make it SIMPLE and KEEP SAYING IT." This is what we believe has been done to us by our Premier. At this moment, my beautiful Greyhound "Queen Esther" is sleeping. Her offspring are also sleeping. They do not know their purpose for living is being decided in our N.S.W. Government Lower House within 2 weeks. I recall from The Bible that 2,500 years ago The Jews were under the threat of extermination by an evil ruler. God raised up "Queen Esther" to save them. I believe God will bring vindication, justice and life back for us that will allow our Greyhounds in N.S.W. to continue racing, under a very professional, wise, compassionate and loving Body of Leaders. Yours sincerely, Noelene Holloway.

I don't normally react quickly in these debates but this is such a contentious issue with the industry's life at stake so I hope I can be forgiven for my emotive posts, even though I am no longer involved with racing greyhounds and the ban doesn't affect me, but I feel so badly for my many friends in the sport that I will fight the ruling to the last of my breath for their sake and for the greyhounds' sake. However, I've already stated my points and references to figures and stats, so will leave the debate :-) besides which, I've got an interest in showing greyhounds in the future so I don't want to get anybody upset :-) I have a friend who has show bred greyhounds and whippets and I find it fascinating to watch them in action in photos/videos! I also love border collies, I wonder if people show them as I haven't heard much about it?

GA later retracted their findings as it was found to be misleading and not based on actual figures. It was found that they made incorrect calculations when they did not have the full figure of actual live greyhounds that never went to GAP nor were reported deceased. The figure was later changed to a lower percentage of deaths per year, I can't remember what it was but it was approx 10% on average per year that didn't survive including those pups in a litter that died of diseases, illnesses, killed by their dams, etc Based on industry breeding figures, it's impossible to kill 17000 dogs in a single year. On average we need over 10,000 to race, 3000 to maintain those numbers via breeding (including sires), and the remaining 4000 would be made in GAP and private re-homing, with the exception of the now known "wastage" rate of 6.9%. Also keep in mind that breeding numbers are down by 46%, so your numbers are grossly outdated and false. See Greyhounds Australasia for confirmation. http://www.galtd.org.au/industry/australasian-statistics Injury rates are very low when you consider we have around 350,000 starters every year. So based on the public perception of 200 injuries every week, means we have an injury rate of 2.97%. But just so you know, regulators around the nation are working to bring those already impressive numbers down even further. And it's worth noting those figures include minor injuries, including minor cuts or abrasions and minor muscle strains. Visit here for more details: http://www.racingtoarespectedfuture.com.au/ Living conditions are very strict. In Victoria alone, they are bound by a government code of practice, complete with standards of living. These standards are the highest in the world, and the dogs are better cared for than most pets. In fact when you consider who cares for their dogs better, you only have to look at the rate pet dogs are going into RSPCA shelters. And only 70% make it out alive, compared to greyhound racing 93.1% that make it from the whelping box to the couch. Visit here for more details: http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/pe…/domestic-animal-businesses Don't quote BS RSPCA stats. If you want to talk about euth rates nationally they are freely available. 15% for dogs. I'm not pro-RSPCA nor am I anti-Greyhound Racing. I'm interested in accountability and facts. They're not MY numbers by the way. I'm quoting from Vol 2 of the Commision's report. GA's own highly confidential report submitted to the board. GA have publicly stated 58% euth rate (radio interview ABC) following the release of the report. I am very against RSPCA since they changed their policies from being concerned about welfare 10 years ago to only care about politics, this is where most of their donations go to, to politics instead of to shelters to help feed and house pet dogs and cats. they have a 93% euth rate killing cats and almost as high euth rate for killing every dog that comes into their shelter. Disgraceful. My money will never go to RSPCA, they are Australia's worst mass murderer of pets. It's a shame they became so focused on politics and aggressive police stance rather than stick to looking after dogs and educating the public to be responsible pet owners, like they used to be 10 years ago before they changed. Which is why I'm absolutely horrified (along with 99% of greyhound racing industry) when I heard that GRNSW had allied itself with RSPCA to help take in unwanted greyhounds for their GAP shelter. This is the worse thing ever to happen to these poor greyhounds.. they won't stand a chance being rehomed now. Did you see the CEO of RSPCA's video online where he said he had to put down nearly all greyhounds that come into RSPCA's shelters because according to their shelter assistants (most of whom are not knowledgable about dog breeds and had no training at all to assess a dog's suitablity to be rehomed) greyhounds are a vicious breed that cannot be re trained. Omg. Oh and for further clarification with a more accurate figure for the racing industry: (it's pdf so you may have to download it) this link sums it up excellently; http://www.racingtoarespectedfuture.com.au/app/uploads/2016/08/31.7.16-NSW-Greyhound-Racing-Industry-Alliance-Key-Facts-1.pdf

GA later retracted their findings as it was found to be misleading and not based on actual figures. It was found that they made incorrect calculations when they did not have the full figure of actual live greyhounds that never went to GAP nor were reported deceased. The figure was later changed to a lower percentage of deaths per year, I can't remember what it was but it was approx 10% on average per year that didn't survive including those pups in a litter that died of diseases, illnesses, killed by their dams, etc Based on industry breeding figures, it's impossible to kill 17000 dogs in a single year. On average we need over 10,000 to race, 3000 to maintain those numbers via breeding (including sires), and the remaining 4000 would be made in GAP and private re-homing, with the exception of the now known "wastage" rate of 6.9%. Also keep in mind that breeding numbers are down by 46%, so your numbers are grossly outdated and false. See Greyhounds Australasia for confirmation. http://www.galtd.org.au/industry/australasian-statistics Injury rates are very low when you consider we have around 350,000 starters every year. So based on the public perception of 200 injuries every week, means we have an injury rate of 2.97%. But just so you know, regulators around the nation are working to bring those already impressive numbers down even further. And it's worth noting those figures include minor injuries, including minor cuts or abrasions and minor muscle strains. Visit here for more details: http://www.racingtoarespectedfuture.com.au/ Living conditions are very strict. In Victoria alone, they are bound by a government code of practice, complete with standards of living. These standards are the highest in the world, and the dogs are better cared for than most pets. In fact when you consider who cares for their dogs better, you only have to look at the rate pet dogs are going into RSPCA shelters. And only 70% make it out alive, compared to greyhound racing 93.1% that make it from the whelping box to the couch. Visit here for more details: http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/pe…/domestic-animal-businesses

The most important thing people outside the industry have to consider, if they can think for themselves and see for themselves instead of blindly following the words of their corrupt Govt: 1. Industry participants HAVE NEVER denied that the industry isn't perfect, that there are a number of bad trainers who treat greyhounds like commodities and have a turnstile through their kennels to keep the good dogs coming in and the slow dogs going out. 2. They've never denied either that there have been live baiting going on, in years past it used to happen a fair bit with a lot of trainers, however luckily it has been phrased out over recent years by people that were willing to move with the times and to respect the laws. 3. Reforms have already been happening in the last few years, with more regulations and more concern on welfare issues, all of which were being addressed. 4. Most important of all, greyhound racing participants are not allowed by law to take matters into their own hands, they joined the industry thinking that all they had to do was do the right thing themselves and it was the responsibility of their racing authority to keep an eye on things and to enforce the laws and do regular surprise inspections on every single property of licensed trainers. 5. Yes there are too many greyhounds being euthanized for being too slow or not up to scratch, this was being addressed by new welfare regulations in the last 2 years who are now getting on top of this huge issue. 6. The report has been found to be flawed by prominent lawyers as it did not provide appropriate evidence, most of the submissions did not have evidence and relied on anecdotes and guesstimate figures as well as using inappropriate witnesses who had an agenda in wishing the sport shut down. 7. The 3 vets who gave submissions in the report, were later found to not have the necessary qualifications and were found to have lied, so at the moment, they are currently being investigated by AVA. 8. I don't have time to go through every website and post links to all the appropriate evidences and news updates from lawyers who have taken apart the report, but if you google enough times you'll find out for yourself that it is absolutely fact that the report is full of holes. Because the racing authority didn't do their job, now 90% of law abiding greyhound trainers and breeders are going to be punished for something the other 10% did? The public cannot say that trainers knew about bad stuff and did nothing, because the public wouldn't even know about the number of trainers that reported illegal activities to their racing authority yet the officials either did nothing to investigate the reports or only gave the bad trainers a slap on the wrist with a small fine and short suspension. People shouldn't judge each individual based on what others are doing. For eg, I'm a pretty much a homebody spending all my time with my dogs, so I don't know what my next door neighbour is doing. Then one day, the police comes to my door to arrest me and take my dogs away from me, apparently because my neighbour has been live baiting and cruelly abusing his dogs, so I must have known about it or either be doing the same thing. The world has gone mad when a corrupt Govt can punish a whole society just because a bunch of vegan Greens and Animals Australia says the industry is 100% full of cruel live baiting trainers. Sad times indeed that we live in...:-(

If this 'fact sheet' is the best they can come up with I don't think they will convince anyone! Just the first few things to jump out at me are 'We already know injuries and litters are just a fraction of what was guessed during the Inquiry' Since when is 'We already know' evidence of anything? Who already knows, how do they already know? What evidence is there that "they" know anything? What "fraction" was it? The fraction could be 99% of what was guessed, it is still a fraction. This isn't a fact at all yet they have it listed on a fact sheet. Anyone can read a report and say 'I already know this is wrong', that doesn't prove anything as fact. 'The figure of "50-70%" of greyhound pups being euthanised is a fabrication, with less than one-tenth of that number being the actual figure - and most of that figure is for illness, old age and other' Even if they were going to prove that the actual figure is less than one-tenth... they have just claimed that some of the greyhound PUPS euthanised were done so for reason of old age. Not a great way to state something as fact. 'Many rehomed greyhounds were previously counted as part of 'wastage' when they were actually healthy and happy pets' How many is 'many'? 1,000? 15? It's just a meaningless thing to say, the word 'many' is completely subjective. Looks like you can't read. They're saying that most greyhounds have died of old age, they were not killed. I have heaps of old greyhounds here, I am like most people in the industry, we prefer to keep our old greyhounds for ourselves as pets, we don't like giving away older greyhounds to rehoming groups. Plus, when people try to give older greyhounds to rehoming groups (I know for a fact, because I've been trying to save other trainer's retired greyhounds by helping to rehome them and their older greyhounds were always knocked back by these rehoming groups apparently because people don't want old greyhounds, they want cute puppies or young greyhounds. Just yesterday I asked a rescuer group if they could help my mum rehome 7 of the pet greyhounds (aged between 5 to 11) because the owner died 2 weeks ago of lung cancer and my mum is too ill to take them on herself due to her age, and the rescuer group said they can only help with the younger greys because they find them easier to rehome.) If you look on my FB page friends list, you would see hundreds of them posting on their own walls, pics of their old greys lazing about on their lounge in the house. Most of these friends have between 1 to 18 pet greyhounds EACH. They've never given them away to be rehomed. This is why you don't see many older greyhounds in full sight, because trainers don't generally take them all out for walks in public. I certainly have never taken any of my 8 retired greys out in public as I don't trust the off leash/uncontrolled dogs (esp pitbull types, staffy types, doberman types, german shepherd types etc ) as so many pet owners are just plain irresponsible and don't care about training their pet dogs to be good dogs. Years ago a unleashed Doberman took off from his owners while walking along a highway and he crossed the highway to charge at me walking my 3 greyhounds and it was only my frantic screams while I was trying to get the muzzles off my greys so they could defend themselves against this raving 50kgs monster, that brought a passerby to my rescue with a big stick to beat off the Doberman. He was still trying to mouth at my little grey's throat and I was screaming at the stupid owners to pull the dog off, they finally managed to pull him off but told me off for having greyhounds even though mine were on leads and muzzled.They didn't see anything wrong with their dog charging at my dogs unprovoked. This is just one of the few incidents that's happened to me so 10 years ago I quit taking my greyhounds out in public and just preferred to let them potter on my acreage and gallop about in my paddock. They're happy and safe. And certainly living a longer life not being mauled every day by irresponsible owners' dogs.

Oh and Tasha's great grandkids Diamond and Nette (8 months old) are excited to be invited to her birthday party tomorrow! lol (I only bred one litter from Tasha, so I could keep her mother's memory going with future generations, Tasha's litter all went interstate to win races, one daughter then had a litter with a breeder and I contacted the breeder to ask him if I could have one of the pups later on when they finished racing as I wanted to adopt a grand daughter of Tasha as a pet. 2 years ago, Tasha's grandkids all retired from racing and one of them was sent to me :-) called Wednesday, and late last year I bred one litter with her, Diamond and Nette are the two of the result. Sorry for the ramble, I'll just put this in this list more clearly: Roxy mum of= Tasha mum of = Navarre mum of = Wednesday mum of = Diamond and Nette :-)

My greyhound Tasha will turn 13 tomorrow ... I cannot believe she has made it this far as she was diagnosed with Mast Cell Tumors (MCT) in January 2015 and did not look like she would see out her 12th birthday. Vet suggested many invasive treatment options but at her age I did not want to subject her to that, so I joined a Canine MCT group on FB and after speaking to my vet, I started her on Golden Paste (turmeric recipe) and anti histamine tablets (MCT causes intense itching all over body from the free ranging histamines being released by the tumours itself) and changed her feeding to an organic healthier kibble with her normal fresh beef mince. Since then she has dramatically gained back all the weight she lost, stopped vomiting up her dinner, stopping having indigestion upsets and tumours started to abate and became dormant so far. I bred Tasha but when I had to move houses, I had to sell her at 15 months old to a trainer and told him if he no longer wanted her or if she ended up no good, to give me first option to have her back as a pet. Luckily, after she failed at her 3 starts on a track (no wins, no places) the trainer contacted me and told me I could have her back. She was nearly 3 years old when she came back to me. From that point on, she became my second best friend, her mum Roxy was my best friend :-) but then Roxy contacted osteosacoma (spelling) in her shoulder and started to go downhill at 11 years old, she passed away in my arms at the vet (being put down due to suffering too much) 2 weeks before her 12th birthday :-( Tasha became my comfort after Roxy's passing.. otherwise I could never have coped with my loss. I was a trainer, but I still kept my greyhounds after they finished racing, no matter how fast or slow. I just loved them so much they were part of my family. I talked to them daily like they were my human friends. Anyway, I digress :-) I just wanted to let everyone know what a bright personality Tasha is and to join in celebrating her 13th birthday tomorrow with me :-)

Fact sheet from Canberra Greyhounds http://canberragreyhoundfacts.com.au/the-facts

I am on the side of Drs and Nurses and Paramedics and I agree with the Lock out Laws, however what I'm talking about is all those measures introduced without going through Parliament is what has all of society so upset. Many people think the Lock Out laws wasn't implemented properly and doesn't really work. Disability schemes are being wiped out as well. WestConnex also drawing a lot of negative feedbacks. Etc etc. Also, I have a few friends who are very against the racing industry but they understand we can be friends and agree to disagree without having to be nasty to each other. I support animal activists but not the extremist antis nor the ones that proclaim animal rights over animal welfare. I am actually not involved in the greyhound racing industry, I haven't set foot on a track in probably about 3 years, I no longer desire to watch dogs racing. I just love the historical aspects of the sport, remembering all the champions of yesteryear, I have thousands of greyhound newspapers and magazines dating back to 1960s (although my family and friends have been trying to get me to burn the papers for years lol) I love researching the pedigrees of dogs and trying to remember what their temperaments were like, any traits and faults etc (much like what the show dog breeders do) and most of all I love the breeding side where I help the bitch bring puppies into the world and the puppies become my children. I love watching cute little puppies grow up into beautiful natured happy healthy adults whose genetic imprint gets switched on the moment they hear the sound of a motorised lure being driven around a racetrack. Greyhounds just instinctively know what they are bred for and know what to do on a track, most require very little encouragement or training to learn to go into a starting box and to chase a lure around. Very rare to see any serious injuries on a racetrack, even when dogs fall badly they end up ok with just minor muscle bruising like a footballer get on the field. Rest and rehabilitation and injury treatment management sees them recovered 100% before they race again. Not every greyhound that breaks a leg is ever put down. Only the few that the track vets tell the owners it's best to put down the dog due to the nasty nature of the break which cannot be fixed. Most breaks are clean, so if it is fixable then the dogs will usually be saved. Unfortunately the antis have spread so much myths and propaganda about the injury rates and death rates that it's hard to stop all those lies from being repeated over and over again by the antis. Good to see the truth being told in court today for once... :-) http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-09/greyhound-racing-ban-report-contained-factual-errors-court-told/7703436

Maddy, it's more about the fact that Premier Baird is trying to be a dictator, not the fact that he banned greyhound racing. If he was genuinely concerned about the welfare issues and was a fair Premier, I wouldn't fight so hard against the decision. It's the fact that we in NSW are allowing this Premier to make harsh Hitler-like decisions on everything that he thinks he doesn't like. Look at the Lock Out laws he created, look at the deals he did with developers to ruin people's lives in Sydney, look at what he's doing to the disability schemes, etc etc He feels he is above the law and won't listen to his colleagues and does things on his own without having to discuss it in Parliament. Is this the sort of Premier we want??? I know I am getting off topic in discussing politics, but this is the point I'm trying to make. It all will backfire on the Premier very soon, and it will backfire all the Greenies' and animal activists' purpose.... because they had a purpose to push for a ban on greyhound racing yet did not foresee the implications of allowing the Premier to get away with slandering people and stealing from taxpayers fund.... But they will soon find out that the Premier will be targeting the pedigree dog breeders next, wiping them out. Because the extreme animal libbers are already saying they do not want people to have pet dogs or cats, they believe (same as PETA) that people shouldn't own pets. (have a look at PETA's creed)

Hi Sheridan, Sorry, I was typing fast lol

Worthwhile to have a read of this (but only for people that have an open clear mind, not for those that have tunnel vision and refuse to see the truth and only wants to keep on believing their own lies and narrow perception of society as a whole). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/gaping-holes-in-flawed-greyhound-report/news-story/3025f749bc8ad9dc0e489f138dfd9b8b P.S re greyhounds being exported overseas to Asian countries, I and my many friends are totally against it, I'm not a racist but I do know that their culture and mindset is totally different and the animal lovers are in the minority over there. It is the Govt's fault that for years they never did anything to prevent the greyhounds from being sold over to China and Macau. Macau is a totally horrific end of the line for 100% dogs that go over there to race. Barbaric nation, the culture thinks nothing of using cruel inhumane methods to kill the dogs. For years a minority of trainers sold dogs in Australia to an exporter that specialised in sending the dogs overseas (trainers don't export, they have no idea how to, it's the exporter (usually a dodgy trainer/operator with business skills) who advertises that he is looking for slow dogs to send to Macau and faster more expensive dogs to send to a mainland province in China where there is a brand new racetrack apparently (chinese businessmen pay between $1000 to $250,000 to buy quality greyhounds from Australia to use in two dog match races)... I've seen those ads years ago and even was approached in an email a few years ago by an agent for a Chinese businessman who was interested in buying a fast racedog I had at that time... he offered quite a large sum of money that could have paid all my bills and bought me a brand new car.. but I had no hesitation in saying NOT FOR SALE AT ANY PRICE TO EXPORTERS. My friends who are like me, also were approached and big money offered for their fast dogs too.. they all said NO!! It makes me violently sick to my stomach to think of the poor greyhounds being sent to live and die horribly in a foreign country with a different culture. I made quite some enemies in the racing industry with trainers who had sold their dogs overseas, as they didn't appreciate my viewpoint and didn't want me interfering in their business or try to agitate for a law change to stop it happening. I've received death threats, knee capping threats, simply for saying I didn't agree with trainers sending dogs to China or Macau. I am a very passionate protester against cruelty and export of dogs to asian countries. If I knew the racing industry was filled with live baiters, abusers or drug cheats I would have been a very passionate protester against the industry. So for me not to protest against the industry, it shows that I know what it is like inside and outside the industry and have met more decent people with the same viewpoints as myself, than the minority of scumbags who think nothing of live baiting, cheating by using drugs on their dogs, and using standover tactics on people they don't like. Just because an extremist Muslim terrorist bombs a city, do you label every single Muslim a criminal and a terrorist and ban them all from living? No. You're supposed to act like a decent human being that has a rational mind and don't use emotive tactics to destroy all Muslims. Same with the greyhound racing industry. Just because 10% of trainers are scumbags, you don't try to destroy the other 80% of decent trainers.

You can't just sling this sort of crap around without providing examples and evidence to disprove them. # https://savegreyhoundracing.com/2016/08/08/what-happens-when-we-win-in-court/ If you can see out from under your tinfoil hat, could you please provide evidence of secret squirrle backroom deals with the thoroughbred people? # see below Sounds like Mike Baird is a busy man, with all these secret backroom deals and meeting and conspiracies. Where does he even find the time to oppress the lower classes? #Haven't you been reading all those news in the media? All those videotape leaks of secret boardroom meetings with the racehorse owners back in April? All those documents and email leaks (whoops) by Baird's own staff?? He has his back to the wall now lol It shows, don't worry. #You seem to be the typical extremist anti, love to attack innocent people personally because you can't stand not being able to control the racing industry. And that's not right either. No one disagrees that there are some issue in the pedigree breeding world. But focusing on one particular issue doesn't mean we don't care about the others- it's a matter of priorities. And right now, the greyhound industry is responsible for a hell of a lot more misery than pedigree breeders are. #How do you know? Give me proof that the greyhound industry is responsible for a hell of a lot more misery than pedigree breeders. I've also got friends in the dog show areas and what they've told me about their industry was really shocking. Keeping 8 dogs out of the many litters you've bred over the years? How generous of you. Where are all the others? # Why do you assume the 8 retired greyhounds are the only pets I've ever had? Sheesh. I've only trained 2-3 dogs at a time every few years, never owned any of them, just trained for their owners, when the dogs retired the owners took them back to do what they wanted with them. I've had probably about 20 retired greys as a pet over the 40 years out of about 30 greyhounds I've trained. Some belonged to me so I kept those ones. Those ones that the owners wanted to have put down, I said no and would rehome them via a rehoming group or kept them myself. The 8 I currently have here, 4 of them weren't even mine but they were going to be put down by their apartment living owners (the owners weren't allowed to keep pets) so I stepped in and adopted these dogs myself. I've never kept more than 1 pup out of every litter I bred as people were always wanting to buy my beautiful puppies due to my reputation as a caring ethical breeder. I don't often train my own dogs that I bred, I usually sent them away to a trainer and when they finished their racing career they would come back home to me. I preferred to train other people's dogs so I could give them a good chance to live a longer and better life with me. Because the industry participants would certainly never lie when their backs were up against the wall, would they? I mean, it's not as if they lied about the issue of live baiting (oh wait!) or that they lied about doping (oh.. hang on) or that they lied about the existence of mass graves (awkward..). #Sorry to burst your bubble Maddy, GBOTA and GRNSW staff worked together to collect dated photo evidence of each retired greyhound with the appropriate I.D markings and ear tattoos for each dog to provide proof they weren't put down.(Premier Baird is such an uneducated ignorant fool, he says SLAUGHTERED, this means being killed for meat, horses are slaughtered, greyhounds aren't! But of course Baird loves shocking the public with juicy scary words like SLAUGHTERED even though it's the wrong word to use) Unlike the activists, the industry has no need to lie or falsify evidence or have their backs to the wall. What wall? The only trainers that lied in the inquiry are the ones that had a grudge against the industry because they were disliked by many good honest people, these scum trainers are the minority thankfully but they will never be welcome in the industry by us decent owners because of their dishonest characters and for trying to throw innocent people under the bus with their outrageous claims of 99% of trainers knew about live baiting and were doing it! If I ever come to meet these awful characters in person I would spit on them :-( how dare they mistreat their greyhounds and then say that that's what everyone else did! If you wish to believe the nasty trainers, then I will chose to believe 99% of show dog breeder and handler cull 99% of their dogs if they don't make the grade and their dogs are mistreated and abused and being forced into standing in awkward positions for hours in training just so they can win Champion Breed of the Show. ***************************************************************************************************************************** This is a fantastic letter which I found elsewhere online and am sharing this: :-) I am writing this letter as a concerned resident of this state and your electorate about how the government is behaving in an extraordinary manner in regards the the banning of greyhound racing in this state . When the Premier first made this announcement he announced he had received the McHugh report , had read it and had no other alternative but to close down the industry on such abhorrent behaviors that were systemic throughout the industry , which is quite fair enough if this were true . But hang on, just one day after it is released and I gather had been well scrutinized , McHugh comes up with 7 changes , after all that time and money ($15,000,000 paid for by tax payers ) changes to the report on day 1 after release . Then we find out that so called “expert witnesses” are not expert by definition of law and also have hidden agendas (well not that well hidden ) in wanting to close down greyhound racing , but when an expert witness by the definition of law wanted to give evidence he was told he was not required!!! quite handy as his agenda might not have suited the commission . Now we come to Ernie and his gruesome story of drowning pups , another part of the report used by the Premier to tug at everyone's heart strings and to show everyone what type of horrible people are involved in the industry but once again hang on , lets delve a little further into Ernie. Seems Ernie is American( not involved in the NSW greyhound industry) used by a Canadian report from back in 2005 and reports are that he may not even exist but hey it makes for good reading if you want to close down the industry . Now we get onto the figures of “wastage” in the report , the figures that the report said were true are amazingly close to the same figure Animals Australia came up with a year earlier of which were a “guesstimate” , once again pretty horrific reading but good value if you want the industry closed , but wait there's more , instead of taking a “guesstimate” from an Animals Australia report we can have actual facts from records the GRNSW had kept from the previous 15 months which give a better indication of the true numbers , but that's no good as they are nowhere near as dramatic as our “guesstimate” so we had better do some paper shuffling and leave them out . There is plenty more in the report that I could go on about like witnesses with agendas and closed hearings , of which details are being kept from the public but I will leave the report but I will finish on this . A senior law lecturer who has read the report said if any of his UNDERGRADUATES had submitted this he would have had to fail them as it is substandard at best . Then there is the video of the horse breeders meeting on April 1 were Peter V'Landys talks about the greyhound industry being closed down in 2 months (hes not that smart he was out by a week , no , sorry he was technically right as decision was delayed due to the election so hats off to Peter NOSTRADAMUS V'Landys ) and the e-mail from Greens regarding Wentworth park in February and we are led to believe this decision was made in July????? Now lets get into the last few days , if as the government keeps telling us this report is so factual and this is what the majority of people want why are you spending more of my money (wasn't $15,000,000 enough) on media adds and flooding social media , you have had the ABC doing all the dirty work so far ( loved their coverage of the rally ) so do you really need to waste more money on something that you keep telling us the majority want stopped . Lets get onto “social license “ I keep hearing how we have lost it , well if that is true how about your own . Today we have a report of the GRNSW CEO (whose job it is to protect the integrity of the sport) colluding with the Premier and Deputy Premier to pass on documents to use in parliament in the hope that it will help them in their cause, but wait there's more , the entire issue was put before the commission who found there were no wrong doings, but if the CEO only hands part of the information over it will look a lot worse and might help. I don't know much about a “social license” but what I do know if the was such a thing as a “moral license” there are people like BAIRD , GRANT , NEWSON,RUSHTON and McHUGH just to name a few who would have trouble finding theirs with the way they have acted during and after the inquiry One last point , I listened to part of the debate in parliament and heard the Premier spruiking what happened in Arizona , maybe he should stop getting his information from anti greyhound sites like Greys2K . Tuscon Park in Arizona was closed due to economics not animal welfare . Its owners could make more money running simulcast races daily instead of live races weekly , also they only had a dog population of between 300-350 to find homes for and only a couple of jobs were lost which is a completely different situation to what we have here , a complete industry with 10,000 to 15,000 dogs and roughly the same amount of people that will be affected by the decision . But while we are on the subject could you possibly maybe mention to the Premier ,Valley Race Park in Texas which recommence racing 4 days a week from November 26 2016 or the UAE where there are 2 newly built tracks in Dubai with plans for more to come or Spain and Mexico who have greyhound racing as non commercial enterprises at present but are gearing up to becomes commercial in the near future or the other 15-20 countries that still regularly hold greyhound meetings . So 1 track closing in America for financial not welfare reasons is a pretty flimsy example of what is happening in the rest of the world. There is plenty more I can add but might leave that for another day but one last thing that I do ask is that you show some leadership and integrity for your constituents and before you cast such an important vote you read both the report and the rebuttal from the industry and once you have done that make your decision based on the facts presented to you , our industry at least deserves that much Regards David Grindley

Apologies if the below link has already been posted elsewhere. Good to see the greyhound racing industry finally taking the Govt to Supreme Court tomorrow for all the falsified evidences and lies in that infamous report that has now been proven to be full of holes. The Premier did not make the decision to ban greyhound racing because of welfare concerns, he had already planned to ban greyhounds earlier this year in April after discussions with thoroughbreds industry and doing some backroom deals with them as well as with the nutty Greens and Animal Justice Party. He was wanting to take back the Wentworth Park lands as he had already negotiated a secret backroom deal with developers, offering them first bite at the big cherry, despite his public protests to the contrary. It is alarming that the Premier is taking such dictatorial actions against everything he dislikes in the society, making up new laws as he pleases without taking it through the Parliament first. The public are increasingly becoming disillusioned and angry with the Premier (the only people happy with the Premier are the extreme animal libbers and Greens) due to his high handness in treating the public like slaves and lower class scum. The Premier is much like the Prime Minister, born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they do not hobnob with the low class society, only preferring to mingle among the middle and upper class people. I fear for the future if the Premier's decisions on everything goes ahead. He has been making so many mistakes this year he is bound to be destroyed before the next elections are held. I have been involved in the greyhound racing industry for over 40 years and although I am not a trainer (retired a few years ago but still involved currently as a hobby breeder, breeding one litter every couple of years, and I have 8 retired greyhounds as pets that I used to train. Some were too slow to race and retired early, a couple had broken their hocks but were saved to be kept as pets etc) but I am an animal lover first and foremost, and my passionate love for the greyhound breed is unquestioned by anybody who has ever met me. My family also used to train greyhounds and kept slow dogs as pets, they taught me that greyhounds may be racedogs first and pets second but they are still living breathing feeling creatures that deserve to be treated with love and respect. I have many many greyhound trainer friends who are much like me and my family, we don't condone cruelty (much less live baiting) or mistreatment and they also have kept many retired greyhounds as pets, all of these pets never were officially reported to GRNSW so therefore there were thousands of missing greyhounds that were actually still alive as pets with their trainers/owners.. many never went through GAP or got green collars or went to rescue/rehoming groups. A census was sent out by GBOTA a couple weeks ago to all trainers who had to fill in forms for how many retired greyhounds they still had, as the Premier and activists were saying that 90% of racing greyhounds were killed! Anyway the census survey came back early last week and it was unofficially reported that 40,000 greyhounds were now found still living with their trainers/or owners as pets. I was gobsmacked as I asssumed about 15,000 greyhounds were still alive.. but I am so happy to hear the news of the census! Premier Baird deserves to resign for the enormous lies he's spread in the media outlets using his influence and taxpayers' money to pay for those ridiculous smear campaigns! I think other breeds dog breeders and owners should be supporting the greyhound racing industry, as it would be strange for them to be cheering Baird's decision because I have seen worse cases of cruelty, mistreatment and unnecessary culling of dog show puppies if they are born without desirable features. There would be more abuse cases in the pet dog and show dog society than in the greyhound racing industry, so how would these owners react if they heard that? You would be upset of course and say that is untrue! http://www.racingtoarespectedfuture.com.au/2016/07/29/media-release-greyhound-industry-commences-legal-challenge-supreme-court/