Greyhound Racings Dirty Little Secret Exposed

[WreckitWhippet]

So you;ve basically made the whole thing up... Love your work

Stop attacking the good intentions PL!

and people think that they are going to take on the might and power of the racing industry with their good intentions and made up facts and figures. It's laughable really and the latestt " ban racing petition" won't get further than a shredder or round filing bin

[Greyt]

So you;ve basically made the whole thing up... Love your work

Stop attacking the good intentions PL!

and people think that they are going to take on the might and power of the racing industry with their good intentions and made up facts and figures. It's laughable really and the latestt " ban racing petition" won't get further than a shredder or round filing bin

When the CEO of of Greyhound Racing NSW says publicly that 3000 healthy dogs die as a result of the industry in NSW alone each year, that community expectations are changing and that Greyhound NSW needs to do better, change is already happening.

[gwp4me]

Can't stop peoples' "recreation at any price", this is their entitlement. As we all know, to distance ourselves, we believe: animals have no pulse, they are already dead on their feet, also, they have no feelings and do not feel pain, like we do. I don't see any rehomed greyhounds around here, heard some end up at tips with tatoos removed. I am a nutter and do my share, I have adopted victims of the horse racing industry, love them and provide them with a lifelong home.

[Greyt]

Can't stop peoples' "recreation at any price", this is their entitlement. As we all know, to distance ourselves, we believe: animals have no pulse, they are already dead on their feet, also, they have no feelings and do not feel pain, like we do. I don't see any rehomed greyhounds around here, heard some end up at tips with tatoos removed. I am a nutter and do my share, I have adopted victims of the horse racing industry, love them and provide them with a lifelong home.

You are awesome. More and more Greyhounds will get out into the community over time and each one will be a living, breathing endorsement and advertisement around what fantastic pets they make. In turn, this will lead to even more being adopted instead of killed.... hopefully we will see some in your neighbourhood soon!

[BJean]

Well Curlybertie, you know we all deal with incongruity in our own special way. Some people, like your good self, say it with flowers; other people, like my bad self (or good self) say it with no flowers. But I would say in general, we all get as good as we give.

ETA: woops, you sent me emoticons and I did not give any in return. Here:

Edited November 12, 2012 by lilli

[Salukifan]

As I see it, it's only been a "secret" if you've had your head firmly buried in the sand up until now.

And can we please cease and desist with the "Asia" bashing. "Asia" is a region made up of a wide range of countries and cultures. Dog eating and dog abuse are not common to all of them. Indeed, some of them display attitudes to dogs that we can only dream of here.

Less hyperbole and more facts wouldn't go astray in this discussion.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[Diva]

"every week hundreds of DOGS and CATS are exported worldwide from Australia "

Hundreds?

My apologies Lilli for the typo which I have corrected in the original post should have read ' every MONTH'

if you looked at the collective data from Australain export sectors you would see just how many pedigree dogs and cats are purchased and sent to these countries, these are the registered ones there are also many who just get sold from BYB to overseas 'investors' as I said some are going to reputable breeders and kennels etc. Others however are just a commodity and are purchased, received and bred till death just for fur/meat/illegal fighting and in the greyhound instance already broken down dogs are filled with steroids and raced or go to fattening farms and sold on to recover initial outlay. Photo's of cute children with lovable dogs mean nothing unless you were there to see the pic taken anything can be photoshopped. I am not pointing the finger at any one culture or country just asian countries in general is where the high incidence of this is happening.

Thank you Stan's mum for seeing my point and supporting what I was endeavouring to convey that every dog irrespective of its breed deserves a chance to have a life

Registered pedigree dogs? I'd like to see a link to data that is recent as I think your information might be a bit out of date, I'm pretty sure the rise in value of the Australian dollar killed that export industry in its tracks. A few are still exported, but it tends to be to serious breed enthusiasts now and I see no issue with that. A couple of years ago it was much more common for the overseas pet market - I'm glad it's stopped.

As I see it, it's only been a "secret" if you've had your head firmly buried in the sand up until now.

.

Yep

Edited November 12, 2012 by Diva

[Greyt]

As I see it, it's only been a "secret" if you've had your head firmly buried in the sand up until now.

No actually, industry representatives have been asked many times what the actual kill numbers and have never before, publicly stated them. But they have taken the time to trash those that put up best guesses based on information gleaned from many sources.

For all of the statistics available about greyhound racing (and there are a lot down to whelping numbers of each litter), none of the information from Greyhound racing officials, relates to where greyhounds born each year end up.

To quote you, "if you've had your head firmly buried in the sand up until now" you would think that the only reason not to publish the annual kill figures would be because the the numbers are embarrassing, to kill so many beautiful animals is shameful, that Greyhounds as Pets and GAP just touch the surface and because if the actual numbers were common knowledge, the general public (we have been characterised as a nation of dog lovers) would be outraged.

[Curlybert]

Well Curlybertie, you know we all deal with incongruity in our own special way. Some people, like your good self, say it with flowers; other people, like my bad self (or good self) say it with no flowers. But I would say in general, we all get as good as we give.

ETA: woops, you sent me emoticons and I did not give any in return. Here:

Guess I was thinking of your gratuitous comment in the recent Halti thread. But whatever you say. Yawn.

[Salukifan]

As I see it, it's only been a "secret" if you've had your head firmly buried in the sand up until now.

No actually, industry representatives have been asked many times what the actual kill numbers and have never before, publicly stated them. But they have taken the time to trash those that put up best guesses based on information gleaned from many sources.

For all of the statistics available about greyhound racing (and there are a lot down to whelping numbers of each litter), none of the information from Greyhound racing officials, relates to where greyhounds born each year end up.

To quote you, "if you've had your head firmly buried in the sand up until now" you would think that the only reason not to publish the annual kill figures would be because the the numbers are embarrassing, to kill so many beautiful animals is shameful, that Greyhounds as Pets and GAP just touch the surface and because if the actual numbers were common knowledge, the general public (we have been characterised as a nation of dog lovers) would be outraged.

I didn't need to read an actual kill figure to know that a lot of dogs off the track or that failed their start are euthanised. Neither would anyone who has a reasonable knowledge of the industry. That's what I meant.

I don't need to see published figures to know that the industry has no use for slow or finished racing dogs. Those rehomed are a drop in the bucket.

I don't know what the answer is but I do know that the death of the greyhound racing industry will see the breed become extinct outside of the handful of dogs born into ANKC litters each year. No easy solution to this problem from where I sit.

Your average member of the public is a "dog lover" up to the time where they are inconvenienced or asked to put their hand in their pocket. Never lose sight of that.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[gwp4me]

Can't stop peoples' "recreation at any price", this is their entitlement. As we all know, to distance ourselves, we believe: animals have no pulse, they are already dead on their feet, also, they have no feelings and do not feel pain, like we do. I don't see any rehomed greyhounds around here, heard some end up at tips with tatoos removed. I am a nutter and do my share, I have adopted victims of the horse racing industry, love them and provide them with a lifelong home.

You are awesome. More and more Greyhounds will get out into the community over time and each one will be a living, breathing endorsement and advertisement around what fantastic pets they make. In turn, this will lead to even more being adopted instead of killed.... hopefully we will see some in your neighbourhood soon!

Greyt, I hope so, too. Will be chewing over this issue/waste, with tears in my eyes.

[BJean]

Well Curlybertie, you know we all deal with incongruity in our own special way. Some people, like your good self, say it with flowers; other people, like my bad self (or good self) say it with no flowers. But I would say in general, we all get as good as we give.

ETA: woops, you sent me emoticons and I did not give any in return. Here:

Guess I was thinking of your gratuitous comment in the recent Halti thread. But whatever you say. Yawn.

I love you too Curlybertie, but I don't follow you in threads. Maybe you should do the same, it might help you.

[Curlybert]

I love you too Curlybertie, but I don't follow you in threads. Maybe you should do the same, it might help you.

Funnily enough, I don't follow you either, Lil. But you feel the need to make gratuitous, unhelpful comments in so many threads that it's damn hard to avoid you. Thank God for Off Topic, which provides some respite.

[BJean]

Funnily enough, I don't follow you either, Lil. But you feel the need to make gratuitous, unhelpful comments in so many threads that it's damn hard to avoid you. Thank God for Off Topic, which provides some respite.

Use block. it's quicker. and will prevent my norty posts leading you astray. Plus, it means your crappy posts and my crappy posts won't take up this thread. Big bonus.

Edited November 12, 2012 by lilli

[Greyt]

I didn't need to read an actual kill figure to know that a lot of dogs off the track or that failed their start are euthanised. Neither would anyone who has a reasonable knowledge of the industry. That's what I meant.

I don't need to see published figures to know that the industry has no use for slow or finished racing dogs. Those rehomed are a drop in the bucket.

I don't know what the answer is but I do know that the death of the greyhound racing industry will see the breed become extinct outside of the handful of dogs born into ANKC litters each year. No easy solution to this problem from where I sit.

Your average member of the public is a "dog lover" up to the time where they are inconvenienced or asked to put their hand in their pocket. Never lose sight of that.

I would say that my own experience is representative of many. I have owned dogs all of my life by Greyhound Racing never interested me. I only happened to begin to learn about the breed a little over 1 year ago and almost by chance at that, and when I did, I became interested in many aspects of the breed, including their PTS rates.

I *think* that the Greyhound industry might be feeling the pressure at the moment because they are looking at what is happening to the horse jumping racing people where Ministers are having to defend the sport and re-affirm that it will continue every time a jumper falls and is PTS in a race. The Greyhound people must be looking around the curve and wondering if they are next.

The sport is also facing declining numbers at the gate, even though revenue is fairly healthy due to pay tv and internet betting is probably having an impact too. If the numbers decline too far, then the pollies might find it easier to take action if there are effective community and media initiatives.

So here I am fostering some lovely hounds and teaching them the way of the pet world and sooo many people ask me about them. And most of them, previously had never considered a hound before in their lives. One dog I had attracted no less than 4 potential adopters from the dog park but none of them could have another dog at the time.

So anyway, there are all of these people out there who have never been exposed to the breed, have never considered having one as a pet and have no idea that so many dogs are put down.

But now we also have the internet to speed up the knowledge factor, the post racing programs, the wonderful community based rescue groups and the ANKC breeders like Rebanne showing off the wonderful breed.

I don't expect an "Arab Summer" type up-rising, more of a slow burn. And if the racing industry feel that they should do a better job of reducing the kill numbers, that can only be a good thing for the individual dogs that are saved from a big "E" being painted on their head.

I remember the days when my mum would have been in a frenzy at the thought of having a real mink coat. Now women the world over are abhorred by such thoughts.

The challenge to the Greyhound Racing Industry is to prevent the public from thinking the whole industry is abhorrent due to the fate of the dogs because if they do, the pollies will act.

Who knows? There maybe a day when the numbers of dogs not needed by the industry is matched or exceeded by the number of dogs available to adopt. If that day comes, it will be because the industry has moved in the right direction on this issue and more (much more) of the public have fallen in love with the Greys.

For me, it will be a Greyt day!

[WreckitWhippet]

As a NSW licenced Greyhound owner/trainer I recieved this today

I write to update you on the initiatives Greyhound Racing NSW is undertaking to improve animal welfare and maintain the integrity of the sport of greyhound racing in this state.

As you may be aware, veterinarian Dr Ted Humphries has given a series of interviews to the ABC where he has claimed licensed trainers in NSW have been killing greyhounds in inhumane ways including hanging, gassing and drowning.

In short, GRNSW has zero tolerance for trainers who do not meet our animal welfare standards.

As I am sure you will agree, any trainer found ending the life of a greyhound in an inhumane manner or mistreating the greyhounds in their care in some other way is not welcome in our sport. They would not only be violating the rules of greyhound racing and our code of practice, but would also be committing a criminal offence under the NSW Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.Dr Humphries also told the ABC that he sees an average of one greyhound a month with blood samples that strongly suggests it has been given the banned substance Erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO.

To date, GRNSW does not have any credible evidence of EPO use in greyhound racing. Over the past two years we have carried out more than 400 tests for EPO, these being 'out of competition' tests, but have yet to record one positive for the substance. No positive sample has been detected in greyhound racing throughout Australia. The leading racing analytical laboratories throughout the world continue to advise GRNSW that the preferred means for testing for EPO use in greyhounds is via a urine sample.

GRNSW has repeatedly invited Dr Humphries to discuss his concerns with our Integrity Department, however, he has not even had the decency to reply.

As an individual who has built a successful business empire on the back of the greyhound racing industry, GRNSW believes Dr Humphries has a moral obligation to bring any information he may have about EPO use and acts of cruelty towards greyhounds not only to the attention of GRNSW but other regulatory authorities given the serious nature of his allegations.

Despite his lack of cooperation, I have today asked our Integrity team to investigate Dr Humphries allegations and inquire into all aspects of his allegations.

Moving forward, I want to assure all greyhound racing participants in this state that GRNSW is committed to improving the welfare of greyhounds in NSW.

We recognise the number of greyhounds euthanised in NSW is too high, as it is across all companion animals in general.

Some of the initiatives already underway or about to be launched include:

Promoting better breeding practices. It is important that owners/breeders understand all the outcomes that can occur when they breed greyhounds and GRNSW is committed to educating participants about these outcomes;

Expanding the re-homing opportunities for retired racing greyhounds through programs such as Greyhounds As Pets, the Corrective Services NSW Dogs in Prisons Program and most recently the NSW Greenhounds program, which allows pet greyhounds to become exempt from muzzle laws;

The establishment of the GRNSW Greyhound Welfare and Veterinary Services Unit, which is dedicated to the welfare of greyhounds in NSW;

Next month, in association with Hunter TAFE, GRNSW will launch the Certificate II in Greyhound Racing which will teach participants, among other things, about the opportunities greyhounds have once they finish their racing careers as well as important welfare aspects;

Continuing to build GRNSW's working relationship with the NSW RSPCA to improve outcomes for former racing greyhounds and regulatory monitoring of participants with the RSPCA;

The lifetime tracking of all greyhounds registered with GRNSW; and

Creating the first Code of Practice for Greyhounds In Training, which ensures minimum standards of care for former racing greyhounds and to monitor participants for regulatory compliance.

In addition, GRNSW is working with Greyhounds Australasia and the other State bodies to holistically ensure its approach to ensuring the welfare of greyhounds meets best practice.

Community attitudes to animal welfare matters have progressed over time and we need to continue to improve standards within our sport so that we reflect those contemporary community attitudes.

By encouraging smarter breeding practices, ensuring safer racing and providing greater re-homing opportunities, GRNSW is confident it will provide a greater life for greyhounds after racing.

In terms of the integrity of greyhound racing, as I have previously written, protecting the integrity of our sport is at the heart of what Greyhound Racing NSW does, it is a core function of the organisation.

GRNSW is dedicated to ensuring its integrity services are at the forefront of the wagering industry - not just in Australia, but across the world.

It is for this reason that GRNSW has nearly doubled its swabbing budget in the 2012/13 financial year. This increase has allowed the number of swabs in the TAB sector to increase to 7.5 swabs per meeting. It has also resulted in the swabs to starter ratio rising by more than 2.5 times, setting a new benchmark for greyhound racing in Australia. There will be an extensive out-of-competition testing regime in addition to this.

As always, I would encourage any participant who has concerns about animal welfare or the integrity of the sport of greyhound racing to get in touch immediately with GRNSW's Integrity Department so that the matter can be investigated and dealt with in an appropriate and timely manner.

Yours faithfully

Brent Hogan

Chief Executive

Edited November 12, 2012 by Pav Lova

[Longclaw]

I don't expect an "Arab Summer" type up-rising, more of a slow burn. And if the racing industry feel that they should do a better job of reducing the kill numbers, that can only be a good thing for the individual dogs that are saved from a big "E" being painted on their head.

I can agree with that :)

Who knows? There maybe a day when the numbers of dogs not needed by the industry is matched or exceeded by the number of dogs available to adopt. If that day comes, it will be because the industry has moved in the right direction on this issue and more (much more) of the public have fallen in love with the Greys.

For me, it will be a Greyt day!

That's the day I dream of. I'd love to see the day when racing is a smaller industry and every racing grey has a family already lined up waiting for their retirement. When those families can have photos and track the career of the dogs, perhaps even from the time they are puppies. Can you imagine? I would sell a kidney in exchange for a photo of my Tommy as a puppy. The future-adoptive family could even be considered one of the dog's 'connections' and, whilst not taking a share of prize-money or sharing expenses, could be included to take a share of the excitement of the racing and any wins. By the time the dog is retired and ready to go to their new home (via the adoption group, which would be well funded and involved right from the start of the process), the dog and family already have a connection. But that's a huge shift, and probably too far 'out there' to become a reality in my lifetime.

[Salukifan]

Who knows? There maybe a day when the numbers of dogs not needed by the industry is matched or exceeded by the number of dogs available to adopt. If that day comes, it will be because the industry has moved in the right direction on this issue and more (much more) of the public have fallen in love with the Greys.

For me, it will be a Greyt day!

What happens to the dogs temperamentally unsuited for pet homes? They are out there.

If the day comes that the number of dogs no longer needed for racing equals the number rehomed, my guess is there won't be an industry. It won't be financially viable.

I can live without greyhound racing. The question for fanciers is can you live without greyhounds? The demise of one is tantamount to the extinction of the other IMO.

Be careful what you wish for.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[megan_]

Whippets are still around.... I don't mind racing, but it is the large amounts of money that corrupts the process. We shouldn't treat dogs like this just to keep the breed around

[Salukifan]

Whippets are still around.... I don't mind racing, but it is the large amounts of money that corrupts the process. We shouldn't treat dogs like this just to keep the breed around

Whippets are not greyhounds. They were not and have never been professionally raced and frankly I don't find them particularly similar in some key features.

I don't agree with the "professionalisation" of any competition involving animals. Syndication is the greatest of all evils as far as I'm concerned because it makes the process even less focussed on the animal's welfare.

But the fact is that without racing, the breed will probably die out with the exception of a handful of dogs born every year.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Haredown Whippets