Greyhound Racings Dirty Little Secret Exposed

[Longclaw]

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

If a dog is temperamentally unsuited for a pet home, it should not be placed in a pet home. Greyhounds aren't and shouldn't be treated any differently, and the orgs I have been associated with are stringent in not place unsuitable greyhounds up for adoption. I don't see this as a barrier for improving the retirement outcome of the breed in general.

You are probably right in that if the demand for retired dogs met or exceeded dogs available there wouldn't be an industry, but I'd like to think that there's room to create a much higher demand for the dogs. We've already seen demand go from virtually zero to rehoming hundreds (thousands Australia-wide??) of dogs per year through the efforts of GAP and other reputable rehoming programs. If that demand can be tripled again, coupled with a shift in attitude, funding and breeding practices, we might be getting closer to a minimal-waste industry. It's a huge ask, but I don't know that it's unachievable. They are an ideal breed for so many household situations.

[Salukifan]

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

If a dog is temperamentally unsuited for a pet home, it should not be placed in a pet home. Greyhounds aren't and shouldn't be treated any differently, and the orgs I have been associated with are stringent in not place unsuitable greyhounds up for adoption. I don't see this as a barrier for improving the retirement outcome of the breed in general.

You are probably right in that if the demand for retired dogs met or exceeded dogs available there wouldn't be an industry, but I'd like to think that there's room to create a much higher demand for the dogs. We've already seen demand go from virtually zero to rehoming hundreds (thousands Australia-wide??) of dogs per year through the efforts of GAP and other reputable rehoming programs. If that demand can be tripled again, coupled with a shift in attitude, funding and breeding practices, we might be getting closer to a minimal-waste industry. It's a huge ask, but I don't know that it's unachievable. They are an ideal breed for so many household situations.

I hope you get the chance. You need to worry that a knee jerk, 'animal rights' based ban on the industry will happen before you do.

[Rebanne]

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.

There will never be enough homes for the amounts of racing greyhounds looking for one. Quite a few will not be suitable for rehoming, that needs to be remembered.

Last year there was a total of 10 ANKC greyhounds pups registered. I directed a small number of people to sites where they could try and buy a race bred greyhound puppy. But the reality is very few people want a greyhound puppy. I wasn't overwhelmed with enquires.

And not all people wanting greyhounds are suitable owners. I have cringed at a couple of threads lately where people have asked what breed is suitable for them and greyhounds are suggested when it is obvious to me that they are not suitable.

[Greyt]

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.

There will never be enough homes for the amounts of racing greyhounds looking for one. Quite a few will not be suitable for rehoming, that needs to be remembered.

Last year there was a total of 10 ANKC greyhounds pups registered. I directed a small number of people to sites where they could try and buy a race bred greyhound puppy. But the reality is very few people want a greyhound puppy. I wasn't overwhelmed with enquires.

And not all people wanting greyhounds are suitable owners. I have cringed at a couple of threads lately where people have asked what breed is suitable for them and greyhounds are suggested when it is obvious to me that they are not suitable.

For dogs that have been around since the 1700's pet Greyhounds still haven't had their day. If the racing industry ceased tomorrow, the breed would probably die out shortly after except for some new pet breeders who would meet a demand. But the course that the breed is travelling at the moment is, to the pet world, evolutionary or iterative, not revolutionary.

These dogs have a couple of things in their favour, especially how genuinely happy they seem to be to meet new people and old friends alike. People meeting a grey for the first time is a genuinely revelatory experience for so many and many of those first meetings result in those people considering a Grey as a pet.

Almost counter intuitively, my local shelter has recently begun to re-home Greys and many are gone within a day or two... it almost seems as if Greyhounds winding up in this local shelter is a good thing for the breed.

Also, Greyhounds are ideally suited to many elderly people who may not want to go on long walks or have the energy to pursue the more active breeds. And as we age as a society and we live longer, lower energy, low shedding, clean dogs may become more popular.

As to temperament testing, those that are not suitable for pet life is a much lower number than the number of dogs killed and the issues do not depend on each other. That is, if 3000 more per year could be saved in NSW, minus the number that would not pass temperament testing, that is something we can all wish for. Even with that in mind, it is one of my life's best experiences, taking a high-prey hound into my home and observing almost daily improvements in its adaptation from racing to pet life.

Rebanne is just ahead of her time, like so many pioneers. the more, the dogs get out in the community, the greater the interest, knowledge and demand.... at the moment, all of the ingredients are lacking, but it doesn't have to be that way forever.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Greyt

[Rebanne]

Greyhounds were around before the 1700's. That's only 300 years.

Oh and I'm not a pioneer but thank you anyway :-)

Edited November 12, 2012 by Rebanne

[Greyt]

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

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.

If you have 20 priorities, you don't have any priorities. The same goes for dog ownership. Syndication means that the responsibility of ownership is transferred to the trainer, who in turn, does not own the dog. None of the "owners", the syndicate members have to take direct responsibility for the dog in the way that normal pet owners do.

As a financial instrument, syndication is probably fantastic, but it is also a big fail for dog welfare.

[Greyt]

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

Whippet Racing was once very popular in the UK where it was said that the family may have to go without food, but not the Whippet!

The money will corrupt the already corrupt through doping, race rigging, betting irregularities etc but thankfully, most owners and trainers are not corrupt.

If there were more money to go around, perhaps more would be spent on the welfare of the dogs.

A good place to start would be the various TABs as they are (presumably) making money off the gambling that greyhound racing attracts.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Greyt

[Greytmate]

Whippet Racing was once very popular in the UK where it was said that the family may have to go without food, but not the Whippet!

Sorry, but I can't stand that little saying applied to animals.

It's only used by people so poor that the arse is falling out of their pants to justify why they have racing dogs when clearly they cannot afford proper care for them.

There's food, parasite prevention, dental care, the list goes on. What else do these bogans' kids miss out on so they can continue to race dogs?

Greyt, the TAB would get rid of dog racing in QLD and replace it another 1000 pokie machines in a heartbeat.

Dog racing is the least profitable form of gambling for them. It is the state governments that regulate exactly what the TAB is allowed to invest in. It is the government that would need to be lobbied to see real changes in welfare rather than just getting an empty PR response from the industry.

Unless things are made laws, and there is enforcement, people will continue to make money from greyhounds with no regard to welfare.

[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

Whippet Racing was once very popular in the UK where it was said that the family may have to go without food, but not the Whippet!

It was only ever an amateur sport though.. never professionalised. Whippets WERE the poor man's greyhound. Kept, often in coal mining towns, to race on Sundays and put a bunny in the pot if the chance came.

It wouldn't be the first time in history that the hunter and bread winner was fed first. And it was the case in the 1800's for many families.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[Crisovar]

Whippet Racing was once very popular in the UK where it was said that the family may have to go without food, but not the Whippet!

Sorry, but I can't stand that little saying applied to animals.

It's only used by people so poor that the arse is falling out of their pants to justify why they have racing dogs when clearly they cannot afford proper care for them.

There's food, parasite prevention, dental care, the list goes on. What else do these bogans' kids miss out on so they can continue to race dogs?

Greyt, the TAB would get rid of dog racing in QLD and replace it another 1000 pokie machines in a heartbeat.

Dog racing is the least profitable form of gambling for them. It is the state governments that regulate exactly what the TAB is allowed to invest in. It is the government that would need to be lobbied to see real changes in welfare rather than just getting an empty PR response from the industry.

Unless things are made laws, and there is enforcement, people will continue to make money from greyhounds with no regard to welfare.

Still on about Bogans

Working class families that had a treasured Whippet capable of hunting for bunnies are bogans? A Whippet that could put food on the table and as an aside participate in fun match races,harmless working class leisure pursuit, but that makes them bogans

You really have a Bogan issue don't you.

[Greyt]

Whippet Racing was once very popular in the UK where it was said that the family may have to go without food, but not the Whippet!

Sorry, but I can't stand that little saying applied to animals.

It's only used by people so poor that the arse is falling out of their pants to justify why they have racing dogs when clearly they cannot afford proper care for them.

There's food, parasite prevention, dental care, the list goes on. What else do these bogans' kids miss out on so they can continue to race dogs?

You are right, but it appeals to my darker side... humans going without in favour of dogs.

Greyt, the TAB would get rid of dog racing in QLD and replace it another 1000 pokie machines in a heartbeat.

Dog racing is the least profitable form of gambling for them. It is the state governments that regulate exactly what the TAB is allowed to invest in. It is the government that would need to be lobbied to see real changes in welfare rather than just getting an empty PR response from the industry.

Unless things are made laws, and there is enforcement, people will continue to make money from greyhounds with no regard to welfare.

You are right about the Whippets, but it appeals to my darker side... humans going without in favour of dogs.

The racing industry has an 80 year history, is politically, socially and economically connected and has a momentum that suggests that it is not going to close its doors tomorrow.

At the same time, it exists at the whim of the various governments that control it so it can't be blind to community expectations without consequences.

And the rate of killing is appalling and the community knowledge of it is growing.

Please pardon the pun, but placing an all or nothing bet on closing down the industry is a losing bet this year and for the foreseeable future.

And there are things that can be done to decrease the killing now, none of which made it into the letter sent to Greyhound owners and trainers by Brent Hogan:

For example:

• Mandate that state greyhound racing industry bodies include in their primary responsibility, the care and welfare of greyhounds (and not just the organisation of racing meetings and integrity of wagering)
• Mandate that actual figures are put on a reduction of killing with a plan, tabled and reviewed in parliaments around that reduction eg, to reduce from 3000 in 2012 to 2000 by 2017
• Immediately stop the export of racing greyhounds to Macau where they face a death rate of 100%. And ban the export of Australian bloodlines there.
• Mandate annually increasing funding to go to increasing the re-homing rates of ex-racers. This can be done in a variety of ways eg, the TAB idea, having an extra Whelping or Sales fee or many other ideas.
• Use on track mechanisms to make Greyhounds more competitive and less likely to be disposed of eg, through extending the racing classification system allowing for slower dogs
• Change the racing tracks themselves so that racing is safer for the animals

Politicians need to have easy options where they can be seen to be doing the right thing. For example, when the integrity of the greyhound racing became a hot issue in Victoria, they installed an Integrity Commissioner. That the Integrity Commissioner resigned because he felt that he could not meet his own organisations charter is not an issue for the government, it is an issue for the industry - note, that unlike regular Ombusman, the Integrity Commissioner is not independent of the body it is reporting on - that tells you something.

This issue will build momentum as more Greys make it into the hearts and minds of the general public and the media. I hope Mr Hogan knows that if he is asked the same question in 5 years and the answer is still 3000, he will give interested groups all that they need to press for the introduction of a body such as the RSPCA to oversee the welfare of racing greyhounds and that will be a disaster for the industry.

ETA that obviously Brent Hogan can't mandate governments do these things but obviously, any or all of the racing bodies around Australia can do most of these things themselves, without being asked and Greyhound Racing NSW didn't do any of them.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Greyt