Greyhound Racing Receives Its Death Knell in NSW 

Written by Keith Ray

Author of 'Nags to Riches' 

The greyhound racing industry in NSW has been devastated by the news from the Baird Government that all dog racing will cease in NSW from 1 July 2017.

The industry has been under siege from animal libbers for some years now, and when the ABC's 'Four Corners' showed despicable scenes of live-baiting on television, the knockers jumped out of the woodwork, so to speak, in their efforts to have the game shut down.

I grew up with greyhounds, my grandfather being a semi-professional trainer when I was a lad. It must have gotten into my blood because in the late 60's I found myself as an owner-trainer with an old school mate. Although we did not break in the dog ourselves, I know she did have a kill as part of that breaking-in process. We had some luck with our bitch, Capitulate, and won races around the Sydney provincial circuit. I later bred a few litters and then kept her as a pet for the rest of her life. And what great pets greyhounds make. They are a truly beautiful dog.

There is no argument that live-baiting has historically been part and parcel of greyhound racing. I recall seeing a poor possum being savaged by dogs at the Berkshire Park trial track in western Sydney many decades ago. I had to turn away in absolute shock and disgust.

Even in those days however, I became aware of other ways of improving the 'keenness' of racing greyhounds. From my experience, what excites the dog is the squeal of the bunny. I have seen a squeaking device, wrapped in a rabbit skin, used for the breaking-in process. As the dog bites the skin, the squealing sound achieves the same purpose as the live-baiting. So there have been alternatives out there which I am sure many trainers have used. And being bred to race, it is a natural instinct. Believe it or not, the top greyhounds do know they're in a race and do know where that winning post is. They are not just a bunch of mad mutts chasing a lure. Just like racehorses, the good ones are competitive in that run to the line.

It seems that other issues have also contributed to this government decision. It is true that greyhounds can be seriously injured and even killed due to racing accidents. But hey, we humans can also be killed due to accidents. Just look at our rising road toll due to motor vehicle accidents. People die in work accidents. Horses and other large animals can die in paddock accidents. So this argument does not really hold up to scrutiny. If we started banning things due to the risk of accidental deaths, then the whole world would shut down.

The other issue is the large number of greyhounds that are destroyed each year; estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000 a year in NSW. Dogs may be killed at the ends of their racing careers; or if they fail to make the grade on the racetrack. From my point of view, the crucial issue is whether they are put down humanely. We meat consumers are responsible for the humane deaths of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry etc in huge numbers. Is that really any different to destroying a dog? Nevertheless, this is a very concerning statistic for the industry. It is something that could possibly be partially addressed by a unified and regulated breeding industry.

Having said this however, mention must be made of the huge effort made by our greyhound industry to find new homes for those greyhounds that are unsuitable for racing. And what a beautiful pet they make. I was at the Golden Easter Egg meeting at Wentworth Park a year or so ago, and there was a big presentation there encouraging people to rehome greyhounds as family pets. And from my frequent strolls around the parks of Sydney, this program has had considerable success. I see lots of pet greyhounds with their proud owners.

It is evident that peoples' expectations about animal welfare are changing. It is an ever-changing world we live in. What may have been seen as acceptable many years ago, does not necessarily pass muster there days. Greyhound racing, as with horse racing, both gallops and the trots, need to move with the times. We have seen the controversies of jumps racing. We are currently seeing changes to the whip rules in our horse racing game. Where the happy medium lies, has to be decided by the administrators and public opinion.  

Greyhounds have a long history here in Australia. The early settlers even used them in hunting, in order to put meat on the table. Kangaroo dogs were quite an asset in earlier times. Later the breed was used for the old sport of coursing, where greyhounds would chase a live hare to the finishing line. This was eventually banned and greyhound racing as we now know it came into being. I think it does deserve to have a future. But the industry does need to get its house in order. Hopefully the NSW result can be appealed. And hopefully this decision does not spread to the other states. That must be looking a very likely outcome at this stage.