Greyhound Racing Banned in NSW

[davidc4430]

just heard a breaking news story on ABC radio saying the NSW govt will ban greyhound racing as of mid next year.

as an owner of an ex racer but not in nsw i will watch with great interest this story as it unfolds.

[the_great_she_elephant]

Have you ever stopped to consider the 'collateral damage' from this sport? How many litters of greyhound puppies are born eeach year? How many pups in each of these litters  ever make it to the race track? What happens to all those 'surplus to requirement?

[grumpy*cat*rocks]

Actually greyhounds prefer to not run, they are very much a type of dog that loves just lazing around, snuggled into a cozy bed indoors. Those who have adopted greyhounds are told this. A daily walk is about as much as they require.

[davidc4430]

from what i just saw on ABC news the racing fraternity just dont get it. they keep saying its just a few rogue trainers who are doing the wrong thing.

they are completely missing the point.

yes, there is or was a small number (maybe a large number) of bad trainers using live baiting.

but the revelation of these guys behaviour just brought about the full truth of the industry, not just the live baiting but the extaordinary amount of dogs being born and then being destroyed as they were 'to slow'

when will these people wake up, its all the killing of perfectly healthy dogs that has made their 'sport' no longer palatable by the general public.

they cant stop breeding more dogs, so the racing must stop.

perhaps there should be an inquest into horse racing too? how many horses get born for racing and dont make it? what happens to the too slow race horses?

i expect something similar to greyhounds.

[***super_nova***]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

Have you ever stopped to consider the 'collateral damage' from this sport? How many litters of greyhound puppies are born eeach year? How many pups in each of these litters  ever make it to the race track? What happens to all those 'surplus to requirement?

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Where did I say that I think this is OK?  I said that greyhound racing is full of horrible practices.  Actually I do know that something like 50% of dogs born are euthanized by the time they are 2, only about 10% are homed by GAP.  But that is plainly a decision of their greedy owners.  It is impossible to predict which dog will be fast enough before they go through their training.  Bear in mind that the difference between fast and slow dog is not all that great, and 2 exceptional dogs can have a litter of not particularly fast pups.  I am not sure about dogs, but horses' performance has plateaued some time ago, and it is considered impossible to make them any faster than they are now.

I do realise that it is unlikely that we would adopt amateur racing like they do in Europe, but if the dogs did not like to run, they plainly would not run.  All sighthounds are sprinters, they run very fast for very short period of time and then are happy to laze around.  That makes them relatively easy dogs to live with.  But given the chance they do love to run.  I had sighthounds most of my life; Borzois, Afghans, Whippets and Italian Greyhounds, and every one of them loved to make few rounds of the paddock at full speed first thing in the morning and again late afternoon.  The GAP greyhounds are used to live in small kennel and taken out for walks, there used to be law forbidding to allow greyhounds to run free in public parks, I am not sure if that is valid now, but that might be why greyhounds are generally not taken out for run in dog parks.

[davidc4430]

in south australia when you adopt a GAP greyhound you are given a short list of rules.

number 1 on that list is they can not be off lead in any public area.

other rules are you must carry a GAP 'card' to show the dog is passed by GAP to be unmuzzled in public.

in cold weather they must have a kennel coat

its preferred they live indoors or have a well insulated outside kennel,

my guy lives indoors but he doesnt get on lounges or beds, he has his own beds, one in the loungeroom one in the bedroom.

he needs to be 'near' me all the time it seems.

if i'm watching tv or having meals hes on his lounge bed

when i'm on the computer hes here on his bed next to me.

he never comes to the table looking for food, he waits till ive finished then i make his dinner in the kitchen.

hes just a really nice dog

never barks either. i do mean never.

[bsal6160]

Its simply time the government banned ALL forms of betting. And really that is the root cause of this current dilemna.

[***super_nova***]

Absolutely, once sport starts to be bet on, it is not sport anymore, it is way to gamble and it becomes corrupt.

[lyndal1838]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

perhaps there should be an inquest into horse racing too? how many horses get born for racing and dont make it? what happens to the too slow race horses?

i expect something similar to greyhounds.

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The majority of racing thoroughbreds that are too slow or retired from racing are retrained for showing, eventing or just pleasure riding.

They are certainly not hit on the head or sent to the knackery.

Not all greyhound breeders/trainers are bad.

My daughter lived on a greyhound breeding/training property where there was a private training track.  The kennels were spectacular and the animals very well looked after.  The owner also boarded dogs for other trainers/owners.

As she was a Vet Nurse with a Security Licence her night time job was to oversee the complex and keep an eye on the pregnant **bleep**es....her kitchen window overlooked the kennels.

[***super_nova***]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

at last here in south australia they are introducing into law all cats and dogs not used for registered breeding must be desexed and microchipped. no more back yard breeders, no more just 1 litter to make pooch a 'whole' dog or cat.

if we really do this right eventually we should see a decrease in the numbers of unwanted cats and dogs.

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sadly, compulsory desexing has not reduced in any way the number of unwanted dogs and cats, because the puppy/kitten farms keep churning them out at ever increasing numbers to make up for any reduction of number of pups available.  Responsible breeders who are members of The Australian Kennel Council and its state subsidiaries often have "take the animal back"  policy and they do not end up in pound.  I would take back any puppy/dog that I ever bred at any stage of its life.

[go-tazz]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

they cant stop breeding more dogs, so the racing must stop.

In Victoria you have to go through a proccess to be allowed to breed and further restrictions apply.

The main problem with breeding in NSW is that they allow dogs that have not produced "winners" in over 5

years to still sire pups,(making the problem worse).

The breeders churn out the dogs,(that's where most of the over breeding happens).

Putting restrictions on them would've slowed/stopped the over supply

perhaps there should be an inquest into horse racing too? how many horses get born for racing and dont make it? what happens to the too slow race horses?

Either sold as "hacks".

i expect something similar to greyhounds.

Don't forget about the fishing,a lot of wastage and enviromental impacts,(there was a guy in Portland who

used to catch and then dump bucket loads of fish at the tip).

Who eats chicken?(male chicks are considered wastage at rates of millions a year).

Drink milk?,(what about wastage of calves to continue production and then disregarded).

http://kb.rspca.org.au/what-happens-to-bobby-calves_87.html

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The part is that the NSW government could've put control measures in place but it was easier to just blame the

majority on the word/lies of the few.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/battler-trainers-vow-to-challenge-greyhound-ban/news-story/0f7a0612e68f...

All they needed to do was work out how many dogs race in a year and set that and say 5 or 10% more as the

maximum that could be bred,(that would stop the over breeding cold).

In SA they have a Pathway race where dogs that haven't won for a while are put in a race with similar dogs.

In Victoria they have Tier 3 racing which is for slower dogs.

Slowing down the breeding is an easy solution.