Greyhounds in Australia

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_http://www.theage.com.au_ (http://www.theage.com.au)

Racing to the end

 

<DATE>October 25

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Reuters

 

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The lucky few become pets, but most racing greyhounds are routinely

destroyed. Lorna Edwards reports.

When a whimpering, dying greyhound was found buried alive in wasteland

outside Hobart late last month, it ignited a storm of outrage. The dog had been

left

to die under a sheet of tin in a bush dumping ground. One of its ears had

been brutally hacked off to hinder identification and the remains of other

greyhounds were found nearby. The greyhound racing fraternity pronounced its

disgust, claiming the incident was a " one-off " committed by a rogue element

" outside

greyhound racing " .

The Tasmanian RSPCA vowed to trace and prosecute the owner, but animal rights

campaigners accuse greyhound racing of being the real killer. They claim the

incident is common in an unethical industry that routinely disposes of a

massive number of dogs bred each year and have called for Australia to ban the

sport. Greyhound racing is banned in six states of America and in South Africa.

The industry estimates that 15,000 greyhounds are bred in Australia each year

(activists claim the true figure is 25,000) to feed a sport that generates

$25million a week, through 95 clubs holding more than 4000 meetings each year.

Australia's greyhound racing industry is the third-largest in the world behind

the US and Ireland.

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For greyhounds, it's a life of harsh realities. By 18 months old, many are

deemed too slow to race and are discarded. Those that are successful eventually

succumb to injury or are washed up by the age of four.

No records are kept on the fate of the dogs, but animal rights campaigners

claim that 20,000 are slaughtered every year. The racing industry says they are

humanely euthanased, kept by their owners or adopted as pets. While they

acknowledge that vast numbers are put down, they feel unfairly vilified while

the

more glamorous sport of horse racing escapes the rap.

" They target the greyhound racing industry but the horse racing industry has

issues, " says an exasperated Geoff O'Connor, the chief executive of Greyhounds

Australasia. " Anything to do with dogs becomes emotive. Where do you think

the horses end up? "

O'Connor is accustomed to being bombarded by angry emails from animal rights

campaigners. He thinks the sport has been unfairly maligned with

unsubstantiated claims and brought into disrepute by rare acts of cruelty such

as the

Hobart incident.

" Nearly everyone involved in greyhound racing loves their dogs and often

treat them better than they treat themselves, " he says. " The Australasian

greyhound industry is probably the best-run, the best-regulated and more in

touch with

animal welfare issues than any other greyhound industry or nation in the

world. "

 

 

Away from the lure, greyhounds are gentle pets. Pictured is Horace the

greyhound with Darcee and Quinn, top. Bottom, Melanie Luscombe, who works with

the

Greyhound Adoption program, with Ray.

Pictures:Simon Schluter

 

But industry figures are less comfortable talking about the growing number of

dogs sent to Asia.

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service does not keep figures on

greyhound exports but racing industry insiders believe hundreds are sent to Asia

annually.

The export trade has caused London-based animal rights group, Greyhound

Action International, to set its sights on Australia. The group's international

co-ordinator, Raven Haze, told The Age that dogs sent to Asia are hung by their

jaws and beaten to tenderise their meat and later skinned alive and roasted

with blow torches. She has led protests against the industry at Australia House

in London. " The Australian public are largely unaware of the cruelty inflicted

on greyhounds as I am sure if they knew the true facts about greyhound racing

they would not support it, " she says.

Former veterinary nurse Emma Haswell, from Brunswick, is now bringing the

fight to these shores on behalf of Greyhound Action. " There has been no

accountability ever in greyhound racing for the death rate or the cruelty, " she

says.

But Greyhounds Australasia insists there is no evidence that Australianbred

greyhounds end up in Asian dog food markets. However, in July this year the

organisation moved to institute a passport system for dog exports. Compliance is

compulsory but the body has no regulatory control.

Veterinarian John Newell, from Belmont in NSW, helped establish greyhound

racing in Vietnam and Macau and is infuriated by calls to ban exports. Newell

says protesters have the wrong picture. Retired racing dogs exported to those

countries get a longer life expectancy, often better care than in Australia with

strict controls on their welfare, he says. " In Vietnam, we have a lovely

compound close to the coast which has the afternoon sea breeze and dams for

swimming and they are well looked after, " he says. But while he says Vietnam and

Macau are beyond reproach, he can't vouch for the fate of dogs in Korea or other

Asian countries. " I can take you into District Six in Saigon and walk down the

dog restaurant street but certainly no greyhounds ever end up there, unlike

some other countries in Asia that I'd be more suspicious of, " he says.

Greyhound Action is also concerned that greyhounds are ending up as research

specimens in Australian universities. The group says it has testimony and

photographs from several former veterinary students from across the country

traumatised by the treatment of the dogs.

Jan Wilson, the chairman of both Greyhounds Australasia and Greyhound Racing

Victoria, says that she is not aware of any experimentation. " If that is the

case, that is an entirely private arrangement between a vet or a number of vets

and the university. " She says greyhounds are used at the University of

Melbourne as blood donors for other breeds in its dog blood bank. " They are kept

in

the most wonderful of conditions, " she says.

A University of Melbourne spokeswoman confirmed that greyhounds help stock

its dog blood bank. Greyhound cadavers are used for teaching anatomy to

veterinary students and there is " very limited use in human medical research " .

Another university that has been under fire from activists is West

Australia's Murdoch University. A spokesman said that greyhounds are not

employed for

research but cadavers are used for teaching. The university also houses a small

number of greyhounds as dog blood donors.

Debbie Morris from Animal Activism Queensland is a passionate advocate for

greyhounds. She insists any research is unacceptable and claims dogs are kept in

inhumane conditions at universities. She blames the industry for discarding

the dogs and the RSPCA for failing to monitor them. " You wouldn't have

greyhound racing and horse racing if the RSPCA actually followed their own rules

because their own rules actually contradict all of these industries. "

The RSPCA admits it is uncomfortable with the large number of racing

greyhounds that are destroyed. National president Dr Hugh Wirth says the

organisation

has similar concerns about the horse racing industry and has just commissioned

a report into the fate of ex-racehorses. " The big difficulty for the RSPCA is

that we really have got no knowledge as to what happens to all those

ex-racehorses and there is no authority in Australia that can explain what

happens to

them, " he says. " We do know what happens to failed greyhounds - most of them

are killed but an increasing number are rehomed as pet dogs by the greyhound

adoption scheme. But it can only touch a few hundred of those discarded every

year.

" Our position is simply that we absolutely deplore the overproduction of

animals for any purpose whatsoever. We do, however, insist that if animals are

to

be destroyed, they must be destroyed humanely. "

But the RSPCA is less worried about greyhounds at universities. " We are quite

aware that there are a number of research institutes, particularly in

Melbourne, that use greyhounds and because of the laws related to research, we

are

satisfied that research is conducted properly, that the research is essential

and the animals are not ill-treated in any way, " Dr Wirth says.

The RSPCA says there is no reason to ban the sport as other racing codes -

and pet owners for that matter - are equally guilty.

" We put down 10,000 cats a year in Melbourne alone and somewhere in the order

of 6000 dogs, " Dr Wirth says. " If you take that business to its logical

conclusion, you should ban horse racing, greyhound racing and pet ownership on

the

basis that people will not stop excessively breeding animals. "

Despite the criticism, there is no dispute that the industry is trying to

improve the lot of retired greyhounds - and its image. Jan Wilson points to

Greyhound Racing Victoria's greyhound adoption program, similar to those in

other

states. The organisation last year bought a $500,000 property at Seymour for

retraining retired racing dogs as pets. The program has found homes for 1240

dogs since 1996, and this year's Royal Melbourne Show yielded 1000 inquiries

from

people interested in adoption. " Anyone who has got greyhounds will tell you

that they do very well with small children because away from the lure they are

the gentlest and most loving of animals, " Wilson says.

However, the success of the industry's adoption program may be a double-edged

sword, concedes Geoff O'Connor. " The Victorian greyhound adoption program has

been so successful it has created an awareness of the greyhound outside of

the racing industry and anyone who has them as a pet knows they are just

fantastic, " he says. " But with that comes an awareness that people are starting

to

question what happens to them after they finish racing. "