NEW South Wales’ greyhound racing ban will leave thousands without a job and thousands more greyhounds abandoned, a Tyntynder greyhound breeder fears.
Local breeder Norm Smith said the move by the NSW Government, which will become the first Australian state to ban greyhound racing from July 1 next year, was disappointing for the greyhound racing industry as a whole.
“It’s going to put thousands of people out of work and thousands of greyhounds have got to go somewhere,” Mr Smith said.
“It’s going to be a big thing in the industry as an overall effect…NSW has a lot more tracks than Victoria has, so there’s going to be a lot of people out of work.”
The NSW Government announced the drastic move yesterday after a special commission into the industry found overwhelming evidence of systemic animal cruelty, including mass greyhound killings and live baiting.
According to the special commission’s report, also released yesterday, between 48,000 and 68,000 greyhounds — at least half of all greyhounds bred to race in NSW — were killed in the past 12 years because they were deemed uncompetitive.
The report stated up to 20 per cent of trainers engaged in live baiting and 180 greyhounds a year sustained “catastrophic injuries” during races, such as skull fractures and broken backs that resulted in their immediate deaths.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (July 7).
