Greyhound racing

[Hesi]

 

[Buller Rep]

Hesi, is that factually correct in that in May four Greyhounds died racing in NZ and that 10 suffered broken bones.
If you don’t know the answer, can you please contact the official authorities and ask them to either confirm or deny. Those are two pretty bad statistic. 

[Tonkatime]

2 hours ago, Buller Rep said:

Hesi, is that factually correct in that in May four Greyhounds died racing in NZ and that 10 suffered broken bones.
If you don’t know the answer, can you please contact the official authorities and ask them to either confirm or deny. Those are two pretty bad statistic. 

I know two died in the same race in May and as of Mid May nine in total had died in the 2023-2024 season so far. 

[Buller Rep]

3 hours ago, Tonkatime said:

I know two died in the same race in May and as of Mid May nine in total had died in the 2023-2024 season so far. 

Thanks Tonkatime. 

[BarryB]

600 Urban dogs are euthanised each month in Auckland alone, hundreds of which are abused & mistreated.

Let’s hear these organisations talk about & focus on this, instead of worrying about the 1% of Greys that have issues, most are well cared for.

[curious]

In the year to June 2023, 2615 dogs were euthanised, 151 because shelters were full and the remainder because of other reasons including temperament, health issues or the dog being involved in an attack.

[Tonkatime]

2 hours ago, BarryB said:

600 Urban dogs are euthanised each month in Auckland alone, hundreds of which are abused & mistreated.

Let’s hear these organisations talk about & focus on this, instead of worrying about the 1% of Greys that have issues, most are well cared for.

Well said Barry. 

[Jasonmc]

On 6/22/2024 at 8:25 AM, curious said:

In the year to June 2023, 2615 dogs were euthanised, 151 because shelters were full and the remainder because of other reasons including temperament, health issues or the dog being involved in an attack.

And SPCA have offered to help rehome greyhounds if ban is put in place!!!!! Can't even keep up rehoming their own shelters.

IMO changes have been made and definitely in the rehoming space as even now retired dogs are being sent to USA to loving home

[Hesi]

I note new calls in the southern press to ban greyhound racing after another death last Friday.

The subject is one of the 50 odd proposals due to go to Cabinet for a decision by Dec 31, as part of Luxon's objective, business-like way of running the country.

I usually drive into Auckland on a Tues evening, so listen to sport talkback on ZB.  The usual, somewhat angry callers saying it should be banned, but then a guy rang in, who owns greyhounds and appeared to know a bit more about the industry.  He pointed out, that there is now only one greyhound establishment that is giving the industry a bad name?  Also, that if greyhound racing is banned, it will leave many dogs, that will probably not find a home.  Apparently, Greyhound Racing NZ has spent 7 million on re-homing and 20-30 dogs per month go to the US.

It was also pointed out, that if greyhound racing is banned, then they will start to direct attention to harness racing

[curious]

19 minutes ago, Hesi said:

It was also pointed out, that if greyhound racing is banned, then they will start to direct attention to harness racing

Yes. I'd say that is likely and Thoroughbred Racing will follow if they don't attend to welfare matters like tracks and whip rules.

[ngakonui grass]

Marcus Lush on 1zb last night wasall for the banning of Greyhoind racing and then for some reason a caller rang up about banning hore racing especially yhe jumps.

I was wondering has a survey been done on injuries suffered on straight tracks compared to the normal greyhound track.

[Hesi]

Yep, that was who I was listening to.  Marcus Lush, can get pretty wacky at times, so while amusement value, tend not to take anything he says too seriously.

The concern is, like many subjects on talkback and social media, the absence of facts or a balanced debate

[Hesi]

31 minutes ago, curious said:

Yes. I'd say that is likely and Thoroughbred Racing will follow if they don't attend to welfare matters like tracks and whip rules.

I note also these groups that are opposed to racing, present only what suits their narrative, not the full picture

As an example, i would point out Barry's post

600 Urban dogs are euthanised each month in Auckland alone, hundreds of which are abused & mistreated.

Let’s hear these organisations talk about & focus on this, instead of worrying about the 1% of Greys that have issues, most are well cared for.

[curious]

39 minutes ago, Hesi said:

I note also these groups that are opposed to racing, present only what suits their narrative, not the full picture

As an example, i would point out Barry's post

600 Urban dogs are euthanised each month in Auckland alone, hundreds of which are abused & mistreated.

Let’s hear these organisations talk about & focus on this, instead of worrying about the 1% of Greys that have issues, most are well cared for.

I agree but public perception is paramount here. If we lose government and taxpayer support, we are stuffed.

[Hesi]

So, does NZTR need to be more proactive in 'spinning' the positives of the industry and what steps have, or are being taken to allay welfare concerns, such as whip use, which does seem to be the highest profile one

[Freda]

They need to be pro-active about a lot of things,  but much of it seems totally beyond them.

[curious]

47 minutes ago, Hesi said:

So, does NZTR need to be more proactive in 'spinning' the positives of the industry and what steps have, or are being taken to allay welfare concerns, such as whip use, which does seem to be the highest profile one

I think so. Using the whip rule as an example, when I show a race finish to a non-racing person though possibly some experience with pleasure horses etc., they are appalled. However, when I ask them whether they realise that the horses are only being hit every second stride, they say no, that's not what it looks like. So horse welfare aside, a change to the rules requiring hands to be returned to the reins between strikes could go some way to mitigating the negative perception and say requiring 3 strides to give the horse a chance to respond would be better from a welfare and public perception stand point. I could go on, but the lack of public response to the recent very public concerns about synthetic track injury rates is another example. Simply saying what they are doing to remedy the situation and what the researchers are doing to track the progress on that would help.

[Hesi]

31 minutes ago, Freda said:

They need to be pro-active about a lot of things,  but much of it seems totally beyond them.

Hope springs eternal.  Sharrock is gone, presumably because of the tracks issue and presumably with pressure from Entain, which would suggest Entain will have a big say in his replacement and ensuring the longevity of the industry other than stake levels, will be uppermost in the mind of whoever is chosen.

Entain have come to the party in underwriting the funding side and pretty much saving the industry.  Now it is NZTR's job to step up

I can't recall the last CEO of NZTR who was widely well regarded, so  ?????

[curious]

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/heart-of-horse-racing-seeks-to-tell-a-different-story/

[Hesi]

Well there is going to be a decision on greyhound racing by Dec 31, so NZTR should be in a position to front foot this by then.  I looked back through old NZTR releases and there are some relating to welfare, but not sure if anything more.

Messara recommendation 16 back in Aug 2018 was

16. Introduce robust processes to establish traceability from birth and the re-homing of the entire thoroughbred herd, as the foundation stone of the industry’s ongoing animal welfare program.

Do you know what progress has been made on this