Earlier in the year, the normally niche sport of greyhound racing made the news for all the wrong reasons.
Now that several months have passed, have there been any changes to the sport that have improved the lot of the greyhound?
To do that I’ve looked south of the border, where Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) has been investing in an expansion of their flagship Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP). GRV have been proactive in taking greyhounds from the racetrack to the couch, and have been increasing their investment recently.
According to GRV Greyhound Welfare Manager, Dr Linda Beer:
“Greyhound Racing Victoria (and therefore the greyhound racing industry itself) fully fund and operate the Greyhound Adoption Program in Victoria. There has been a significant increase in funding for the program over the past four years – not specifically following Four Corners episode aired in February – to improve the rehoming rate in Victoria. For example, in 2013 GRV committed an extra $1 million of funding to GAP.
“Growth in the amount of funding to the program is centred on providing more opportunities for trainers and owners to put their greyhounds into the program as well as the promotion of the suitability of greyhounds as pets to the wider public, as well as expanding and improving the facilities at GAP’s dedicated kennel facility in Seymour.”
So what we have in Victoria is a situation where we look to invest money on behalf of the greyhound, and give it to the right people that take pride in achieving strong outcomes for the dogs. With the increased funding, the achievements are very impressive indeed.
“GAP has broken the record for the number of greyhounds adopted in a single year in Victoria for the past five consecutive years. In the previous financial year (2013-14) the program adopted 536 greyhounds into new homes. In the 2014-15 GAP significantly broke that record again with more than 830 greyhounds going into new homes. This upward trend was apparent well before the Four Corners program went to air and is the result of a number of new initiatives that have been welcomed by the public and the industry.
“These adoption figures only include greyhounds that have been specifically adopted by GAP; they don’t include greyhounds that are kept privately by their owners or trainers as pets or greyhounds that are adopted through other rehoming groups. Generally, the number of greyhounds that are retired as pets privately each year is commensurate with the number of greyhounds adopted through the program.”
But after all the negative press around greyhound racing this year, who would want a greyhound? Are the public really willing to accept these dogs into their houses?
“Immediately following the airing of the program we heard reports of backlash against some of our adopters and foster carers who were walking their greyhounds. People would yell abusively at them on the streets, it was a very sad and uncalled for situation. Fortunately, this vitriol has subsided and people are beginning to understand that greyhounds make great pets and understand the breed weren’t to blame for the horrific footage that was shown. Our adoption applications decreased initially in the few weeks following the airing of the episode, but quickly returned to normal levels soon after.”
For those that have read my previous articles, I have been strongly advocating for money in NSW earned from greyhound racing to be redirected into greyhound adoption programs. Currently, more than enough of this money is locked up in the Intercode agreement and general Government revenue, rather than on the greyhound itself.
The commitment of the GRV, both in terms of financial and the hard work of dedicated people, shows this can and should happen.
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
Just to clarify, the quotes from the Victorian GAP in the article above are from direct correspondence between myself and GAP, who were kind enough to reply to my questions.
John Tracey
Guest
Jeff the report I was referring to is the quotes from the Victorian GAP mentioned by Nathan in the article above which started this thread. The general reference to the subject can be found on the Greyhound Adoption Program Victoria Website. The contributing "7 star kennel" contributing with the GAP scheme can be easily sourced from the website. http://gap.grv.org.au/
Jeff
Guest
What's the Victorian report that you're referring to? Can you post a link to it?
John Tracey
Guest
The Victorian report is certainly triumphant and I can see why it would unsettling but I think that it reflects the passion of the people involved and anyway it adds to the Victorian general enthusiastic culture. The report is self congratulatory and relies on numbers. The Victorian report is different from the National Greyhound Bodies report which depends on percentages and talks of acceptable euthanasia rates. The points made in replies to the thread both have validity. The defence to greyhounds being unsuitable for adoption is made in scientific submissions in to the greyhounds and puppy farms and it relates early education and training producing good racers at the same time as producing good companion behavour. The other post points out that there are several markets for adopted dogs depending on a variety of situations. Bringing in processes that will make the statistics look good might satisfy the public in general but it wont satisfy the animal lovers either within or beyond the canine community. The best press publicity is from the Groups who have a toward Zero policy. The groups who have a no kill policy are unrealistic and if they carried it out would be showing cruelty in some instances. The groups who are promoting tolerances are simply wasting air space for ever arguing over statistics. If those involved in Canine activity move towards a Zero Tolerance on the destruction of dogs then a full focus on the problem can continue.
Dez
Guest
Its s good start anyway. In NSW I've seen first hand that their promotion of GAP is improving adoption and public awareness. Is the Victorian behaviour test still done at the track? If so, many dogs will fail simply because they get pumped up. Racing dogs don't need to pass tests to become pets. They just need to be muzzled if you are not 100% it won't go a fluffy. Mine had 56 races and was trained by one of those under suspicion of baiting. The non industry group I got him from said "he's very affectionate but a very enthusiastic player". I got a well respected dog trainer to work on basic commands and she said that although she can Greenhound asses him, she passes very few ex racers because like ALL dogs you can't be 100% sure what them makes go for other dogs. She said all off leash dogs should muzzled. She made a good point about if the worst thing is that he wears his muzzle on walks twice a day the its a small price to pay. My point is that if they fail the dubious industry tests then they can be a) given to a non- industry group as they spend up to six weeks assessing the behaviour as they get used to people and socialising. b) adopted with the caveat that they need more time before reassessment.
Jeff
Guest
What the article doesn't mention is that GAP only finds homes for dogs that can pass its "stringent" assessment testing. The ones that fail the test are put to death or sent back to the trainers and owners whence they came, and god knows what happens to them after that. The article says the number of greyhounds retired privately is "commensurate" with the number adopted out through the GAP. If we assume commensurate to mean equal, that means 2 x 830 = 1,660 greyhounds in total adopted out in fiscal 2014-15. That compares to over 4,000 greyhounds in Victoria that are "named" as ready to go into training for racing each year. Thus, even with the unprecedented adoption figures reported above for 2014-15 there are still 60% of racing dogs that do not get adopted out, and are presumed killed or sold to medical research to be dissected and vivisected. This is not to mention the more than 2,000 greyhound pups born in Victoria each year that are never "named". Greyhound racing is a dog-killing industry.