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DISPOSABLE
Inside Australia’s dog racing industry.
In gambling-obsessed Australia, a cruel industry persists.
Thousands of greyhounds in Australia are used as money-making machines each year—profiting their owners, governments and gambling companies. Some are drugged with cocaine and arsenic, some break their legs while racing, thousands are killed.
The Chief Executive Officer of Greyhound Racing South Australia has previously written that Australia’s greyhound industry “is responsible for the unnecessary deaths of between 13,000 and 17,000 greyhounds each year” and that the “culture of the industry is defined by animal deaths being acceptable and necessary and where profits come before welfare”.
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THE REGULATORS
A greyhound was killed at Gawler Greyhound Club over the weekend after breaking his leg while racing, in the fifth track death in South Australia for the year.
A greyhound was killed at Adelaide’s Angle Park racetrack last week after breaking her leg while racing, earning Angle Park the title of Australia’s deadliest track for greyhounds so far this year
The life of a veteran 5 year old greyhound came to a sad end after winning his owners $31,565 in prize money in 85 races. The response from NSW’s greyhound racing regulator was to hide the footage of him breaking his leg
A greyhound was killed at Adelaide’s Angle Park racetrack on Monday after breaking his leg while racing. The dog’s death is the third greyhound death this year at South Australian racetracks and the fifth death at Greyhound Racing South Australia’s flagship Angle Park track since it underwent a $3 million ‘safety upgrade’ late last year.
A greyhound was killed at Adelaide’s Angle Park racetrack last night after breaking its leg while racing. Records show the dog had been subjected to a punishing racing schedule in the two years preceding his broken leg and subsequent death, regularly being made to race 4-5 times per month at various tracks in Victoria and South Australia.
A young greyhound was killed at Adelaide’s Angle Park racetrack on Monday after breaking two bones in her leg while racing. The dog’s death is the first greyhound racetrack death for the year in South Australia, and the third death at Greyhound Racing South Australia’s flagship Angle Park track since it underwent a $3 million ‘safety upgrade’ late last year.
In the space of one horrific race in Victoria over the weekend, racing equipment broke down, one dog was killed and four others were injured, leading to the closure of the Cranbourne Greyhound Racing Club track until further notice.
A Greyhound Racing NSW adoption contract from March last year shows the racing authority’s Greyhound as Pets adoption program only accepted its retired racing dogs being returned within a “14-day trial period” before refusing to accept returns, despite advising adopters that it can take “weeks” of “fear and anxiety” for racing dogs to adjust to life as a pet.
Greyhound rescue groups are calling on Greyhound Racing New South Wales to do more to help racing dogs find safe homes, after the racing authority’s adoption program told a family to drop off their adopted greyhound at the pound rather than help rehome him after he struggled to adjust to life as a pet.
THE DEATHS & INJURIES
Three dogs died at races held by Greyhound Racing South Australia last month, as the racing regulator continues to hide information about dog injuries.
A greyhound was killed yesterday after breaking her spine at a dog racing event held by Greyhound Racing Victoria, bringing the death toll at Victorian racetracks to 23 dogs this year, and the national toll to 62.
A greyhound was killed yesterday after breaking her spine at a dog racing event held by Greyhound Racing Victoria, bringing the death toll at Victorian racetracks to 22 dogs this year, and the national toll to 61.
A greyhound was killed last week after breaking his leg at a dog racing event held by Greyhound Racing Victoria, bringing the death toll at Victorian racetracks to 21 dogs this year, and the national toll to 60.
A greyhound was killed yesterday during an incident in the trainers area at a racing event held by Greyhound Racing South Australia, bringing the death toll at South Australian racetracks to 6 dogs this year.
Two more greyhounds have been killed at races held by Greyhound Racing South Australia in the last two weeks, after being euthanised after colliding and breaking their legs during races.
After a greyhound was killed in troubling circumstances at the Mount Gambier dog racetrack on January 19, Greyhound Racing South Australia has refused to provide basic details of the incident that lead to the dog’s death, and greyhound racing sponsor O’Brien has stated they are in the process of reviewing the governance, control and communication of their sponsorship policy.
A greyhound was killed at the racetrack in South Australia earlier this month, after being forced to race by his owner at the Tara Racetrack in Mount Gambier and breaking his leg while sprinting during the race.
A greyhound was killed last week at the Gawler Greyhound Racing Club as part of Greyhound Racing South Australia's weekly program of dog racing, in what appears to be the second death of a greyhound arising directly from track racing in South Australia for the year.
THE SPONSORS + PARTNERS
QBE and Elders Insurance have ended their support of dog racing in Western Australia after at least 6 years of sponsorship, one week after a two-year-old dog named Moroccan Miss was killed at the Mandurah racetrack on May 7.
Jim’s Mowing, one of Australia’s most popular franchises, ended its support of Geelong greyhound racing yesterday after at least 6 years of sponsorship. The decision followed an enquiry from this publication.
After sponsoring a dog race at a Greyhound Racing South Australia event in which a greyhound broke his leg last week, The Original Coopers Alehouse at The Earl—a pub and function venue in Adelaide—has refused to comment on the injury.
As Lifeline Australia has provided a crisis phone line service and counselling services for gambling addiction, it has accepted significant donations from organisations that profit from gambling and animal racing, including Western Australia's horse and greyhound racing regulator, and Woolworths Group, a corporation with interests in over 300 hotels across Australia and pokie machines in the thousands.