Racing through a pandemic: dog racing participants filmed disregarding COVID-19 distancing regulations
Greyhound racing has continued to operate across Australia despite race footage showing participants and industry staff disregarding social distancing regulations as recently as yesterday.
Video footage of dog race meets held over the past 5 days in every state shows participants casually standing together standing in groups to watch their dogs race, staff standing closely together to talk, and participants and staff forming bunches while they load dogs into race starting boxes.
As of last week, other sections of the Australian community have been expected to adhere to an increasing list of restrictions and rules—including the banning of gatherings of more than 2 people in several states, maintaining social distancing measures, the closure of non-essential services, and recommendations against non-essential travel—to lessen health risks in the community.
Dog racing regulators around Australia have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by closing races to the public, while continuing to host race meets with some altered operations procedures.
Regulators in each state have introduced a “single-file” racing measure in response to the pandemic, in which participants load their dogs into boxes in pairs, or one by one, but the race footage shows this has not reliably prevented participants from coming into close proximity with each other.
No information has been released by regulators about measures to prevent participants coming into contact with each other at the end of each race, when dogs are loose in the catching pen area, without the safety of the animals being compromised.
Greyhound racing is widely considered a “sport” in Australia, yet has not been subject to the same closures as the majority of community and professional sporting codes by state governments. Internationally, greyhound racing has been paused in Ireland, the few states in which dog racing is permitted in the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Betting on dog racing in Australia is controlled by Tabcorp Holdings Pty Ltd. Channel 7 began broadcasting dog races earlier this year.
Stills from the race footage, which was filmed at racetracks around the country between March 27 and March 31, are included below. In the majority of racetrack locations, the decisions not to engage in social distancing made by staff and participants were not one-off incidents, but behaviours that were repeated over several races.
The raw race footage from which the stills are taken is available for viewing through each state’s greyhound racing regulator.
Government authorities in each state have been contacted for comment.
(Arrows to view pictures are located at the end of each slide.)
FRIDAY MARCH 27: MURRAY BRIDGE, SA
SATURDAY MARCH 28: IPSWICH, QLD
SUNDAY MARCH 29: SALE, VIC
SUNDAY MARCH 29: RICHMOND, VIC
SUNDAY MARCH 29: CAPALABA, QLD
SUNDAY MARCH 29: MANDURAH, WA
SUNDAY MARCH 29: DARWIN, NT
MONDAY MARCH 30: LAUNCESTON, TAS
MONDAY MARCH 30: BUNDABERG, QLD
MONDAY MARCH 30: BRISBANE (ALBION PARK), QLD
MONDAY MARCH 30: HEALESVILLE, VIC
MONDAY MARCH 30: CANNINGTON, WA
MONDAY MARCH 30: BATHURST, NSW
TUESDAY MARCH 31: IPSWICH, QLD
RESPONSES
No state government authority would clarify whether racing is classified as an “essential service”.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
SA Health referred enquiries to SA Police, who responded as follows:
“Racing has not been banned. Restrictions have been put in place which include no access to the general public. Social distancing is still required. Further information can be found at the SA Health website.”
“Anyone witnessing breaches regarding social distancing should call the Police Assistance Line on 131444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”
Queensland
The Queensland Police referred enquiries to the Queensland Department of Health. The Department of Health have not yet responded to a request for comment.
Response from Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner, Ross Barnett:
“Social distancing procedures apply at all Queensland greyhound venues, including kennelling, parading, the boxing of greyhounds and the post-race retrieving of the greyhounds in the catching pen. In the catching pen, attendants are spaced whilst waiting for the greyhounds to enter. Attendants then enter the pen calmly - but swiftly – to retrieve the greyhounds whilst adhering to social distancing standards.”
TASMANIA
The Tasmanian Government Department of Health stated that social distancing measures are “clear”, but referred enquiries to Tasmania Police and refused to comment further. Tasmania Police did not respond to a request for comment.
VICTORIA
Victoria Police did not respond to a request for comment.
NSW
NSW Police and NSW Health have not responded to requests for comment.