The first six months of WA's dog racing injury scheme: after a dog breaks its leg, where does it go?

Western Australia introduced a scheme last year to make it easier for trainers to afford surgery for dogs that became injured while being made to race for gambling purposes—but it took a freedom of information application to find out where the dogs went

A racing dog injury scheme introduced by the Western Australian government in August 2019 has led to five dogs successfully recovering from surgery, eleven dogs entering rehabilitation after surgery and four deaths in its first six months of operation, documents released under freedom of information law reveal.

The figures were released last month by the state's animal racing regulator, Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA), in response to a freedom of information application made by this publication.

In the six months following its introduction, a total of twenty-eight dogs were deemed eligible for the scheme.

The scheme was introduced in attempts to lessen the number of racing greyhounds being euthanised for non-fatal injuries, which regularly occurs within the dog racing industry Australia-wide. Greyhounds that sustain broken leg bones — a common injury in greyhound racing — are often humanely euthanised after races by racetrack vets with the consent of their owners, a decision that advocates for greyhound protection have claimed is often based on avoidance of the substantial surgery and rehabilitation costs that would be required to bring the dog back to full health.

Should a dog become seriously injured in a race, Western Australia's scheme gives owners of racing dogs the option of signing over ownership of the dog to the state's rehoming program, or retaining ownership of the dog and seeking reimbursement of up to $3,500 for surgery and other costs.

The scheme covers only injuries to specific parts of the legs of greyhounds—including fractures to the hock, tibia and radius bones—but not the fibula bone in the hind leg or other parts of a dog's body, such as the shoulder, back, or tail, which have been listed as sites of serious injury in racing records.

RWWA redacted details of the veterinary clinics that participate in the injury scheme, claiming release of the information was not in the public interest.

THE DEATHS

Three greyhounds that had been accepted into the injury scheme were euthanised by veterinarians after being seriously injured in races at the Cannington and Mandurah racetracks, with a fourth dog dying during surgery.

A dog that had been assigned a racing name of Wagtail Sage was humanely euthanised on October 30 last year after enduring complications that arose after a second surgery. Wagatil Sage had previously been owned by Norman Burke, trained by Peter Glenny, and died at the age of three years old after racing at the Cannington racetrack.

Two months later, on December 26, a dog named Helen's Calling was humanely euthanised due to "surgical complications", after being seriously injured during a race at Mandurah. Owned by Thomas Slattery and trained by Jennifer Thompson, she died at two years old, and had been made to race 40 times.

On January 1, Miss Blue died at three years of age while under anaesthesia for surgery, after suffering a fracture and dislocation of her hindleg while racing at the Mandurah racetrack. She had been trained by Philip Worthington, owned by Royston Sundar, and made to race 77 times, earning her owner $11,383.

Another dog died on January 25, when Bebe Glazer was euthanised due to the "complex nature" of her injury and a "poor prognosis for successful recovery", after a dislocation and fracture of her hock while racing at Cannington. Owned by George Farrugia and trained by Jamie Marsh, she died at the age of two.

KEPT FOR RACING & BREEDING

Two dogs remained with their owners after surgery and are currently recorded as "racing", but do not yet appear to have been returned to the racetrack.

One of those dogs, Invictus Nina, was transferred from trainer Steven Withers, of Western Australia, to Ben Rawlings, one of South Australia's most well-known trainers, two days after her injury. Rawlings currently owns Invictus Nina as part of a syndicate, and had previously trained her between December 2018 and July 2019.

Invictus Nina is currently listed as racing, having earned her owners $7780 so far, and been made to race 31 times at racetracks in Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia.

Another dog, Aldrich, remained with his owner Belinda Smithson, of Nambeelup, after surgery, and is yet to return to the racetrack. At four years old, Aldrich has been raced 79 times between Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia, earning his owners $41,030.

Three dogs accepted under the injury scheme were retired from racing after their surgeries and kept by their owners for breeding purposes.

ADOPTIONS

After successfully recovering from surgery, five dogs that had been accepted into the injury scheme were adopted as part of Western Australia's Greyhounds As Pets racing dog rehoming program.

Eleven additional dogs remained in rehabilitation from surgeries as of January 31, according to figures released by the regulator, and could be potentially be rehomed, should they have successful recoveries.

GOVERNMENT SECRECY

Australian greyhound protection advocacy group the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds recently called on the Western Australian Government to increase transparency surrounding the state's greyhound injury scheme, in a statement to local media outlet Mandurah Mail on March 28.

Since the scheme's introduction last year, RWWA did not willingly publish data on the welfare of dogs accepted into the scheme, and did not made clear to the public what had happened to dogs after they were transferred from racetracks to veterinary hospitals.

After sustaining serious injuries, greyhounds within the scheme were listed only as "retired" in interstate records with no additional clarification from RWWA, meaning the public were unable to track whether the greyhound had been euthanised or successfully rehabilitated after a surgery.

Days after the public call for transparency from the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds, the RWWA quietly published a list of welfare outcomes for dogs accepted into the injury scheme in a dog racing industry newsletter on April 8. The list does not specify individual reasons for dog deaths.

In response to a request for comment, RWWA stated that it “is fully transparent in regards to its operations”.

“Whilst only a very small proportion of greyhound starters (0.5%) suffer major injuries, RWWA has two injury schemes in place,” a RWWA spokesperson wrote. “Data for the 2019/20 financial year will be included in this year’s annual report.”

“RWWA has also commenced with the publishing of monthly updates on the status of greyhounds in the Greyhound Injury Full Recovery Scheme in the publically [sic] available Kennel Notes publication which can be found here: http://www.greyhoundswa.com.au/publications/.”

RWWA’s publishing of monthly updates on injured greyhounds began just 6 days ago.

Since February this year, racing dogs have had a tough time at Western Australian racetracks, with 11 dogs fracturing their hindlegs, 3 fracturing their forelegs, and 1 fracturing his toe. 5 of the leg fractures occurred over 5 consecutive days of racing at Mandurah and Cannington in late March.

Animal racing continues to operate in Western Australia despite the global COVID-19 pandemic.