O’Brien Electrical pulls sponsorship from South Australian dog racing
CONVERSATION #10: O’BRIEN, AUSTRALIA
O’Brien Electrical has ended its sponsorship of South Australian greyhound racing, several months after a dog died in a Mount Gambier race the company sponsored earlier this year.
The greyhound was killed at the Tara Raceway in Mount Gambier on January 19, after what was termed an "incident in the catching area" by officials working for Greyhound Racing South Australia, during which a greyhound had her foreleg broken and was consequently euthanised with the consent of her owner.
In addition to sponsoring the race on January 19, an O’Brien Electrical franchisee had provided months of ongoing support for dog races at the Angle Park and Mount Gambier race tracks in South Australia.
O'Brien Electrical is a division of the glass, plumbing and electrical corporation O'Brien, which, with franchises in every Australian state and territory, markets itself as "one of Australia's most trusted brands".
In response to the dog’s death, a spokesperson for the O’Brien Head Office initially told this publication in January that the company’s “sponsorship policy states that we do not associate our brand with events that are associated with any form of animal cruelty," and that the company was in the process of the reviewing their sponsorship policies.
O’Brien has since confirmed it has cancelled all sponsorship of dog racing in South Australia.
In a comment made on Facebook in April, a representative for O’Brien wrote: “We first became aware of unapproved sponsorship in Mount Gambier back in January and acted swiftly to resolve this, including a face to face visit with the franchisee.”
A representative made a further statement on Facebook: “Our sponsorship policy states we do not support events or organisations that are involved in the cruelty of animals. All sponsorships require head office approval, and no approval has been granted for greyhound racing. Our policy was recently reviewed and it has been communicated with all our franchisees and employees.”
A spokesperson for the O’Brien Head Office has also confirmed to this publication that the company’s dog racing sponsorship had been cancelled, writing on April 23: “I can confirm that we do not support greyhound racing. All sponsorships have been cancelled.”
In the first 4 months of this year, over 90 dogs have died at greyhound racetracks around Australia, including 9 deaths at South Australian tracks.