Greyhound killed at Angle Park after breaking leg in third track death of the year at Greyhound Racing SA events

Greyhound Racing SA’s Angle Park track in Adelaide.

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.

According to the steward’s report published by Greyhound Racing SA, the greyhound ‘Rugged and Ready’ broke down on the home turn of the tenth race at a meet at Angle Park on Monday, February 14—Valentine’s Day.

The race veterinarian found him to have sustained a broken left foreleg.

Rugged and Ready is the third dog to die at Angle Park this year, after Naughty Miss was killed on January 24, followed by Twin Pick on January 27. All three dogs were killed after suffering leg fractures sustained at track turns.

At the same race meeting at which Rugged and Ready was killed, three other dogs also sustained injuries, with one dog stood down for 3 weeks and another suspended from racing for a month.

The trainer and owner of Rugged and Ready, Kenneth Gill, made the decision to have him euthanised by Greyhound Racing SA’s on-track veterinarian, Dr. Brian Agnew.

Gill has been a greyhound trainer for several decades and is based in Lewiston, less than an hour north of Adelaide. Gill owned Rugged and Ready as a member of the “Gill O’Donell gambling syndicate”.

According to Greyhound Racing SA’s stewards report, the dog was not “humanely” euthanised but killed “humanly” by Dr. Agnew.

Alongside his work in greyhound racing, Dr. Agnew regularly provides veterinary services to South Australia’s horse racing industry as the owner of the Horsemed SA veterinary clinics, having previously worked for livestock companies in Saudi Arabia and China.

Race footage shows Rugged and Ready limping to the finish line in last place on his broken leg. Rather than Greyhound Racing SA staff stepping forward to help him, it is the race photographer that places down his camera and steps out in front of the dog to stop him running further.

Rugged and Ready as he limps to finish line at Angle Park on February 14, 2022. [Source: Greyhound Racing SA]

The race in which Rugged and Ready broke his leg was sponsored by Greyhound Racing SA’s Twitter account @TheDogsSA, which is dedicated to providing free tips and “form analysis” for gamblers underneath a banner image of trainers kissing their dogs and the statement “We Love Our Dogs”.

Greyhound Racing SA’s tipping account on Twitter. [Source: Twitter, Feb 2022]

The social media account unsurprisingly does not report racetrack deaths or injuries as part of the form analysis service it provides to gamblers.

At just 3.5 years old, Rugged and Ready had been made to race 52 times. Over his lifetime, he earned Ken Gill and his fellow gambling syndicate members $28,030.

Racing records show Rugged and Ready had been subjected to a constant racing schedule in the two years preceding his broken leg and subsequent death.

From October 2020 onwards, he was often made to race 4-5 times per month at various tracks in South Australia. This included a tough schedule of 5 races a month in January, March, September and December 2021.

Rugged and Ready was bred by the racing greyhound breeder and trainer Kathleen Johnstone, based to the south of Adelaide.

Rugged and Ready (circled) starting his final race at Angle Park on February 14, 2022.

Rugged and Ready is the fourth greyhound to die at Angle Park since extensive “safety upgrades” were completed at the track last year. The Angle Park track was closed for a major $2.9 million redevelopment in April 2021, reopening in late August 2021.

The upgrades were officially unveiled in October by Premier Steven Marshall when he attended the TAB Corp Adelaide Cup along with SA Minister for Racing Corey Wingard. A greyhound died at that event.

The Greyhound Racing SA CEO has stated the track “features a layout that sets the standard for modern best-practice design," and is “based on track safety research commissioned by the industry, and undertaken by the University of Technology Sydney."

According to GRSA, Angle Park’s safety upgrade included transitional turns, increased cambers, new fencing, and a SafeChase lure.

Five greyhounds have died at the track since its reopening. ‘Naughty Miss’ and ‘Twin Pick’ were killed last month,‘Withers Monelli’ died at the Adelaide Cup event Premier Marshall attended on October 8 last year, and another dog, ‘Basman’, was killed a month later, on November 11, 2021.

SA Premier Steven Marshall speaking at the Adelaide Cup last year alongside Matthew Corby and Corey Wingard. A dog died at the event. [Source: Greyhound Racing SA]

In the wake of Rugged and Ready’s death, animal welfare advocates have said the ongoing greyhound deaths at Angle Park prove that the concept of a “safe” racetrack for greyhounds is a myth.

“Millions of dollars have been spent in a vain attempt to make Angle Park safe. We have now seen five dogs killed and more than 100 injured,” said Kylie Field, a director at the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG).

“The racing industry loves to say that its new tracks are safer because they’ve been designed by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). But the new tracks are killing and injuring dogs just as the older ones do,” she said.

Field continues: “Angle Park is a curved track. These are inherently dangerous for greyhounds and can’t be made safe. All the five dogs euthanased suffered their leg injuries at the curves.”

“Premier Marshall attending the reopening of Angle Park. If he cared about dog welfare, he’d ask that racing be moved to the straight track at Murray Bridge. Straight tracks kill fewer dogs than curved tracks,” she said.

“The GRSA slogan is “We love our dogs’. No love was shown to Rugged and Ready on Valentine’s Day, no loyalty for a dog that had run 52 races and won $28,000. If this industry cared about animal welfare, he would have been treated and rehabilitated. A broken leg shouldn’t be a death sentence,” she said.

Rugged and Ready’s final race can be viewed below (he is in the pink vest with the number 8).

Greyhound Racing SA’s stewards report for Monday January 14 is below: