Failure to publish report showing racing dog deaths an “oversight”, says Tasmanian Government

After two dogs broke three legs between them and were both put down at a Launceston race meet on March 16, the Tasmanian Government hid the race report from the public for weeks

The Launceston Greyhound Racetrack. (Facebook: Launceston Greyhound Racing Club)

The Tasmanian Government has called its failure to upload a race report that recorded the deaths of two dogs last month an “administrative oversight”, after three racing greyhounds were put down in the space of two weeks at the Launceston racetrack in March.

Two greyhounds, Spring Gully Jaz and Spring Gully Al, were seriously injured in races at the Launceston Greyhound Racing Club on March 16, sustaining three broken legs between them at the same race meet.

Spring Gully Al, who was two years old, fell after a collision with another dog and broke both of his front legs. He was humanely euthanised with the consent of his owner.

Four races later, Spring Gully Jaz fell as she entered the catching pen — the area at the end of each race where trainers collect their dogs — and sustained a compound fracture to her right leg, before being similarly euthanised by the on-site veterinarian.

Both dogs were trained by Anthony Bullock, and owned by Michael Johnson and the Johnson greyhound racing syndicate. Bullock, who runs one of Tasmania’s largest racing dog kennels in Exeter, has previously been fined by racing authorities after a dog he presented for racing tested positive for arsenic.

The stewards report for the March 16 meet was not published by Tasmania’s Office for Racing Integrity for three weeks, despite reports from two consequent races at Launceston being published after March 16. The report was made available on April 6, within hours of an enquiry from this publication.

Stewards reports are the official race reports published after each race that serve as a record of racing incidents, dog illnesses and injuries, veterinary checks, and any other incidents of note.

A spokesperson for Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, which oversees the Office for Racing Integrity, blamed the missing report on IT issues.

“The steward’s report for Launceston greyhound racing on 16 March 2020 is now available on the Office of Racing Integrity’s website,” the spokesperson said. 

“There were difficulties uploading this report at the time as a result of IT issues. An administrative oversight meant that the report was not subsequently uploaded once these issues were resolved.”

A third dog died in Launceston last week after being seriously injured during a race. Bridwood Mckenna, who was two years old, collided with three other dogs around the first racetrack turn and broke her right hock — a common injury in greyhound racing — before she was humanely euthanised by an on-site veterinarian on March 30.

Bridwood Mckenna was owned by Richard Hall, and was another dog trained by Bullock.