Yankiwi

GRNZ spent their $2m on a straight track in Wanganui, that trainers are not nominating for. Since the first race meet started there (non-tote & tote) on 12 June 2024 or 7 months ago, they have had a total of 1013 starters to run in a race. To put that in perspective, 1064 starters have run at Addington between 20 Dec 2024 & 10 Jan 2025 or about 3 weeks. The straight track maximum number of starters for a race meet is 84. The Addington track average per race meet over those 3 weeks is 106, with 91 starters being the minimum. GRNZ built the straight track away from the area of the country with by far the largest population of dogs. Is GRNZ devastated by that reality too?

No-one is as bad as @Yankiwi I can't believe how he states facts that are out in plain sight. How dare he? It's one thing to have a dead dog in the database. There is understandable reason for that. It's another thing to have it in a database long after it is dead, with a current trainer & training location associated with the dead dog, which still has an owner. If that registered trainer still has a trainer's license, it's likely they could still nominate it to race. However, it would make it very difficult for the RIB to check the ear tattoos to identify the dead dog for check-in purposes, unless it had been mounted by a taxidermist. However, that is pure speculation on my part. I don't claim to know how long a tattoo remains legible on a dried dog ear.

You're welcome Dougga. But what about these? Abby Ruth turns 24 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=8 Abergavenny turns 36 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=11 Abigail's Party turns 19 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=12 Acclaim turns 38 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=37 Ace Canning turns 26 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=42 Ace Of Spies turns 23 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=45 Ace Of Trumps turns 30 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=46 Ace Student turns 24 this year. https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=48 I'm sensing a reoccurring issue here. 50 Animal ID numbers checked (1 thru 50), 8 of the 50 are in error about being alive or dead alone. That's a 16% error rate in the first 50 numbers. Seems plenty of suits with appropriate job titles under the GRNZ umbrella that could have worked to sort this out over the many years GRNZ's record keeping issues have turn up as insufficient in review after review. To fix it, GRNZ initiated their check-in system to be able to know the location of any dog in their database at any time. How'd all these dead dogs slip thru that process? Then they submit the following to the Minister of Racing with a straight face believing they've done a wonderful job & are blindsided by the decision he gave them in return.

So, the RIB must have scanned/verified that the 38-year-old dead dog in the database was alive & accounted for. That gives me full confidence that missing dog concerns are no longer valid.

GRNZ told Govt that they had confidence in the integrity of their database & the status of all the dogs within it. I don't have confidence in it (nor should the Govt), as their database has a 34-year-old dog that appears to still be registered to race.

Karen was a great trainer & is a wonderful person.

Why is headquarters/board claiming this in their Oct 24 report to Govt? https://www.grnz.co.nz/Files/Quarterly Reports/GRNZ October 2024 Quarterly Report.pdf Since GRNZ is confident that "missing" dogs are no longer an issue, did Adina Bale complete her twice yearly check in during the last round? https://www.grnz.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=88 At 34 years old now & still registered to race, it's kind of hard to understand how GRNZ has confidence in their database.

Has GRNZ ended the importation of racing dogs and/or pups from Australia? Has new Govt legislation been passed banning importation? I haven't seen any notice to suggest that either have done so. GRNZ - If welfare unpins everything you do, then there's no excuse for allowing the importation of even more dogs at this point, compounding the rehoming problem. It might even pay to export any Australian owned dogs back to their owners, greatly easing the upcoming rehoming nightmare. If they don't, they'll eventually be flying even more dogs to the USA for rehoming.

I've heard one LP movement is in the works. Also heard about a second LP movement in the planning stage. Not going to say more about either of them, because contrary to some's belief, I want the industry to continue & won't be undermining them.

Based on the information at the time the Track manager was terminated, it wasn't an 18-month job.

Why was my previous post hidden? The GRNZ Track manager position ended up being a 16-month job. The GRNZ COO position ended up being a 33-month job. GRNZ positions don't always have longevity.

Funny you say that. After some persistent skin issues with our dog and some trial & error, we narrowed it down the biggest cause to be the brand of kibble we were giving him. Swapped brands & saw some improvement overnight. Even better after a couple of days but damage had been done and after a couple further weeks of a less than a speedy recovery, I was off to the Vet's yesterday with him. Suggested were expensive shampoo to deal with a fungal issue on his feet, antibiotics to deal with an infection on his feet & some other tables to deal with "itching". All deemed very important by the woman vet. A second option was some monthly jab that had a success rate of 60%. I asked her if we do the pills/pills/shampoo, will it fix him? She said it'd sort it out but may become a reoccurring problem. Then I asked her how these issues would have been dealt with 30 years ago. Instant silence. In the end I agreed to stump up the $'s this time and leave with her suggested 3-step treatment but told her this method is not something our dog will be given routinely or on an "as needed" basis for the next 10 or 15 years.

Your claim was "The Police didn't file charges." The police did fine charges. They later dropped them.

That's been my opinion forever, far to many years (and reviews) of being all words and only reactive. Just as guilty are the RIU/JCA, now the RIB. People are going to do what they do. If they do something that is out of line, they should be held to account. If the rules are ignored for some participants & not others, then it's an issue. If one trainer gets fined for an Arsenic positive swab & another under the exact same circumstances (chewing on treated timber) gets a fine but has it fully suspended for one year, then it's an issue.

Interesting. I reckon it was from 8 Feb 2024. https://www.grnz.co.nz/catch-the-action/15786/stewards-report.aspx Seems odd that the RIB didn't at least open & adjourn an investigation into the matter. Isn't that why the RIB is there in the first place?

That is of no use if your sole purpose is protesting the closure of Greyhound Racing. As a board member & if you want a chance on overturning their decision, your complete focus needs to be on fixing this. 2020/2021 Major 2+ 1.9 per 1000. 2021/2022 Major 2+ 2.2 per 1000. 2022/2023 Major 2+ 2.2 per 1000. 2023/2024 Major 2+ 2.1 per 1000. Current 2024/2025 Major 2+ 4.1 per 1000 (as far as GRNZ has reported on). GRNZ shouldn't have been devastated by the announcement, they should have expected it. I started screaming early warnings about the Southland track in August, but GRNZ already knew about it, right?

Actually, 12 Dec to 22 Dec is 11 days. All of the 11 days after the Govt's announcement. As a man who claims to love data, that's a rather simple mistake to make. Anyways, that was then, this is now. Updated data to include today, now 12 full days after the announcement. To avoid any doubt, here's a more detailed list of 21 dogs that have incurred a major 1+ injury after the day of the announcement on 11 Dec.

Seems at least one GRNZ board member approves of my "shyte".

High injury rates compared to the KPI GRNZ that they set for themselves. After last season, they even widened the goal posts to make their KPI more achievable 22/23 6.36/1000 23/24 6.57/1000 24/25 First Quarter data as released by GRNZ. 7.93/1000, excluding the 3 additional injuries in the foot-footnotes (for the first time in reporting to the Govt) I've compared the current GRNZ defined "Season" (Aug 01 to 31 July) previous & after the date the Govt made its announcement. I didn't choose either of those dates. If you want to pretend there are not excess injuries, even though GRNZ's compares injuries to their own KPI, then you can do that. That does not discredit information I provide.

The trots don't matter to what you're facing. Winston has said it's going to be shut down due to high injury rates. That needs to be 100% of GRNZ's focus to have any chance. New starting boxes won't help. New lures won't help. Yes, they are nice to have, easy to do & keep the GRNZ board & headquarters feeling good about what they've achieved. It's time to get uncomfortable & focus. 2024/2025 season data. 1 Aug to 11 Dec (pre-announcement) Major 2+ two times the KPI rate. 12 Dec to 22 Dec (post-announcement) Major 2+ five times the KPI rate. Saying GRNZ is doing this or that to reduce injuries, then not getting it done, is what has got the industry here. BTW it's got worse since the T&I manager has been hired (run your own numbers). If you can't draw a line in the sand (for instance 1 Jan 2025) and at a minimum, meet the major KPI rates that GRNZ has set from that point on out, anything else will likely be meaningless. Spin will not change the fact major injuries are at running twice the rate as it did last season, which even then the KPI's weren't met. The days of excuses are over.

A very good response to the print media by Allen Bryce. https://www.grnz.co.nz/News/3299/Allen-Bryce-Letter-to-NZ-Newspapers While I agree with most of it, more of this kind of correspondence & less of the headquarter "pity me" pieces will serve the industry far better.

I feel bad for many of the trainers on what is happening. Most don't deserve what's going on. However, there are a few that have proven over the years that they need to be gone. GRNZ/RIB are openly blind to them & haven't kept them in check. Now more than ever I think it's time for the good and the decent people in the sport to come together & unite for their own futures in the industry. Sweeping changes are needed with urgency. You can't rely on GRNZ sugarcoating their way thru the hot water this time. Why don't the 30 or 40 (complete guess on the numbers) good/decent trainers come together, fight back against the ratbags and fight back against GRNZ for letting you down over the years? Surely there must be a professional/lawyer type somewhere amongst their owners that would be willing to help. Maybe they could help to write a letter to the Minister on how you've all been hard done by the ratbags and by the poor leadership GRNZ and the not so unrelated RIU/RIB soft touch on justice. Ask the minister to reconsider cleaning out the sport from the top down, instead of closing it. Tell the minister how limiting the numbers of racing dogs allowable per kennel could help to bring the industry back. Tell him how impossible it is for the good people of the industry to compete with the protected corporate kennels.

Seems like a good time to bring this to light. Injuries before the shut-down announcement compared with since the announcement. I've now heard from two completely unrelated sources that dogs are being raced and others run in pre/post-race trials and on trial only days in the hope of having them break down to lower the costs of looking after them and/or jumping the que in getting them into a rehoming program quickly. Granted, only here-say, however early race day injury data could be pointing towards some truth in what's being whispered. If there's some truth in it, then maybe the track conditions shouldn't habour as much of the blame for the excess injuries. The injury data I capture is what is reported by Stewards. If an injury occurs during a pre/post race-day trial it's not recorded in my data. Stewards record as a "note" in their report of a meeting, any injuries which a stand-down is issued, that happened during the trials, but no data is given on the number of starters for the day's trials. Also, non-race day trials could still be a wild west event. Everyone turns up, runs their dogs around the track, packs them back up & brings them home. No prerace or postrace vet checks, no record of injuries sustained, no Steward to make sure a fluffy is on the lure arm instead of something else. GRNZ considers this transparency.

More carnage today. https://www.grnz.co.nz/catch-the-action/16159/stewards-report.aspx Currently over 5 times the KPI target for major 2+ injuries for the entire racing season. Currently 8 times the KPI target for major 2+ injuries in this season's 2nd quarter (after the repairs). GRNZ has made the track even worse. Quite similar results to what was said about the 3rd rate Track & Infrastructure manager's tenure in Australia, before GRNZ hired the "expert". Don't believe me? https://australianracinggreyhound.com/news/nsws-leading-trainers-slam-tracks-call-for-immediate-action/92415/ Are NZ trainers calling for him to stand down or be sacked too?