Chief Stipe Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Greyhound racing banned in shock decision: ‘Time to do the right thing’ Paula Penfold December 10, 2024 •01:00pm Play Video Watch live: Winston Peters announces ban on greyhound racing fast facts Racing Minister Winston Peters has announced greyhound racing will be banned in New Zealand. Legislation will be passed under urgency to prevent the unnecessary killing of racing dogs. It will take 20 months to wind down the industry to enable the rehoming of racing dogs and a transition period. Racing Minister Winston Peters has announced the Government’s plans to end greyhound racing in New Zealand. “This is not a decision that is taken lightly but is ultimately driven by protecting the welfare of racing dogs,” the Minister said in an announcement at the Beehive on Tuesday afternoon. The three-time racing minister and supporter of the racing industry has been considering the future of greyhound racing since early this year. Many anti-greyhound racing activists believed his love of racing meant the industry would survive, so the announcement is likely to come as a shock both to the industry and opponents alike. Peters said the greyhound industry had been on notice over animal welfare concerns for several years. There have been three reviews into the industry over the past decade, all recommending significant changes. Advertise with Stuff Racing Minister Winston Peters has announced greyhound racing will be banned in New Zealand.John Harford A landmark 2017 report by former High Court Judge Rodney Hansen QC found high rates of injury and euthanasia, high numbers of “unaccounted for” dogs, and low re-homing numbers. “Despite significant progress made by the greyhound racing industry in recent years, the percentage of dogs being injured remains persistently high and the time has come to make a call in the best interest of the animals,” Peters said. The Minister did look at whether stricter regulation would allow racing to continue safely, but “saw no evidence that injury rates would significantly decline,” saying injury rates have remained “persistently and stubbornly high”. “The time has come to do the right thing. It’s a very significant day.” He acknowledged the work done by Greyhound Racing NZ to make the industry safer, but considered too many animals were still being injured. Persistent injury rates for racing greyhounds have led to a decision to shut down the industry.Iain McGregor / The Press “Even with the improvements this is no longer publicly acceptable. Greyhound racing is an inherently risky sport.” Greyhound Racing New Zealand’s quarterly animal welfare progress report released in October showed 75 “major” injuries from August 1 - October 31 including two dogs euthanised due to injury in a race and one sudden death, an increase on the previous season it acknowledged was “disappointing”. But it was adamant it had addressed the welfare concerns raised in previous industry reviews and was “operating at a level consistent with the expectations of a modern racing environment”. The winding down of the industry will take place over a 20-month period to allow the re-homing of racing dogs and to provide a transition period for people involved in the industry. Racing Minister Winston Peters has announced greyhound racing in New Zealand is to be banned.ROBERT KITCHIN / THE POST The process of introducing new legislation under urgency will begin Tuesday with the introduction of the Racing Industry (Unlawful Destruction of Specified Greyhounds) Amendment Bill, “to prevent the unnecessary killing of racing dogs”. It will mean no racing greyhound can be euthanised without the approval of a vet. “A key task will be the re-homing of the estimated 2900 racing greyhounds in New Zealand,” Peters said. An Advisory Committee has been appointed to help manage the transition process, chaired by former top advisor to the Helen Clark Government, Heather Simpson, along with committee members experienced public servant Murray Johnson, and vet and current chair of the New Zealand Veterinary Council, Lindsay Burton. They will provide advice on ensuring animal welfare, and support for those involved in the industry. “Keeping unwanted dogs safe is a priority,” Peters said. “The Government is working with animal welfare organisations such as the SPCA to establish programmes to support re-homing.” SPCA Chief Scientific Officer Arnja Dale said the announcement was “the best Christmas present ever”. Play Video 4:30 SPCA reacts to greyhound racing ban VIDEO CREDIT: Stuff “The sport is inherently dangerous. It has had multiple reviews over the last 10 years. And whilst we appreciate the industry has made some improvements, it has completely lost its social licence. “The injury rates are still too high. The deaths are unacceptable.” Dale was confident the almost three thousand racing dogs could be successfully re-homed. “Our priority is the dogs and we will work together to achieve this outcome.” There are currently seven greyhound race clubs and six tracks around the country. In 2023/24 there were about 390 race meetings and 4800 races, with greyhound racing accounting for 8.5% of the economic output of the racing industry, which employs more than 1000 people. New Zealand is one of only five countries where commercial greyhound racing is still permitted. SPCA Chief Scientific Officer Dr Arnja Dale. “The best Christmas present ever.” Further legislation will also be required to end the industry. A bill to make the necessary changes to the Racing Industry Act 2020 will be introduced to Parliament in 2025, Peters said. There will be a full select committee process but there is political consensus for the ban, with support from Cabinet as well as cross-party support from Labour and the Green Party. Just two hours before the announcement, long time anti-greyhound racing activist Aaron Cross of the Greyhound Protection League spoke to Stuff despairing about the industry having learned that a high-profile trainer had been found to be re-homing dogs but “fudging the paperwork. “We have no way of tracking what’s happening to dogs once they leave the racing industry. It’s very opaque.” Asked what he thought the Minister would do in terms of a ban, he predicted the industry would survive. “This is not a government that’s shown animal welfare is a priority. We always hope for the best. We’re prepared for the worst.” Cross’s updated comment has been sought over the Minister’s decision to shut the industry down. Comment has also been sought from trainers and Greyhound Racing New Zealand. - Stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newmarket Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Good….So many dodgy pricks involved in that dog racing, should have been gone long ago. Im surprised it has taking this long, many years ago dogs went missing, videos of live kills…. the industry is shit. Best news of 2024, those wanting to continue racing, go overseas and like up with the travelers… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitofaLegend Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Ive said it for a long time now, the industry has failed to act in NZ and took to long to do anything, from the rib, grnz to the trainers themselves 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitofaLegend Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 I will say this now though, the fact national supported this also means the other two industries are far from safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted December 10 Author Share Posted December 10 1 hour ago, BitofaLegend said: I will say this now though, the fact national supported this also means the other two industries are far from safe. Yep as I've always said the Greyhounds were the canary in mine and a bridgehead. The Thoroughbred industry thinks they'll benefit from increased revenue but ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trojan Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 I wouldn't be surprised if the Thoroughbred kingpins chewed Winnies ear as well to get rid of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitofaLegend Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 29 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Yep as I've always said the Greyhounds were the canary in mine and a bridgehead. The Thoroughbred industry thinks they'll benefit from increased revenue but ... Talking of revenue, It will be interesting to see if Entain challenge this or not as they have only been in charge for little bit of time and this removes atleast a 3rd (probably higher) of their revenue in NZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Shit decision. 2 hours ago, Newmarket said: Good….So many dodgy pricks involved in that dog racing, should have been gone long ago. Im surprised it has taking this long, many years ago dogs went missing, videos of live kills…. the industry is shit. Best news of 2024, those wanting to continue racing, go overseas and like up with the travelers… What a moronic statement from a halfwit. You piece of shit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLB2.0 Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 This will have a sizable flow-on effect with Trackside/TAB. No need for studio presenters on days when there is no thoroughbred racing. They'll likely have to seek employment elsewhere, and we'll have even worse people fronting our industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankiwi Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Yeah, Yankiwi's killed the sport alright. It wasn't things like GRNZ saying they are going to something to fix a problem & then never do it, like safety rails for all tracks in 2014. It's Yankiwi's fault that Coles did some dodgy private rehoming of their dogs, as per below. That would have really helped Winston make his decision. https://racingintegrityboard.org.nz/decisions/non-raceday-inquiry-written-decision-dated-6-december-2024-lisa-cole/ GRNZ has done it to themselves. The antis were hot on their tails for many years & even a supporter of greyhound racing, that is no longer bound by the rule book to keep my mouth shut, has been doing some loud barking telling them to sort their shit out or this outcome is inevitable. Even the RIB thought GRNZ were slow or not even at the table in many instances, as their reports to the minister have shown. Clubs & their local trainers played their part too, by voting like a popularity contest in the board votes over the years. In the most recent election, Wayne Steele was barely reelected 4 to 3 over J Mac. Any trainer that voted at the club level for J Mac over Wayne was part of the problem IMHO. The RIU/RIB have let the code down in their own right. The Cole bullring episode was the most blatant. I can remember only one firm penalty for a serious infraction being handed down over the years and that was in the Davey Boy case. Almost all cases saw a penalty minimalized. Recent cases have seen a penalty being handed down & suspended, unless a further breach occurs in the next 12 months. That's ridiculous. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted December 10 Author Share Posted December 10 The final curtain for @Yankiwi and Dog racing. If only we had trained them not to jump rails. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankiwi Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 If only GRNZ kept the dangerous 375m boxes at PN permanently redundant & replaced by the 410m boxes, even when it was inconvenient, while Wanganui was shut down for a refurb. That was reported to the minister under the Hanson report in 2020. https://www.grnz.co.nz/Files/June 2020/2020 02 21 Ministerial Quarterly Update %238 web version.pdf Instead, being short sighted they recommissioned the 375m starting position and changed the lure distance rule from 4m - 8m out to 4 - 10m, to suit the PN track with no thinking or studies on what effect the rule change would have on the other tracks. Manukau bore the worst outcomes from that idiotic decision. So, then GRNZ was going to install a safety rail in November 2023 to resolve the new issue they had created yet failed too for the second time in 9 years. It's all in writing. You just have to read it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankiwi Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 The day the decision was released, Major 2+ injuries were running at double the GRNZ KPI target for the 2024-2025 season. Current data, excluding any racing from today. Typically, the beginning of any given racing season returns fewer major injuries, with the rate increasing thru summer into autumn, then begin to drop back again as cooler, wetter weather takes over. This season was a very bad start. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted December 10 Author Share Posted December 10 Blah blah @Yankiwi You achieved what you wanted and @Seeyounexttuesdaytrainers is happy. How many of the 3,000 redundant dogs are you two taking on? BTW: Are you both vegetarian? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted December 10 Author Share Posted December 10 A new way to make a species extinct. Just talk to Winnie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the galah Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 (edited) I think its very sad news. Not only for the people and dogs involved,but also for the public who follow the sport. personally i gave up betting on the dogs when they did nothing about the live baiting.i still watch a lot of their racing and my wife always follows the good dogs,just no betting When you had so many people working for a kennel saying nothing,then what confidence can you have in the honesty of that kennel. Amd that was the kennel that produced so many of the big race winners.I know a small minority of people who worked there came forward and i feel for those type of people,with todays decision,they always put the dogs welfare first and deserved better. but once trust is gone,whether it be in the major players or in authoritites ability to properly police the rules,it had to have had a major impact on the overall industries public perception. I remember the days of going to qe2 park,many characters and the dog racing just on the other side of the fence meant it was a product that had its own uniqueness and excitemnet,. And i remember cup week racing having to include a quick dash back for the dogs on thursday night after the ashburton trots. i can remember like it was yesterday,shorty bijou getting beaten one time,he ran a huge second and the trainer led him back up the straight complaining all the way about a dog that got in shortys way through the race. so many real people and their dogs were characters. mind you,so much has changed for all racing codes since the those days. i went to addington dogs on a tuesday about 2 years ago. Not one other spactator did i see. A racebook with such small print i could not read. No tote windows open that i could see.I watched the photographer trundle out to take the photo,then trundle back into the bar area. He was a very loyal supporter obviously i thouhght,but must have been lonely apart from the woman behind the bar and the one other bar customer who didn't seem to have any interest in the dog racing .Even when i watched from the raised harness winners area next to the track,i struggled to see the dogs and i left after about 3 races as i thought,no wonder no one goes to the dog racing anymore. also,theres no athmosphere when the dog racing is inside a harness track and the dogs don't even get paraded anywhere near the public. greyhound racing had,and thats the key word,had its own uniqueness and appeal,but not anymore in the south island that i can see. i often in recent times,whats happening with the safer straight track racing,but that never seemed to happen. That about summed up the, if only thing that greyhound racing had become. But what now for its followers,it very sad, irrespective of the reasons why. Edited December 10 by the galah 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Personally do not bet on or follow the dogs but seriously to ban them is moronic. The greyhounds just love to run snd chase the fluff! It will be the extinction of the greyhound in NZ as no one will breed them for pets even though they make good pets. The pups that have just been born will never race at all and who is going to pay the costs of feed etc. I believe NSW tried to ban the dogs a few years ago but that decision was overturned. There are far more cruelty going on than greyhound racing where the dogs are not forced to chase!!! Most of us eat meat from animals that are bred to be killed which is a far more cruelty to animals than greyhound racing! Just seems overkill by Winstone and very surprising and now the Lefty Loonies will be even more crazier! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitofaLegend Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 19 minutes ago, Brodie said: Personally do not bet on or follow the dogs but seriously to ban them is moronic. The greyhounds just love to run snd chase the fluff! It will be the extinction of the greyhound in NZ as no one will breed them for pets even though they make good pets. The pups that have just been born will never race at all and who is going to pay the costs of feed etc. I believe NSW tried to ban the dogs a few years ago but that decision was overturned. There are far more cruelty going on than greyhound racing where the dogs are not forced to chase!!! Most of us eat meat from animals that are bred to be killed which is a far more cruelty to animals than greyhound racing! Just seems overkill by Winstone and very surprising and now the Lefty Loonies will be even more crazier! NSW had the support of the grassroots in the state. Unfortunatly, GRNZ has allowed larger trainers to completely kill off the grassroots in NZ. I dont expect any fairytail endings. Honestly, ive spoken to a few trainers in NSW the last weeks and it sounds like the report they are going through doesnt sound great either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taupiri Wonder Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 4 hours ago, Yankiwi said: I can remember only one firm penalty for a serious infraction being handed down over the years and that was in the Davey Boy case. Almost all cases saw a penalty minimalized. Me thinks Denis Schofield would disagree with you on that! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankiwi Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Taupiri Wonder said: Me thinks Denis Schofield would disagree with you on that! Yes, you are right. There have been a few cases where harsh judgements have been handed down not because of what had been done, but who was been charged. Then on the other hand, there have been (potential) cases where it's not what has been done, but who has done it, just like the bullring. Have you seen the most recent decision? https://racingintegrityboard.org.nz/decisions/non-raceday-inquiry-written-decision-dated-6-december-2024-lisa-cole/ Read between the lines in that masterclass of minimization & you'll see an ugly picture. Edited December 10 by Yankiwi 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitofaLegend Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, the galah said: I think its very sad news. Not only for the people and dogs involved,but also for the public who follow the sport. personally i gave up betting on the dogs when they did nothing about the live baiting.i still watch a lot of their racing and my wife always follows the good dogs,just no betting When you had so many people working for a kennel saying nothing,then what confidence can you have in the honesty of that kennel. Amd that was the kennel that produced so many of the big race winners.I know a small minority of people who worked there came forward and i feel for those type of people,with todays decision,they always put the dogs welfare first and deserved better. but once trust is gone,whether it be in the major players or in authoritites ability to properly police the rules,it had to have had a major impact on the overall industries public perception. I remember the days of going to qe2 park,many characters and the dog racing just on the other side of the fence meant it was a product that had its own uniqueness and excitemnet,. And i remember cup week racing having to include a quick dash back for the dogs on thursday night after the ashburton trots. i can remember like it was yesterday,shorty bijou getting beaten one time,he ran a huge second and the trainer led him back up the straight complaining all the way about a dog that got in shortys way through the race. so many real people and their dogs were characters. mind you,so much has changed for all racing codes since the those days. i went to addington dogs on a tuesday about 2 years ago. Not one other spactator did i see. A racebook with such small print i could not read. No tote windows open that i could see.I watched the photographer trundle out to take the photo,then trundle back into the bar area. He was a very loyal supporter obviously i thouhght,but must have been lonely apart from the woman behind the bar and the one other bar customer who didn't seem to have any interest in the dog racing .Even when i watched from the raised harness winners area next to the track,i struggled to see the dogs and i left after about 3 races as i thought,no wonder no one goes to the dog racing anymore. also,theres no athmosphere when the dog racing is inside a harness track and the dogs don't even get paraded anywhere near the public. greyhound racing had,and thats the key word,had its own uniqueness and appeal,but not anymore in the south island that i can see. i often in recent times,whats happening with the safer straight track racing,but that never seemed to happen. That about summed up the, if only thing that greyhound racing had become. But what now for its followers,it very sad, irrespective of the reasons why. It is definetly a sad day, expected but sad. I maybe critical of some in the racing industry, but as someone who grew up in the sport from birth, who has and still has family interests in the sport, its a very sad day. Some of my best momentd from my youth were at the track and will be memories I will have for the rest of my life. I just hope now that the breed in NZ does not fade away as Greyhounds make great pets aswell. Edited December 10 by BitofaLegend 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the galah Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, BitofaLegend said: NSW had the support of the grassroots in the state. Unfortunatly, GRNZ has allowed larger trainers to completely kill off the grassroots in NZ. I dont expect any fairytail endings. Honestly, ive spoken to a few trainers in NSW the last weeks and it sounds like the report they are going through doesnt sound great either. Theres a report due out this week in nsw. heres some of the evidence thats been presented at the lastest inquiry.. this was evidence given just last week. people can read it on line if they wish. to give just a very small segment...Its not fo the faint hearted.It was from the chief veterinary officer at Greyhound nsw,employed since 2023. at one point he referred to 90 dogs that had been euthanised at the 28 nsw tracks in his study period. he said in evidence.....there were dogs that had been sliced in half by a flailing wire from the lure,there were dogs that had run into poles and had their skulls crushed,there dogs with leg fractures,dogs that had there legs ripped off,dogs with torn stomachs,with twisted lungs,dogs bleeding out from ruptured blood vessels in their abdomen-they were the 10 of the 90 dogs that had been euthanised ,that he agreed with euthanisation.. However he went on to say that about 90% of the dogs who had been euthanasied at the tracks would have most likely,if pets,been taken to a high quality vet hospitals and would have been saved.He was given a budget by nsw greyhound,to set up the framework for protocol and liased with vet hospitals so that dogs could receive better care in the future. however ,given vet care is expensive and the cost for the whole recovery was on average $5,800,that was why greyhounds were being euthanised so much. he also went on to give evidence around the causes of thesignificant increasing number of injuries seen in 2023. He said he believed that a $60 travel subsidy for each starter that had been introduced in 2023 was,in his opinion,the major cause of increased injuries. The the travel subsidy had been introduced to get more starters per race and therefore give something back to participants and create greater turnover with fuller fields. what he found was with the more numbers running there was a significant increase in injury numbers ,because of course logically there were greater numbers running,but also because greyhounds who shouldn't have been racing were.. And greyhounds were being asked to race more frequently when they shouldn't have been.In fact he called it barbaric that greyhound nsw had been allowing dogs to run every 2 days... of course that happens in nz quite often i thought.well for the moment The governing nsw greyhound body came to the same conclusion and had since rescinded the travel subsidy. anyway,people should get the drift,greyhound racing in nsw has reasons to be worried as well if you read the evidence being presented at the current inquiry. i suppose,like last time,itwill come down to political support and public perception. Edited December 10 by the galah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 If as it states in the RIU report the Coles' race 4,000 per year, why are there only going to be 2,900 greyhounds needing homes? I remember as others some enjoyable times at QE11 Park watching greyhound racing. Are the injuries so many more now, or were they just not public knowledge back then? I am very disappointed in some weak politicians making these decisions. I wouldn't be making smug or snide remarks from another code. This is a sad day in New Zealand history. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, Special Agent said: If as it states in the RIU report the Coles' race 4,000 per year, why are there only going to be 2,900 greyhounds needing homes? I remember as others some enjoyable times at QE11 Park watching greyhound racing. Are the injuries so many more now, or were they just not public knowledge back then? I am very disappointed in some weak politicians making these decisions. I wouldn't be making smug or snide remarks from another code. This is a sad day in New Zealand history. QE11 was a grass track and provided a far better spectacle than what the Addington track does. There were injuries when they raced at QE11 but think it was more toes rather than leg issues? I am very surprised that Peters has canned the greyhound racing and it will be forever unless it is overturned before the 20 months is up. There has to be more to it from Winston surely as greyhound racing is not cruelty to the dogs that love to run. Contact sports like rugby and league give participants many injuries and early dementia, so surely this is cruelty to humans, so this should be shut down as well!! Edited December 10 by Brodie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitofaLegend Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 2 hours ago, Brodie said: QE11 was a grass track and provided a far better spectacle than what the Addington track does. There were injuries when they raced at QE11 but think it was more toes rather than leg issues? I am very surprised that Peters has canned the greyhound racing and it will be forever unless it is overturned before the 20 months is up. There has to be more to it from Winston surely as greyhound racing is not cruelty to the dogs that love to run. Contact sports like rugby and league give participants many injuries and early dementia, so surely this is cruelty to humans, so this should be shut down as well!! Grass tracks definetly resulted on alot of injuries. I think its fair to say that there were less injuries now then 20 yrs ago, however, i think the serious injury rate would be about the same Alot of the problems in NZ has come from poorly mamaged tracks though. I dont know why its been the case here, but the sand track surfaces have been poprly managed for a long time, same as the track infrustructure. Definetly causes alot of unecessary injuries. Especially if you look at Wanganui historically, or Auckland from feb-apr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.