In 20 months no more @Yankiwi....I mean Greyhounds are Banned!

[Overit]

7 hours ago, bamboozla said:

As a longtime owner, breeder and enthusiast this is all very sad but unfortunately entirely predictable yet it was entirely preventable. 

I will be forever thankful for the lessons learned watching dogs at QE2 after school in the 90s, developing skills that have served me well for a lifetime.  So sorry for the genuine salt of earth people this sport was built on when races were worth a few hundred dollars and dreaming of having a dog that might win 10k one day was like racing Phar Lap. May the red light flash and the bunny forever be set in motion.

I strongly agree.  I shared concerns with the board, some that are still present now  and management a few still have positions they had at the time. I, to this day, have had no correspondence or reply. It breaks my heart that they didn't care for welfare back then, and by the sounds of things, they are no better today. Its the grassroot people I feel for.

[bamboozla]

3 hours ago, BitofaLegend said:

To be fair, from my own experiences, GRNZ have always been arrogant and turn a blind eye to any real issues, even prosecuting people that raise them.

Unfortunatly, they created this enviromnent where the only way to voice any criticsm towards them has been via public forums.

Ive seen and heard alot over the years and I can tell you that GRNZ and the board have failed this industry time and time again the past 2 decades, only ever attempting to fix something once media attention has been drawn to it.

Manukau and Whanganui are great examples of this. Hatrick raceways track has been dangerous for decades, people have boycotted it, stopped racing there, complained openly about it.

I remember having a dog 4 L in front that broke a hock and the stipe on the night argued the dog got checked and wasnt the fault of the track which was ludicrous.

But they only tried to make real changes once this was public knowledge via media.

Im sad its come to this but the powers that be completely let down the honest people in the industry.

I hope the thouroughbreds, harness and even the racing industry in Aus look at the mistakes here and see where GRNZ went wrong.

 

Entirely true, the smug arrogance and dismal performance of the administration, the board and various parties holding the strings of power would be a perfect case study on how not to run any sport. Unfortunately the power and control of the sport for the last 20 years has often languished in the hands of the inept, the self-serving, the disinterested and the self-destructive. Close your eyes and there is nothing to see, close your ears and hear nothing negative. Keep getting paid and kick that can down the road until it is someone else's problem. Finally that can can't be kicked no more and the falacy of an administration is there for all to see, the price to be paid by the quiet majority while others have lined their pockets and long sailed off to greener pastures. 

[Yankiwi]

7 hours ago, Overit said:

It breaks my heart that they didn't care for welfare back then, and by the sounds of things, they are no better today. Its the grassroot people I feel for.

Many of the "grassroots people" have been forced out long before what's happened now. After I had relinquished my GRNZ license, I acted as a mouthpiece for many of them to get their opinions out, mostly on the red forum. They told me what was going on from their viewpoint & I put it to print. I gave them my word I would never reveal where the information had come to me from & stuck by that promise 100%.

 

I've used the term "It's not what's been done, but who has done it" a few times and believe wholeheartedly that is true.

Completely hypothetically, if the bullring photos had someone like Shirley Ross, Brian Goldsack or Malcolm Grant clearly evident in the images, the RIU would have been all over them at lightning speed.

But in reality, Brendon Cole was evident & the GRNZ board and the RIU never even investigated it. They buried their heads in the sand, let the SPCA do their 2+ year investigation (with the need to prove the animals were alive when put on the lure arm under crown law and prove it beyond reasonable doubt). That failed (and everyone knew it would), the statute of limitations under the GRNZ rules lapsed & magically no crime/rule breach was committed.

We even got weekly updates all along the way of the charade with Godber calling in to Peter Earley's weekly show on the radio, to continually repeat the RIU can't do a side-by-side investigation. Of course, that was all crap too, no-where was that written.

[bamboozla]

28 minutes ago, Yankiwi said:

Many of the "grassroots people" have been forced out long before what's happened now. After I had relinquished my GRNZ license, I acted as a mouthpiece for many of them to get their opinions out, mostly on the red forum. They told me what was going on from their viewpoint & I put it to print. I gave them my word I would never reveal where the information had come to me from & stuck by that promise 100%.

 

I've used the term "It's not what's been done, but who has done it" a few times and believe wholeheartedly that is true.

Completely hypothetically, if the bullring photos had someone like Shirley Ross, Brian Goldsack or Malcolm Grant clearly evident in the images, the RIU would have been all over them at lightning speed.

But in reality, Brendon Cole was evident & the GRNZ board and the RIU never even investigated it. They buried their heads in the sand, let the SPCA do their 2+ year investigation (with the need to prove the animals were alive when put on the lure arm under crown law and prove it beyond reasonable doubt). That failed (and everyone knew it would), the statute of limitations under the GRNZ rules lapsed & magically no crime/rule breach was committed.

We even got weekly updates all along the way of the charade with Godber calling in to Peter Earley's weekly show on the radio, to continually repeat the RIU can't do a side-by-side investigation. Of course, that was all crap too, no-where was that written.

The Cole situation was really the tipping point, In Victoria the GRV to their credit outed Graeme Bate in 2014 who was bigger than Ben Hur and a member of the Greyhound Hall of Fame for positive swabs. In NSW they took a very hard line after greyhound racing got an 11th hour reprieve with many big names banned, yet perversely in NZ there was a complete nonchalance about these same issues. I remember visiting for cup week and all the talk was about 'dodgy aussie bastards' and not 'shit we better make sure we up our game'. The board became infected with kennel stooges from all the main players to keep the status quo going and Rendle as thief in chief. Cole gets off what should have been a slam dunk case and then it seemed like all pretence to running a clean sport was done. Just cheat, lie and steal as long as you can seemed to be the motto. 

[the galah]

On 10/12/2024 at 10:01 PM, the galah said:

Theres a report due out this week in nsw.

 

i see that commision of inquiry won't report back to the nsw gevernment until 20 april 2025 due to the scale of the evidence being presented.

but it doesn't sound good for nsw greyhound racing going by some of the evidence presented so far.Or the media coverage.

counsel assisting the commissioner earlier described the "unfortunate regular cycle of outcry,review and attempted reform,but true or complete success of reforms has always proved evasive".

of the 26 tracks currently in operation,not a single one meets, or has ever met,all the minimum standards set by greyhound nsw for animal welfare concerns.

NSW 's chief greyhound chief executive resigned in august after the report of the former chief veterinary officer for greyhound nsw was made public ,that alleged deaths being hidden,adoption rates exaggerated and dogs being pushed to race causing injuries.

I gave small exerts of his evidence in an earlier post.

all sounds familiar to here.

about 2000 people in nsw are employed in the greyhound industry.

So doesn't sound good for them either.Maybe their end may be when wentworth park lease expires in september 2027.

Edited December 12 by the galah

[BitofaLegend]

2 hours ago, Yankiwi said:

Many of the "grassroots people" have been forced out long before what's happened now. After I had relinquished my GRNZ license, I acted as a mouthpiece for many of them to get their opinions out, mostly on the red forum. They told me what was going on from their viewpoint & I put it to print. I gave them my word I would never reveal where the information had come to me from & stuck by that promise 100%.

 

I've used the term "It's not what's been done, but who has done it" a few times and believe wholeheartedly that is true.

Completely hypothetically, if the bullring photos had someone like Shirley Ross, Brian Goldsack or Malcolm Grant clearly evident in the images, the RIU would have been all over them at lightning speed.

But in reality, Brendon Cole was evident & the GRNZ board and the RIU never even investigated it. They buried their heads in the sand, let the SPCA do their 2+ year investigation (with the need to prove the animals were alive when put on the lure arm under crown law and prove it beyond reasonable doubt). That failed (and everyone knew it would), the statute of limitations under the GRNZ rules lapsed & magically no crime/rule breach was committed.

We even got weekly updates all along the way of the charade with Godber calling in to Peter Earley's weekly show on the radio, to continually repeat the RIU can't do a side-by-side investigation. Of course, that was all crap too, no-where was that written.

Signs have always been there. Who can forget, i think it was 2008 and the playing of possum sounds from mobile phones during stirup.

Edited December 12 by BitofaLegend

[Yankiwi]

13 hours ago, bamboozla said:

Just cheat, lie and steal as long as you can seemed to be the motto. 

What's been done by participants has been done.

Turning a blind eye to it and/or minimizing a penalty handed down when guilt is proven on the serious infractions is the biggest issue.

Once I had finally realized that my attention went fully towards GRNZ/RIU/RIB.

They didn't want to clean it up, so now they get to wind it down. That simple.

[aquaman]

12 hours ago, BitofaLegend said:

Signs have always been there. Who can forget, i think it was 2008 and the playing of possum sounds from mobile phones during stirup.

Black Anibus comes to mind. Brought to NZ for Silver Collar. Trained up with live kill death sounds matching phone sounds. Ring phone when behind boxes.

[Chief Stipe]

Disappointing to see the post mortems.  I believe if some of you had put as much energy into doing things for positive change rather than bitching constantly about shyte then maybe dog racing would have survived.

That's not to say you can't turn it around as there is a glimmer of hope.

Rennell was the wrong choice.  As was the one before.

[That Girl]

43 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Disappointing to see the post mortems.  I believe if some of you had put as much energy into doing things for positive change rather than bitching constantly about shyte then maybe dog racing would have survived.

That's not to say you can't turn it around as there is a glimmer of hope.

Rennell was the wrong choice.  As was the one before.

Rendle was the wrong choice.

[bamboozla]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Disappointing to see the post mortems.  I believe if some of you had put as much energy into doing things for positive change rather than bitching constantly about shyte then maybe dog racing would have survived.

That's not to say you can't turn it around as there is a glimmer of hope.

Rennell was the wrong choice.  As was the one before.

Been no lack of effort over the years, blocked at every turn. Sure I am not alone in that regard, can't just keep investing time and effort in an outcome that the administration doesn't want to see. 

[Special Agent]

A few observations:-

- If greyhound administrators are anything like their thoroughbred counterparts anyone with complaints, solutions or ideas might as well spend their time and effort elsewhere because they will not be listened to.

- The administrators will just move on and into other jobs.

- You may be right with your glimmer of hope as a) Winnie wasn't exactly sounding confident that he was totally onboard with the decision he was reading and b) if anyone thinks such a high number of dogs can be rehomed in such a short space of time they are completely mental.

- With no income from greyhound racing how does anyone think the rehoming places will be funded?  The official rehoming places should be closed immediately.  There will be many far better credentialed ex-licence holders with facilities to look after greyhounds.

- Not much consultation happened.  There was no consideration given to the investment into the Wanganui straight track.  How was that funded, as a matter of interest?  Somewhere I read where the future of greyhound racing was going to be straight tracks.

- It looks as though improvements across the board have been achieved but, still not good enough.  The entire industry should not be judged on a few participants. If improvements were not going to be enough why did they even bother "putting greyhound racing on notice"?  Dragging it out with false promises has been worse than had they just shut up shop earlier.

- Forget about getting the SPCA involved.  This organisation is run by a lot of volunteers and a lot of do-gooders whom cannot rehome the dogs they have.  They must kill more dogs than the greyhound fraternity do.

- Not all people wanting pets can give greyhounds a suitable home.  Not being able to shoot unsuitable dogs is dumb.

[Special Agent]

I think people in charge are barking up the wrong tree if they assume greyhound punters are going to become horse punters (and owners).

Government seem to think greyhound punters are problem gamblers.  Maybe they are but, as Dean from Entain remarked way back at the beginning, the appeal of the dogs is the quick fire nature of the sport.

I would have thought pokie and casino type punting is more their go.  It seems funny Entain is taking this so quietly when you look at the total revenue that potentially could be lost to racing altogether.

[Yankiwi]

If GRNZ wants any chance on saving the industry, they'd better front foot on everything they've failed on in the last several years with urgency.

They have improved overall on the welfare front somewhat, but most of those improvements were either the easy ones to improve or the those which were "guaranteed to be successful" merely by spending money on it.

Fixing up a broken dog by paying a vet to do it is an easy fix, to say less dogs are being put down. That's not putting welfare at the forefront of everything you do. It's spending money to say you're doing better.

 

[Yankiwi]

GRNZ needs to change, seriously.

They think they've changed & they have somewhat, but this week has shown what they were doing doesn't work.

Here's a couple of recent examples for your viewing pleasure.

 

First - Do not ever say shit like this out loud.

GRNZ therefore rejects the SPCA’s offer to assist the industry to rehome our greyhounds in the event of industry closure.

 

 

Second - Do not change the method that you report to the minister, trying to lessen the blow from bad injury rate data.

 

July 2024 (season end) report - no footnotes trying to hide real injury data.

 

 

Then in the Oct quarterly report, suddenly try to hide 3 additional Major 2+ injuries hidden any in the foot notes.

 

1st quarter data was horrific with or without those 3 dogs. Trying to tuck them away served no good purpose & only raises suspicion, which GRNZ has a long history of doing.

Turning back the clock to doing it the old way has done no favours & likely aided the Govt in coming to the decision that blindsided you.

Get that thru your thick heads!

Edited December 13 by Yankiwi

[the galah]

1 hour ago, Special Agent said:

 

- The entire industry should not be judged on a few participants. 

but in reality it is.

At least thats how i see the greyhound industry.

In my eyes its become a factory type production driven by the big players who consistently line up between 50-75% of the starters at many meetings each week. Many with the same owners who own huge numbers.

The industry is judged by what their high achievers do and they are judged by the lengths they have gone to achive that success.

how can they not be.

thats my opinion and i used to follow the greyhounds very closely.

Putting the coles indiscretions to one side.Take the mcinerny kennels. Lets put their indescretions to one side as well because,while several hadn't quite reached the scale of the coles.

How many dogs did they line up at invercargill then travel back to addington and race 2 days later in the last week and a half..Many starting 4 times in the space of 10 days. I posted earlier the former  chief vet at greyhound nsw described that practice as barbaric when giving evidence last week and he gave the reasons why he thought that.

i started a thread 4 years ago about how inconsistent canterbury trainers dogs were and in particular the mcinerny kennel.I also started another thread ,last year,i think it was, about how even the commentator said words to the effect that he found it almost impossible to follow that kennels form. I mean just think about the reasons why that is the case.

1 hour ago, Special Agent said:

 

Government seem to think greyhound punters are problem gamblers.  Maybe they are but, as Dean from Entain remarked way back at the beginning, the appeal of the dogs is the quick fire nature of the sport.

I would have thought pokie and casino type punting is more their go.  It seems funny Entain is taking this so quietly when you look at the total revenue that potentially could be lost to racing altogether.

problem gamblers are people who bet on anything on the screen. And greyhounds are on the screnn in front of them a lot.The fact that there may be more greyhound racing than horse racing,simply because they get through their races quicker,isn't greyhounds fault. Having no nz greyhounds won't solve the problem gambling issue in any way. 

entain i believe will just pay lip service to the announced closure,to facilitate the outcome best for them in the future. In reality i think entain couldn't care less about the nz greyhound industry. They may care more if the likes of australian states start to domino in the next 10 years,but entain are only interested in one thing. Their bottom line. Having said that,i do think dean shannon does have an interest in seeing harness racing continue in nz as hes got a lot of his own money invested in it. 

But Entain already provides  so much product to bet on with so little interest to new zealanders,they will just put something else in its place.

Edited December 13 by the galah

[BitofaLegend]

5 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Disappointing to see the post mortems.  I believe if some of you had put as much energy into doing things for positive change rather than bitching constantly about shyte then maybe dog racing would have survived.

That's not to say you can't turn it around as there is a glimmer of hope.

Rennell was the wrong choice.  As was the one before.

I think there would have been hope if many of these reforms started a decade ago when they should have been implemented.

Even now, its more then a few bad eggs that have ruined it for everyone in the industry. How they allow trainers to continue to breed 100s of dogs is ludicrous. How can a trainer be responsible for 200+ dogs?

To be honest, i have 0 doubts people would still be doing other things aswell, just alot more undercover then now.

 

 

[BitofaLegend]

3 hours ago, Special Agent said:

A few observations:-

- If greyhound administrators are anything like their thoroughbred counterparts anyone with complaints, solutions or ideas might as well spend their time and effort elsewhere because they will not be listened to.

- The administrators will just move on and into other jobs.

- You may be right with your glimmer of hope as a) Winnie wasn't exactly sounding confident that he was totally onboard with the decision he was reading and b) if anyone thinks such a high number of dogs can be rehomed in such a short space of time they are completely mental.

- With no income from greyhound racing how does anyone think the rehoming places will be funded?  The official rehoming places should be closed immediately.  There will be many far better credentialed ex-licence holders with facilities to look after greyhounds.

- Not much consultation happened.  There was no consideration given to the investment into the Wanganui straight track.  How was that funded, as a matter of interest?  Somewhere I read where the future of greyhound racing was going to be straight tracks.

- It looks as though improvements across the board have been achieved but, still not good enough.  The entire industry should not be judged on a few participants. If improvements were not going to be enough why did they even bother "putting greyhound racing on notice"?  Dragging it out with false promises has been worse than had they just shut up shop earlier.

- Forget about getting the SPCA involved.  This organisation is run by a lot of volunteers and a lot of do-gooders whom cannot rehome the dogs they have.  They must kill more dogs than the greyhound fraternity do.

- Not all people wanting pets can give greyhounds a suitable home.  Not being able to shoot unsuitable dogs is dumb.

Some of your points sure. No way would the spca be able to rehome 3000 dogs give or take a few 100. I woupdnt trust them with my dogs in a 1000000 yrs. More likely to be put down under there care then to be injured on a race track.

It would be great to see them overturn this and maybe push for real change. But i am not sure they will. Outside of the racing industry, i havent seen much support for greyhounds. 

This was even brought up today in my workplace as a positive thing which says it all.

[bamboozla]

The only credible option is to admit the failings (warts and all) from the actions of participants right through to those of the Board and CEO's over the past 20 years and pledge to rid the industry entirely of those elements and reset the governance. That would take a number of people having to fall on their swords and admit they were either inept or complicit to those failings. Admit you got it wrong, identify the real reasons why and hope against hope that with an entirely clean sheet and regimented operating framework that the public would be willing to give you a window to prove yourself before the curtain does fall. 

If the same bad actors still present are allowed to operate in any capacity there is absolutely no hope. There has been some progress, the problem is that that progress has been weighed down badly by the dead weight dragging the sport into oblivion.   

[Yankiwi]

1 hour ago, bamboozla said:

The only credible option is to admit the failings (warts and all) from the actions of participants right through to those of the Board and CEO's over the past 20 years and pledge to rid the industry entirely of those elements and reset the governance.

Exactly right.

How could having a 3rd rate Track & Infrastructure Manager and a Welfare Manager both located in Australia go wrong?

Greg Kerr left GRNZ as welfare manager, then went overseas & took up a position as General Manager of GRV. I've been told that once he got in over there, he cleaned house & got rid of all the deadweight.

Nothing has improved since Rennell has become CEO, so why not send him packing & bring Kerr back (if he's willing) and let him get stuck in to cleaning out the dead weight in headquarters?

What he might be able to get done is unknown given the short amount of time left, but at least it will be something different than GRNZ repeating the same sort of thing over & over.

 

 

We've done so much & it's not fair that you can't see all that we've done...

No one has pity for you GRNZ. You've done it to yourself.

Major change is needed & it's needed quick. Don't miss your last chance opportunity.

Edited December 13 by Yankiwi

[BitofaLegend]

Well Ive heard today that there is something going on behind the scenes to fight this. It will be an interesting watch. Ideally, i hope they give greyhound racing more time.

As an asside, i see plenty of false narratives online now which seem ridiculous to me. Its sad that people seem to make up lies to justify some things. There is alot wrong with the industry but alot right too.

[the galah]

19 hours ago, Yankiwi said:

Exactly right.

How could having a 3rd rate Track & Infrastructure Manager and a Welfare Manager both located in Australia go wrong?

Greg Kerr left GRNZ as welfare manager, then went overseas & took up a position as General Manager of GRV. I've been told that once he got in over there, he cleaned house & got rid of all the deadweight.

Nothing has improved since Rennell has become CEO, so why not send him packing & bring Kerr back (if he's willing) and let him get stuck in to cleaning out the dead weight in headquarters?

What he might be able to get done is unknown given the short amount of time left, but at least it will be something different than GRNZ repeating the same sort of thing over & over.

 

 

We've done so much & it's not fair that you can't see all that we've done...

No one has pity for you GRNZ. You've done it to yourself.

Major change is needed & it's needed quick. Don't miss your last chance opportunity.

I'm just an outsider looking in,but i thought its obvious current greyhound administrators are not to blame for the industries impending fate.

they were dealt cards that they couldn't win with,no matter how they stacked them.

simply,the industry, since 1981,when it had its first tab meeting,had evolved to become an industry that financially rewarded the factory type large scale breeders,large scale trainers,large scale owners.

so thats what you got.

with that you got an increased number of meetings,increased numbers racing and with that obviously went increased numbers being injured followed by large scale population management problems.

so the industry evolved into something which inevitably lead to the perpetuation and increase in scale of all its issues.like a runaway train.

one trainer in the 2021,2022 seasons reportedly euthanised 174 dogs. He may well have been accurately reporting their numbers,but were they. And what about the others large scale operators,were they being accurate,as others must have had the same rehoming issues. And thats without going into injuries.The same year newshub reported mr mcinerney dropped off 11 greyhounds at a rehoming kennel,with 8 reported having substanial injuries,which he denied they had at the time.

so the industry had become set up to reward the large scale operators,the very ones who,given their scale  couldn't possibly handle the poplutaion management once dogs had finished either because they weren't good enough,had been injured or had retired.

should people have seen the greyhound industry evoleving in a way that would lead to their demise,of course,some obviously did,but to me its too late now to change.sa.

how can greyhound have a future beyond 2 years,as the reasons for their closure will still be there in 2 years.

Edited December 14 by the galah

[BitofaLegend]

27 minutes ago, the galah said:

I'm just an outsider looking in,but i thought its obvious current greyhound administrators are not to blame for the industries impending fate.

they were dealt cards that they couldn't win with,no matter how they stacked them.

simply,the industry, since 1981,when it had its first tab meeting,had evolved to become an industry that financially rewarded the factory type large scale breeders,large scale trainers,large scale owners.

so thats what you got.

with that you got an increased number of meetings,increased numbers racing and with that obviously went increased numbers being injured followed by large scale population management problems.

so the industry evolved into something which inevitably lead to the perpetuation and increase in scale of all its issues.like a runaway train.

one trainer in the 2021,2022 seasons reportedly euthanised 174 dogs. He may well have been accurately reporting their numbers,but were they. And what about the others large scale operators,were they being accurate,as others must have had the same rehoming issues. And thats without going into injuries.The same year newshub reported mr mcinerney dropped off 11 greyhounds at a rehoming kennel,with 8 reported having substanial injuries,which he denied they had at the time.

so the industry had become set up to reward the large scale operators,the very ones who,given their scale  couldn't possibly handle the poplutaion management once dogs had finished either because they weren't good enough,had been injured or had retired.

should people have seen the greyhound industry evoleving in a way that would lead to their demise,of course,some obviously did,but to me its too late now to change.sa.

how can greyhound have a future beyond 2 years,as the reasons for their closure will still be there in 2 years.

Many of the current people in the administration have been there for a long time. Not all of then sure, but alot have

[bamboozla]

10 minutes ago, the galah said:

I'm just an outsider looking in,but i thought its obvious current greyhound administrators are not to blame for the industries impending fate.

they were dealt cards that they couldn't win with,no matter how they stacked them.

simply,the industry, since 1981,when it had its first tab meeting,had evolved to become an industry that financially rewarded the factory type large scale breeders,large scale trainers,large scale owners.

so thats what you got.

with that you got an increased number of meetings,increased numbers racing and with that obviously went increased numbers being injured followed by large scale population management problems.

so the industry evolved into something which inevitably lead to the perpetuation and increase in scale of all its issues.like a runaway train.

one trainer in the 2021,2022 seasons reportedly euthanised 174 dogs. He may well have been accurately reporting their numbers,but were they. And what about the others large scale operators,were they being accurate,as others must have had the same rehoming issues. And thats without going into injuries.The same year newshub reported mr mcinerney dropped off 11 greyhounds at a rehoming kennel,with 8 reported having substanial injuries,which he denied they had at the time.

so the industry had become set up to reward the large scale operators,the very ones who,given their scale  couldn't possibly handle the poplutaion management once dogs had finished either because they weren't good enough,had been injured or had retired.

should people have seen the greyhound industry evoleving in a way that would lead to their demise,of course,some obviously did,but to me its too late now to change.sa.

how can greyhound have a future beyond 2 years,as the reasons for their closure will still be there in 2 years.

Spot on, factory farming dogs was a model that should never have been encouraged, permitted or allowed. No such operation exists in Australia, the closest thing to it is probably the Wheeler operation but they don't train and spread dogs out across a number oftrainers. Farmers love their animals but in reality they are a commodity, be it sheep, cattle or dogs. The small trainers while not being as professional in their methods or having the facilites only trained and bred the number of dogs they could handle and could home or keep as pets themselves. To the factory farmers and their owners they were a balance sheet liability at day 1 of retirement and dealt with accordingly. Becuase they were enabled to do that it forced the hand of other participants who needed to compete to stay above water and a race to the bottom was swiftly enacted, periodically interepted by bouts of accountability forced upon them by the various reviews and negative publicity.  The small trainers were inevitably forced out leaving the farmers to mass produce dogs, fill an ever larger racing calender and push those dogs to breaking point. Dogs racing 3-4 times a week in numerous instances, dogs racing at 13 months old and thrashed until they broke then disappeared with seemingly little accountability. Stewards not even bothering to do their jobs, a board stinking of self entitlement and a head office all seemingly happy to let it happen. 

The fact that the previous administraitions let that happen is terrible, but I am guessing no one is going to put their hand up and say they got that wrong. Ditto the farmers still feeding off the beast they created. 

I have no doubt if trainers were limited to say 30 dogs max and strict racing protocols around dog management had been implemented a decade ago the industry would be thriving. 

[Yankiwi]

1 hour ago, BitofaLegend said:

Well Ive heard today that there is something going on behind the scenes to fight this. It will be an interesting watch. Ideally, i hope they give greyhound racing more time.

I've heard a little something is in the works too.