Why greyhound racing doesn't deserve another chance in NSW

Yet to our shame, greyhounds continue to suffer terribly across NSW at the hands of an industry built on the twin pillars of cruelty and greed.

Greyhounds are regarded as mere gambling products and brutally exploited to generate profits for betting firms.

Greyhound racing was given a second chance after the live baiting expose of 2015 and the Baird government's failure to ban it.

But instead of true reform, it's now obvious that the industry - and its supportive politicians - focused on aggressively building an image of reform, promoting fake improvements designed to mislead the public.

For example, seven years after the government announced a $30 million track safety upgrade program, the industry regulator, in its latest injury report, noted total injuries "continue to grow for the highest rate on record". Last year, a new, "safe" double-arm lure saw two dogs killed when first used at Dapto.

And all this while the industry merrily uses taxpayer money to further its goals.

Over the past few weeks this image has been shattered by a series of shocking revelations that showed greyhounds continue to die and be abused and allegations that misinformation and misreporting is rife.

Whistleblowers documented appalling conditions at the Greyhounds As Pets facility at Wyee, and questionable operation of the "Aussie Mates in the States" export program to the US.

Their claims were echoed by an explosive report from the former chief vet of Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW), Alex Brittan. He described the treatment of racing greyhounds as "barbaric" and said deaths were being hidden from the public.

Despite millions of taxpayer dollars being thrown at racetracks to make them "safe", Brittan noted the industry had seen the greatest increase in the rate of race injuries in NSW history.

He also had much to say about the GRNSW rehoming program, the centrepiece of CEO Robert Macaulay. Despite a huge PR campaign, Brittan said the program had failed, with GRNSW's target of 2800 rehomed dogs in 2023 impossible to meet, with dogs trapped in cages in an "unsolvable problem".

"Until the existing backlog of un-rehomed greyhounds is acknowledged and addressed, it is utterly immoral to allow yet more greyhounds to enter this unsustainable morass of exploitation and suffering," he wrote in a document tabled in NSW parliament.

We've long known that the industry has a huge oversupply problem as they keep breeding too many dogs to find the next winner. Ignoring calls for a breeding limit, they're breeding greyhounds at an unsustainable rate that inevitably ends in "wastage".

In a further telling comment, Brittan said that GRNSW's attitude to animal welfare concerns was reprehensible.

In a desperate attempt to fight back, GRNSW and Macaulay launched full page ads in the media boasting about the "best year ever". Days later Macaulay resigned as the house of cards crumbled around him. The GRNSW board is on borrowed time.

Reflecting the lack of transparency that marks greyhound racing, the regulator Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission attempted to conceal the Brittan report after it was tabled in NSW Parliament.

NSW was once seen as the "gold standard" in regulation of the greyhound racing industry, supposedly boasting the highest animal welfare standards.

It's clear that this image has been a facade that hid horrendous levels of animal abuse.

Greyhound racing has shown it is incapable of reform and can never be trusted. For the sake of the greyhounds that continue to suffer every day, it doesn't deserve another chance.