Greyhounds….

still running for their lives

Click to proceed…..

Around 20,000 greyhounds are bred for racing in Australia every year.

Overbreeding = MASS WASTAGE

For Greyhounds, it literally is the QUICK, or the DEAD!

Thousands upon thousands of dogs are killed each year when no longer required by the racing industry.

Greyhounds are NOT just race dogs.They make great pets.

It is astonishing that the mass exploitation of a breed of one of the world’s most favoured species of companion animal is accepted and condoned in our modern society – in the name of entertainment and sport , and incredibly, for gambling.

PETS, NOT BETS!

Thousands upon thousands of healthy, young Greyhounds are destroyed each year when no longer required by this racing and betting industry.There are even vet clinics catering to this dog-killing industry that offer cheap euthanasia rates especially for Greyhounds. But many meet a sorrier end.Thousands are sent to universities and science labs every year – their over-abundance and favourable anatomy making them an ideal choice for veterinary science study and training.Hundreds are also sent to China – to a country with no animal welfare laws and documented atrocities.

WHY?

Are Australians conditioned into a quiet acceptance of a betting industry that exploits and destroys multitudes of animals? Australia is a betting nation. Apparently Aussies are the biggest gamblers in the world - losing more money per capita than any other country. Embarrassingly, having a punt on the dogs or horses seems so embedded in Australian culture that the destruction of masses of animals goes unchecked.

The handful of greyhound rescue groups around the country cannot possibly cope with the enormous volume of dogs being routinely discarded – nor the inevitable clash with an industry and government that defend the purported economic and social benefits of dog racing and betting.

Humans have long given themselves rights and privileges over other species.

Dog racing has been an iconic Aussie pastime since the 1920’s. However, there is a slowly increasing disregard for it. Dogs being injured and killed for entertainment and gambling is becoming much more difficult to justify. Dog racing is losing favour around the world,… illegal in South Africa, declining in the UK, and Grey2K USA says there are now only 22 operational tracks in 7 states of the USA.

These are DOGS – not racing machines. Friendly, gentle, affectionate and placid dogs that make great pets for people of all ages – including young children and the elderly. Greyhounds make fantastic pets-as-therapy dogs and are becoming popular as resident pets in nursing homes.

Decades of racing promotion, seeing them muzzled, and regarding greyhounds as those fast dogs that chase things has produced a stigma about the breed.

Unfortunately there are still many Australians that mistakenly view the Greyhound as just a “racing dog”. Sadly this ignorance extends to management and staff at pounds and shelters around the country where many gorgeous greyhounds, discarded by the racing industry, find themselves incarcerated and inevitably destroyed.

Many quiet, sociable, predominantly lazy, easy-care dogs, well suited to indoor life with busy families in high-density suburban areas, are overlooked or disregarded for adoption opportunities due to a lack of familiarity, or understanding, and due to the absence of promotion and recommendation.

The dog racing industry seems to view these dogs only in terms of commercial gain, glossing over the appallingly negative consequences for the masses of dogs used then discarded, and delivering effective marketing and promotional campaigns and clever “spin” to glamorise the code and deflect welfare concerns. It is a breeding lottery for the fastest runner, with very little accountability, transparency or responsibility. Despite their claims of welfare initiatives to reduce breeding rates, address wastage, and improve conditions for the dogs, it seems that these activities, and even the industry-associated adoption programs and limited state government muzzling exemptions and testing protocols, are only token gestures aimed at protecting the industry – not the dogs.

Industry participants have denounced the ‘book-maker’s tracks’ which are built with an early turn - soon after the dogs leap from their starting boxes - which causes them to bunch up and often collide and fall, resulting in injuries or even death. Apparently it makes great televised racing. #!??!

It is estimated that an injury to a Greyhound occurs at least once in every race.

80 years on and Greyhounds are still running for their lives.

The negative consequences for these beautiful dogs continues. This dog-killing industry continues to thrive in our communities. These are friendly, gentle placid dogs that thrive on human companionship whose natural speed and ability has made them a victim of exploitation and greed – and they need YOUR HELP!