Corners cut in rehoming dogs
Racing greyhounds are being offered for rehoming on the internet fresh from the racetrack in breach of industry guidelines, Animal Liberation Tasmania says.
The group said a member of the public answered a Gumtree advertisement offering a greyhound for free by an owner, before being passed on to a leading trainer.
It was one of a number of instances of a greyhound being offered in breach of the rules, including animals not desexed or without vet checks.
“There is no reason why a trainer, owner or breeder should be able to offload dogs on Gumtree without the requisite wind-down period and medical work,” spokeswoman Kristy Alger said. “The onus has to be on the industry participants to do the right thing (if) they want the industry to survive.”
Animal Liberation Tasmania confirmed that two dogs the members of the public took into care were safe and would receive all necessary veterinary work.
“From conversations, it appears that greyhounds are being given away for free via private methods including Gumtree as trainers and owners are unable to access the Greyhound Adoption Program due to excessive wait times,” Ms Alger said.
She noted the industry’s reputation had taken a hit in repeated scandals. “How many more bad apples can one crate hold without the entire rest of the crate being rotten? It’s as simple as that,” she said.
Parliament last year heard multiple allegations of cruelty in the greyhound industry, including claims of live baiting.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said it was another in a series of failures in the industry.
“Once again we’ve got animal activists who have done the work that the government should have done,” she said
“It is terrible to hear the story of two dogs, gentle greyhounds, who have been so badly abused.
“They haven’t been looked after clearly and that the trainers who handed them over to members of the public hadn’t done the vet work on them, hadn’t cared for them, and most importantly had broken the law. They know that nothing will happen, there will be no enforcement of the law.”
A Tasracing spokesman said the Greyhound Adoption Program was tasked with responsibly rehoming greyhounds once their racing career had concluded.
“Under the Rules of Racing, greyhounds cannot be retired from the industry until they have been desexed,” he said. “If that has not occurred, the matter needs to be referred to the Office of Racing Integrity for investigation.”
Tasracing provides financial support for all retiring greyhounds to be desexed.