IT IS the most politically charged issue in Australian sporting history.
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Dapto, Bulli and Nowra all to be wiped off the greyhound racing map.
The damning report into live baiting and greyhound slaughter has resulted in NSW Premier Mike Baird pulling the trigger on the entire industry.
Certainly until opposition leader Luke Foley voiced concerns over “rushing” the decision and the jobs lost as a result, greyhound racing was politically legless.
The conservative side of politics has vowed to shut down the sport by July next year, while the Greens have backed the move in the interests of animal welfare.
The findings in the report are shocking and indefensible. The question is whether there was any hope of meaningful structural reform into breeding, training and racing?
Group 1-winning owner and former Greyhound Racing NSW board member Peter Davis, the regional racing editor for Fairfax, which publishes the Mercury, said changes had already been made.
“Breeding numbers in 2015-16 have halved by means of proper regulation and insight. Change is tangible,” he wrote.
The Baird announcement is politically convenient, as was the decision to introduce lock-outs in the Sydney CBD rather than implement significant cultural reform.
So too was the timing, coming days after, rather than during, a federal election which offered little more than three word slogans and scare campaigns by way of interest to the public.
The RSPCA and the Greens welcomed the decision, after Baird made the announcement on Thursday.
“The report states what many of us already knew; there was no way greyhound racing can operate without the extreme animal cruelty that the special commission report has shown,” Greens upper house NSW MP and spokesperson for animal welfare, Dr Mehreen Faruqi said. “Our focus must now be on the welfare of the animals in the industry to ensure that they are rehomed and given appropriate support.”
So where to now then?
There may be legal challenges and political battles to come.
But if the industry is expected to close for the final time on June 30 next year, what happens to the greyhounds who can no longer race in the state, or the people working in the industry?
“If greyhound racing is to cease, delaying the date of closure until June 30, 2021 would allow time all for breeding to cease and young pups would not be seen as collateral damage,” Davis said.
“Will the Baird household take on a retired greyhound?
“Surely if Mike Baird has a scintilla of compassion for the animals involved, he would ease into the closure date, therefore assuring a softer landing for all.
“The outcome will be the same but thousands of dogs’ lives will be spared. Time will allow for greater adoption opportunities and participants can exit with dignity.”
While the investigation had been ongoing since ABC’S Four Corners program revealed the baiting scandal, this week’s announcement of impending closure came as a shock to the industry.
If it is to go ahead, exit strategies must be mapped out for greyhound welfare, to the livelihoods of those industry who behaved ethically and how the clubs themselves are shut down and sold. There is too much at stake for it simply to be a quick political fix.
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