On the back of the NSW government’s decision to pull the pin on greyhound racing, the 63-year-old from Barrack Heights is worried about what to do with them. 

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll survive,” Mr Crouch said in a sombre tone, his voice quivering under the weight of uncertainty. 

To say the industry veteran of about 40 years is distraught by Premier Mike Baird’s move to ban greyhound racing from July next year is an understatement. 

Mr Crouch invited the Mercury to his home on Monday, offering an insight into how he and his wife care for their dogs.

The couple wanted people to see the “innocent are being punished for the guilty” by the government’s plan to end the sport that means so much to them.

They say those doing the right thing shouldn’t have to suffer as a result of the actions of a few. 

“To us, my wife and myself, the greyhound’s first as a pet, second as a greyhound and we just love the dogs,” he said, choking back tears.        

“We do it because we love the sport; we don’t care if they win, lose or come last.”

The industry’s knockout blow came after a Special Commission of Inquiry found “overwhelming evidence” of systemic animal cruelty, including mass greyhound killings and live baiting. 

Those actions were aired on the ABC’s Four Corners program and Mr Crouch was left distraught by what he saw. 

“They should be punished, to me I feel sick in the stomach to look at it and I’m a greyhound person,” he said.

“I’ve been 40 years [in the industry] and I’ve never heard of using a pig or anything like that, never.”

Mr Crouch called for life bans, bigger fines and even jail terms for those in the wrong. “We don’t want these people in our industry, because they’re not for the industry, they’re for themselves,” he said. 

“We’re not in it for the money, we’re in it for the love of the sport.” 

Fellow Dapto Dogs’ member Darcy Martin, from Primbee, was also left reeling by the decision to can the sport. 

“It was a shock [for the government] to say they stopped greyhound racing. We knew we had problems there but … the greyhound authorities were starting to get things under control,” Mr Martin, 78, said. 

“They [the government] stepped in without any feelings towards other people.” 

Mr Martin has been training greyhounds for more than half a century and said he has “never had a black mark against me”.

“There’s good and bad everywhere,” he said. 

“This is very devastating to me, to think that I’ve had 50 real good years of enjoyment out of it and for Mr Baird to come up one night and just say ‘hey, we’re going knock you off in the next 12 months’.”

A detailed greyhound industry shutdown plan is expected during the second half of this year, following consultation with stakeholders in industry and animal welfare organisations.

Related stories