Greyhound Racing

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing is one of the many cruel activities associated with the gambling industry in Australia. Greyhounds are bred every year for the racing industry, yet only a few of the estimated 20,000 bred animals have the capacities and speed to become racing dogs. Thousands of healthy greyhound dogs are killed without making it to the race track. The greyhounds who do make it are put under extreme training regimes causing a range of injuries. Common injuries are broken legs, paralysis, head trauma, and cardiac arrest due to the intensity of racing. A greyhound racing dog’s life on the track usually ends at around 3-4 years and the majority of these dogs are then killed.

The ACT has its own greyhound racing track in Symonston. The race track holds almost 500 races each year. In the ACT greyhounds are required to be muzzled in public unless they have completed a behaviour or socialisation course (s48, Domestic Animals Act 2000 (ACT)). The first training course to provide muzzle exemption for greyhounds in the ACT commenced in January 2012.

Other states and territories have similar muzzling requirements (eg NSW and Queensland). Requiring greyhounds to be muzzled in public helps perpetuate the misconception that they are dangerous, predatory dogs. In fact they are known to be quiet, easy-going, and placid ‘couch potatoes’ (see www.friendsofthehound.org.au/index.htm).

For more information about the cruelty involved in the greyhound racing industry, please see www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/greyhound-racing.php and https://coalitionprotectgreyhounds.wordpress.com/.

If you would like to see greyhound racing in the ACT banned, download our petition, gather signatures, then return the signed pages to Animal Liberation ACT. We will present them to the relevant ACT Minister.