Greyhound exports under spotlight in ABC’s 7.30 report
GREYHOUND Racing has once again come under fire by the ABC and Animals Australia after an apparent six month investigation into the alleged exportation of greyhounds into Asia.
Lyn White from Animals Australia declared “the sins of this industry have piled up” after the report, televised on Wednesday December 9, exposed the poor conditions faced by greyhounds at race venues in Macau, Vietnam and Shang Hai Zoo as well as other illegal and illicit gambling rings and racetracks across the continent.
The report focused its initial attention on the apparent network of traders, who are breaching racing rules in Australia by sending greyhounds overseas without receiving a Greyhounds Australasia passport.
Reporter Caro Meldrum-Hannah, who also led the ABC's Four Corners investigation into live baiting, stated that “four trainers had been identified” in the practice, but interestingly only one party was named, with Steven and Mark Farrugia of the Glengarrie Racetrack alleged to have been exporting greyhounds without the required Greyhounds Australasia Passports as recently as two weeks ago.
The program aired following the announcement that Greyhound Racing New South Wales (GRNSW) had commenced an inquiry into the exportation of greyhounds following a three month investigation by the controlling body, with a number of participants expected to be called to attend hearings in the near future.
Currently, any person found to have exported a greyhound to an international jurisdiction (excluding New Zealand) without having satisfied the requirements of the rules, risk serious penalties including fines and suspension or disqualification from greyhound racing.
Also targeted in the 7:30 Report was former GRNSW Chief veterinarian and current Head veterinarian officer Dr. John Newell. It was mentioned in Wednesday night's episode that the Vietnam racetrack “Ba Ria”, was set up with the support and involvement of Dr. Newell, however this was not the case.
Australian Racing Greyhound understands the Vietnam racetrack referred to in the report is actually named Lam Son and is approximately 30 minutes away from Ba Ria, the site of the apparent killing fields portrayed in the video vision.
The vision displayed greyhounds being disposed of and placed into large pits, while there was also footage of persons standing on greyhounds necks either to restrain or compromise their airways according to Professor Paul McGreevy.
The vision showed the dogs being injected with a poisonous solution, said to be a substance called Ecotraz which is generally used for tick and pest control on cattle. Professor McGreevy was visibly disturbed by the footage and followed on by stating “There is a clear association with considerable pain and I would go as far as saying it would be horrendous for them.”
It was clarified that Dr. Newell's involvement in Vietnam stemmed from 2000 to 2008 through the World Greyhound Racing Federation (WGRF) where he was acting as a consultant.
The WGRF was designed as a platform to encourage and share racing values, animal welfare and veterinarian science technology to all countries that participated. The United Kingdom, USA, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Australia and Vietnam were all part of the WGRF scheme until funding ceased in 2008 and the organisation folded.
Dr. Newell's involvement in Vietnam racing ceased after this time.
The report also stated that 168 greyhounds from January to August 2015 have been exported to Asia, without a required Greyhounds Australasia passport.
The report obtained these figures via the Freedom of Information Act regarding Exports and Agriculture and also stated an investigative Welfare Officer determined approximately one greyhound dies everyday at the Macau racetrack.
What the report failed to properly get across was Greyhounds Australasia (GA) has been lobbying the Federal Government since 2005 for changes to the exportation rules without success.
In 2013 GA placed a compulsory ban on exports to Macau, due to a number of concerns regarding welfare and integrity. Also in 2014 GA contacted Agriculture Minister Mr. Barnaby Joyce requesting stringent changes to exportation of greyhounds to Asia.
While appreciative of GA's efforts to proactively address these issues, the minister believed the existing regulation under Export Control (Animals) Order 2004 was sufficient at the time.
The points listed above were mentioned towards the end of the 7.30 Report, but these facts do not support a Facebook post made by Animals Australia which said “She is another secret the greyhound industry desperately wanted to keep hidden”.
Current regulatory bodies across Australia have been extremely pro-active in the review of welfare and regulatory compliance since the live baiting scandal came to light in February this year. GRNSW has also established a Joint Working Group who along with current CEO Mr. Paul Newson will be presenting their submission to the Special Commission in January 2016.
“Veterinarian John Newell, from Belmont, NSW, helped to establish greyhound racing in Vietnam and Macau and is infuriated by calls to ban exports. Newell says protesters have the wrong picture. Retired racing dogs exported to those countries get a longer life expectancy and often better care than in Australia, with strict controls on their welfare, he says. “In Vietnam, we have a lovely compound close to the coast which has the afternoon sea breeze and dams for swimming and they are well looked after,” he says. But while he says Vietnam and Macau are beyond reproach, he can’t vouch for… Read more »
I have first hand experience with each of the venues mentioned in this article I can honestly say the news articles were 80% wrong in fact. John Newll is a good bloke who was employed as a consultant on the Vietnamese project and I believe his portrayal in this bias report was defamatory. It appears these people are hellbent on destroying the greyhound racing industry and all the descent people who have contributed years of their life in the pursuit of racing dogs. As og”Greyhounds Australia” who do they represent and where does their funding come from, the rank and… Read more »
Halwes, give it a rest. We have no idea who you are so your 80% figure is completely made up as far as im concerned.Why dont you tell us the 20% that is right then? Either come into the 21st century when it comes to animal welfare or die out like the dinosaurs.
The present administrators of Greyhound Racing in each state and GA are all guilty of at least incompetence, GRV comes closest to a pass mark, it ain’t rocket science, cradle to grave for all greyhounds Australasia wide is the starting point.
Halwes. Newell is Vet with a duty of care, first and foremost. I’m sure operations at both tracks were satisfactory for a time when first set up, but it is plainly clear that they no longer are.
This Issue is not about Newell, but this article devotes an awful lot of space to him. Where is the condemnation of those 70 plus industry participants involved. It is “these people who are hellbent on destroying the greyhound racing industry and all the descent people who have contributed years of their life in the pursuit of racing dogs.”
Halwes if your “first hand experience” is that good, why didn’t you clear up the exact location of the Vietnam track? It is in fact in Vung Tau and the name of the track is Lam Son Stadium, 500 metres from the centre of Vung Tau. You have no credibility
I think some of you people are missing the picture. The RSPCA had a good go at wrecking the live meat export industry, found it too hard and have now turned to the low hanging fruit so to speak. ( That is the greyhound racing industry ) If they keep it up they know eventually participants will walk away from it and by attrition the industry will cease to be. That done they will turn on the trotting industry and then of course the horse racing industry. As for the 70 participants Barbara takes umbrage to I think people are entitled… Read more »
Pathetic article attempting to try to divert attention away from and try to discredit the report that would not even exist if animal welfare really was actually the top priority for the Australian greyhound racing industry. Thousands of greyhounds are killed each year by the industry, live-baiting exists and greyhounds are exported to a country that has no animal welfare – try to skip around it all you like, those are the facts.
Halwes “the racing careers of the majority of greyhounds in Macau exceed ours and it is not unusual to see dogs competing well past 5”.
What a lovely “career” they have, and rewarded handsomely with insecticide or fed to the big cats at he Shanghai Wild Animal Park.
You don’t see Animals Australia focussing in on exports to NZ, US or Ireland.
Molly obviously you are simply anti racing, actually by the fact the article is excellent
Greyhounds Australasia established and was aware of the in humane treatment of animals in China and stopped issuing passports. If their is a loophole because of the government then it’s a governance issue not a greyhound issue.
Animals Australia are trying to establish fair play in degrading the industry. They worked for 6mnths and say look at us we found this problem when GA found it back in 2005
Pleaassssseeee! If their was a loophole for legal profitability in any item people would exploit it.
An absolutely crucial point in this outrageous piece of stitch up journalism from the ABC is that this vision is years old!!!!!! I have been to the track at Lam Son many times over the last ten years having worked in the country including living at Vung Tau where the track is for a year. Never, repeat never have I seen a blue jacket with the number 2 on it. Have a look at this horrible vision again and you see just that. It must be at least 10 years old and that mongrel White from the obnoxious AA should… Read more »
Joeyfromfullhouse Lets put all the cards on the table Re Animal Welfare, Man has been killing animals of all species for thousands of years so what has changed, NOTHING ,There is no doubt Man is the cruelest animal on earth just look at we what do to each other, killing each other by the thousands allover the world every day.To single out the Greyhound Industry by these so called Animal Activist is only done because the industry is a easy target. If these people were honest about their crusade,They would be stop the Slaughter Lambs,Sheep, Calves,Cattle, Piglets Pigs,Kids, Goats, Chickens,Ducks,Whales,… Read more »
The RSPCA also agrees
The RSPCA says there is no reason to ban the sport as other racing codes – and pet owners for that matter – are equally guilty.
“We put down 10,000 cats a year in Melbourne alone and somewhere in the order of 6000 dogs,” Wirth says. “If you take that business to its logical conclusion, you should ban horseracing, greyhound racing and pet ownership on the basis that people will not stop excessively breeding animals.”
BobWhitelaw Joeyfromfullhouse Bob, as usual you come in and post ignorant misguided things. Let’s examine the things you say: 1. You suggest that AA is singling out greyhound racing. COMPLETELY FALSE: AA campaign against all the industries you mention, try looking into something before you make false statements. Have you even visited their website? 2. You suggest it’s misguided to attack animal food industries because the world is starving. COMPLETELY MISGUIDED: Do you realise that if we took all the food we feed to farmed animals, and gave it to humans instead, that we would actually have more food for humans?… Read more »
Halwes I’d like to know what your source is for claiming that RSPCA are only criticising the greyhound industry BECAUSE they failed to stop live export. That sounds like complete conjecture to me. The RSPCA has gone after the greyhound industry after it was exposed that many participants were breaching animal welfare laws. The RSPCA also stands for principles that do not align with certain common practices in the greyhound industry, and many other industries. “I think people are entitled to make a living and if they own the dogs why can’t they sell their dogs to who they like”… Read more »
Joeyfromfullhouse All you have just said is that greyhound owners and trainers are only in it for the money, proving my point exactly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmxZH_82-Mw.
Joeyfromfullhouse yep totally right…according to RSPCA and animal abuse cases they have receive… its something like 30000 cases….of which 50% relate to dogs and out of the 50% 1-2% relate to the greyhound breed…(some cases will be from pet owners side not always racing people for greyhounds) so on this the people who are most likely to abuse animals are pet owners….and its more likely that the greyhound would be treated better with a racing owner…so on this theory can all people who own greyhounds and are pet owners could you please drop you greyhounds off to the rspca so… Read more »
Hugh_ BobWhitelaw Joeyfromfullhouse hugh you seriously are misguided….AA lie to drum up support and donation money this is FRAUD…I can prove it too if you like….but im guessing you wont want to see it or turn a blind eye to the truth…..you talk about profit before anything lol and try defend AA in the same breath…wow you are very special kind of person… you say to bob he is heartless person devoid of empathy…this I find so funny…do you know the meaning of empathy…because your statement proves that you don’t quite get the meaning…can you place yourself in the shoes of bob… Read more »
PhillipMarkou Hugh_ BobWhitelaw Joeyfromfullhouse I can attempt to put myself in the shoes of others. And when I do so, I find that the pain of some short term financial hardship, the likes of which most people face at some time in their life, pales compared to the pain many animals experience in industries with insufficient welfare standards. I don’t limit my empathy to humans, perhaps that is the difference between us. With regards to bob specifically, I don’t know anything about Bob, I’m simply arguing with his views. Criticizing someone’s ideas is not a lack of empathy. Happy to review your “poof”… Read more »
PhillipMarkou Joeyfromfullhouse
Haha, the majority of pet owners took the greyhounds after the greyhound racing people didnt want them.
PhillipMarkou Joeyfromfullhouse Really Phillip? The fact that the majority of animal abuse cases reported relate to pet ownership does not equate to a statistically higher probability of a pet being treated worse than a greyhound in the racing industry. Such a claim *might* be true, but the statistics you quote don’t demonstrate this at all. At a minimum, you would need statistics on the percentage of greyhounds within the industry that experience welfare breaches vs the percentage of all pets owned that experience welfare breaches. Then you could compared the statistical likelihood of one class of animal experiencing abuse compared to… Read more »
“Veterinarian John Newell, from Belmont, NSW, helped to establish greyhound racing in Vietnam and Macau and is infuriated by calls to ban exports. Newell says protesters have the wrong picture. Retired racing dogs exported to those countries get a longer life expectancy and often better care than in Australia, with strict controls on their welfare, he says. “In Vietnam, we have a lovely compound close to the coast which has the afternoon sea breeze and dams for swimming and they are well looked after,” he says. But while he says Vietnam and Macau are beyond reproach, he can’t vouch for… Read more »
I have first hand experience with each of the venues mentioned in this article I can honestly say the news articles were 80% wrong in fact. John Newll is a good bloke who was employed as a consultant on the Vietnamese project and I believe his portrayal in this bias report was defamatory. It appears these people are hellbent on destroying the greyhound racing industry and all the descent people who have contributed years of their life in the pursuit of racing dogs. As og”Greyhounds Australia” who do they represent and where does their funding come from, the rank and… Read more »
Halwes, give it a rest. We have no idea who you are so your 80% figure is completely made up as far as im concerned.Why dont you tell us the 20% that is right then? Either come into the 21st century when it comes to animal welfare or die out like the dinosaurs.
The present administrators of Greyhound Racing in each state and GA are all guilty of at least incompetence, GRV comes closest to a pass mark, it ain’t rocket science, cradle to grave for all greyhounds Australasia wide is the starting point.
Halwes. Newell is Vet with a duty of care, first and foremost. I’m sure operations at both tracks were satisfactory for a time when first set up, but it is plainly clear that they no longer are.
This Issue is not about Newell, but this article devotes an awful lot of space to him. Where is the condemnation of those 70 plus industry participants involved. It is “these people who are hellbent on destroying the greyhound racing industry and all the descent people who have contributed years of their life in the pursuit of racing dogs.”
Halwes if your “first hand experience” is that good, why didn’t you clear up the exact location of the Vietnam track? It is in fact in Vung Tau and the name of the track is Lam Son Stadium, 500 metres from the centre of Vung Tau. You have no credibility
I think some of you people are missing the picture. The RSPCA had a good go at wrecking the live meat export industry, found it too hard and have now turned to the low hanging fruit so to speak. ( That is the greyhound racing industry ) If they keep it up they know eventually participants will walk away from it and by attrition the industry will cease to be. That done they will turn on the trotting industry and then of course the horse racing industry. As for the 70 participants Barbara takes umbrage to I think people are entitled… Read more »
Pathetic article attempting to try to divert attention away from and try to discredit the report that would not even exist if animal welfare really was the top priority for the Australian greyhound racing industry. Thousands of greyhounds are killed each year by the industry, live-baiting exists and greyhounds are exported to a country that has no animal welfare – try to skip around it all you like, those are the facts.
Halwes “the racing careers of the majority of greyhounds in Macau exceed ours and it is not unusual to see dogs competing well past 5″.
What a lovely “career” they have, and rewarded handsomely with insecticide or fed to the big cats at he Shanghai Wild Animal Park.
You don’t see Animals Australia focussing in on exports to NZ, US or Ireland.
Molly obviously you are simply anti racing, actually by the fact the article is excellent
Greyhounds Australasia established and was aware of the in humane treatment of animals in China and stopped issuing passports. If their is a loophole because of the government then it’s a governance issue not a greyhound issue.
Animals Australia are trying to establish fair play in degrading the industry. They worked for 6mnths and say look at us we found this problem when GA found it back in 2005
Pleaassssseeee! If their was a loophole for legal profitability in any item people would exploit it.
An absolutely crucial point in this outrageous piece of stitch up journalism from the ABC is that this vision is years old!!!!!! I have been to the track at Lam Son many times over the last ten years having worked in the country including living at Vung Tau where the track is for a year. Never, repeat never have I seen a blue jacket with the number 2 on it. Have a look at this horrible vision again and you see just that. It must be at least 10 years old and that mongrel White from the obnoxious AA should… Read more »
Joeyfromfullhouse Lets put all the cards on the table Re Animal Welfare, Man has been killing animals of all species for thousands of years so what has changed, NOTHING ,There is no doubt Man is the cruelest animal on earth just look at we what do to each other, killing each other by the thousands allover the world every day.To single out the Greyhound Industry by these so called Animal Activist is only done because the industry is a easy target. If these people were honest about their crusade,They would be stop the Slaughter Lambs,Sheep, Calves,Cattle, Piglets Pigs,Kids, Goats, Chickens,Ducks,Whales,… Read more »
The RSPCA also agrees
The RSPCA says there is no reason to ban the sport as other racing codes – and pet owners for that matter – are equally guilty.
“We put down 10,000 cats a year in Melbourne alone and somewhere in the order of 6000 dogs,” Wirth says. “If you take that business to its logical conclusion, you should ban horseracing, greyhound racing and pet ownership on the basis that people will not stop excessively breeding animals.”
BobWhitelaw Joeyfromfullhouse Bob, as usual you come in and post ignorant misguided things. Let’s examine the things you say: 1. You suggest that AA is singling out greyhound racing. COMPLETELY FALSE: AA campaign against all the industries you mention, try looking into something before you make false statements. Have you even visited their website? 2. You suggest it’s misguided to attack animal food industries because the world is starving. COMPLETELY MISGUIDED: Do you realise that if we took all the food we feed to farmed animals, and gave it to humans instead, that we would actually have more food for humans?… Read more »
Halwes I’d like to know what your source is for claiming that RSPCA are only criticising the greyhound industry BECAUSE they failed to stop live export. That sounds like complete conjecture to me. The RSPCA has gone after the greyhound industry after it was exposed that many participants were breaching animal welfare laws. The RSPCA also stands for principles that do not align with certain common practices in the greyhound industry, and many other industries. As long as those practices persist, there will be antagonism between the RSPCA and various industries that make use of animals. “I think people are… Read more »
Joeyfromfullhouse All you have just said is that greyhound owners and trainers are only in it for the money, proving my point exactly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmxZH_82-Mw.
From GOBTA meeting in August. 2 minutes and 20 seconds in Newell casually admits to setting up greyhound racing in Vietnam and that he “does a lot of work in China’.
Ovalfuenf Kommentar another growler livefyre.com/profile/624269… : Seit vielen Jahren keine blaue 2 mehr in Macao . es sei mind.10 Jahre her ..
Joeyfromfullhouse yep totally right…according to RSPCA and animal abuse cases they have receive… its something like 30000 cases….of which 50% relate to dogs and out of the 50% 1-2% relate to the greyhound breed…(some cases will be from pet owners side not always racing people for greyhounds) so on this the people who are most likely to abuse animals are pet owners….and its more likely that the greyhound would be treated better with a racing owner…so on this theory can all people who own greyhounds and are pet owners could you please drop you greyhounds off to the rspca so… Read more »
Hugh_ BobWhitelaw Joeyfromfullhouse hugh you seriously are misguided….AA lie to drum up support and donation money this is FRAUD…I can prove it too if you like….but im guessing you wont want to see it or turn a blind eye to the truth…..you talk about profit before anything lol and try defend AA in the same breath…wow you are very special kind of person… you say to bob he is heartless person devoid of empathy…this I find so funny…do you know the meaning of empathy…because your statement proves that you don’t quite get the meaning…can you place yourself in the shoes of bob… Read more »
Joeyfromfullhouse GA and scott parker…its possible scott parker is aligned with the animals welfare groups..when grey2kusa came over to Australia scott sat down with the 2 founders and had lunch…directly after grey2kusa used scotts image to push their lies…then month later a classified document which was a lie, was leaked to the media and these animal welfare groups…grey2kus spread a lot of money around the place while here in oz…I wonder if scott parker received any of this money…..as for the exporting…to me what is being don’t is the same what they doing to us…discriminating…..not all Asian people are bad..not… Read more »
PhillipMarkou Hugh_ BobWhitelaw Joeyfromfullhouse I can attempt to put myself in the shoes of others. And when I do so, I find that the pain of some short term financial hardship, the likes of which most people face at some time in their life, pales compared to the pain many animals experience in industries with insufficient welfare standards. I don’t limit my empathy to humans, perhaps that is the difference between us. With regards to bob specifically, I don’t know anything about Bob, I’m simply arguing with his views. Criticizing someone’s ideas is not a lack of empathy. Happy to review your “poof”… Read more »
PhillipMarkou Joeyfromfullhouse
Basically all of the greyhound pet owners took the greyhounds after the greyhound racing people didnt want them.
PhillipMarkou Joeyfromfullhouse Really Phillip? The fact that the majority of animal abuse cases reported relate to pet ownership does not equate to a statistically higher probability of a pet being treated worse than a greyhound in the racing industry. Such a claim *might* be true, but the statistics you quote don’t demonstrate this at all. At a minimum, you would need statistics on the percentage of greyhounds within the industry that experience welfare breaches vs the percentage of all pets owned that experience welfare breaches. Then you could compared the statistical likelihood of one class of animal experiencing abuse compared to… Read more »