Another 14 gone in Queensland live baiting aftermath
THE live baiting scandal has claimed another 14 names, with the Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board making the announcement after show cause hearings were held at Deagon on Tuesday.
The 14 were issued with show cause notices on April 15 and invited to provide submissions, to defend their roles in live baiting within the greyhound racing industry.
QACRIB Chairman Kevin Dixon said upon considering the submissions, the decision had been taken to warn off the individuals on the basis their involvement in the conduct had made their presence on a racecourse in Queensland not desirable.
“We made it clear at the outset that we would ensure those who have engaged in illegal conduct will be removed from the industry, and those warned-off today will no longer be permitted to be part of the industry in any capacity,” he said.
“Queensland has been the most proactive jurisdiction in its response to the horrendous acts committed by some participants in the greyhound industry and has implemented a number of measures to address those acts.
“A levy remains in place on prizemoney and subsidies, rules in prohibiting organic matter on lures have been implemented and mandatory education competencies for licensees have been fast-tracked to be included in the licensing renewal process in July.
“All participants will also be required to sign a statutory declaration as part of the greyhound licensing process that outlines they have not been involved in live-baiting and will not in the future. Racing Queensland has received 214 statutory declarations to date.”
The 14 individuals were told of their bans on Tuesday evening and now have the opportunity to appeal the decision. The new suspensions takes the total number of banned greyhound participants in Queensland to 20.
The trainers: Michael Campbell, Donald Peter May, Patricia Cormley, Gregory Paull, Russell Dryery, John Pollock, Julie Edmondson, Samantha Roberts, Raymond Gatti, Peter Roy, Tracy Kunde, John Thompson, Raymond Knudsen, Craig Wright.
The greyhounds belonging to the individuals warned-off have been disqualified from competition and will be required to undertake the return to racing policy of three supervised trials in order to return to racing in the future, provided they are not in the care of a warned-off individual.
The furore started in February, when the ABC's Four Corners program showed footage of live piglets, possums and rabbits being fixed to mechanical lures, in an effort to get dogs to chase, with the animals eventually killed.
Live baiting has been banned in the sport and a criminal offence for upwards of 20 years, but investigations into the activity have revealed it is still commonly found.
One of the central figures in the live baiting saga, Tom Noble, appeared in court on Tuesday, charged with intimidating a witness during the investigation.
It was alleged Noble, 68, attempted to get the witness, a fellow greyhound trainer, to change evidence in court.
Noble, who is also facing animal cruelty charges, was released on bail on the condition he does not contact the co-accused and reports to police once a week.
Good riddance to them we don’t need them in our industry and they certainly wont be missed. Hopefully the greyhounds which were in their care will find new trainers, owners and homes soon.
Its amazing that Dixon can put out a press release like this but cant or wont front up and defend our industry, which goes to prove that he wants to shut greyhounds down in Queensland and he is doing a very good job of it.
Sacrificial lambs to appease to hungry 24/7 news cycle. The Govt knows that any real changes to welfare will make the sport too expensive (unless they give up some of their profits).
At least you guys up there dont have to put up with wheeler sending dogs to trainers that use ice on his dogs Why would any decent owner keep supplying dogs to family he knows are drug cheats he must be morally bankrupt You guys up there dont have to worry about him stuffing up the game on you like he has done in victoria
burra man Very true, if an article in the racing paper the other day is anything to go by he says he is going to China to see if he can find a business man to buy all his racing stock, broodies, pups and stud dogs as he is fed up Greyhounds Australasia. More likely cant or wont handle the rules coming into place and running out of trainers!! He is only interested in “me myself and I” Do I care.. no I don’t, the sooner he is out of the business the better. He breeds nearly 400 pups a… Read more »
Recluse 60 burra man I know what you are saying .You may know a female trainer up there named Lesley Green.Her father Les Foran used to get give aways at Olympic Park and he would send them overseas but while he had the dogs they werent fillied up with drugs and he treated the dogs well and he would never give anyone a dog if he knew they had been rubbed out for drugs .But he wasnt morally bankrupt like wheeler he has known since 14th january that hunt had a positive swab to ICE but has still kept sending her… Read more »
Good riddance to them we don’t need them in our industry and they certainly wont be missed. Hopefully the greyhounds which were in their care will find new trainers, owners and homes soon.
Its amazing that Dixon can put out a press release like this but cant or wont front up and defend our industry, which goes to prove that he wants to shut greyhounds down in Queensland and he is doing a very good job of it.
Sacrificial lambs to appease to hungry 24/7 news cycle. The Govt knows that any real changes to welfare will make the sport too expensive (unless they give up some of their profits).
At least you guys up there dont have to put up with wheeler sending dogs to trainers that use ice on his dogs Why would any decent owner keep supplying dogs to family he knows are drug cheats he must be morally bankrupt You guys up there dont have to worry about him stuffing up the game on you like he has done in victoria
burra man Very true, if an article in the racing paper the other day is anything to go by he says he is going to China to see if he can find a business man to buy all his racing stock, broodies, pups and stud dogs as he is fed up Greyhounds Australasia. More likely cant or wont handle the rules coming into place and running out of trainers!! He is only interested in “me myself and I” Do I care.. no I don’t, the sooner he is out of the business the better. He breeds nearly 400 pups a… Read more »
Recluse 60 burra man I know what you are saying .You may know a female trainer up there named Lesley Green.Her father Les Foran used to get give aways at Olympic Park and he would send them overseas but while he had the dogs they werent fillied up with drugs and he treated the dogs well and he would never give anyone a dog if he knew they had been rubbed out for drugs .But he wasnt morally bankrupt like wheeler he has known since 14th january that hunt had a positive swab to ICE but has still kept sending her… Read more »