The greyhound racing industry in New Zealand is soon to come to a complete stop, with a ban coming into effect on July 31.
There’s a plan to rehome between 1,500 and 2,900 dogs, with a transition agency managing the industry’s assets and using its cash to do so.
But there’s another plan in the wind – the industry wants to use some of that money to charter a flight for trainers to move their greyhounds to Australia, where the sport is still legal.
It’s put out feelers for those interested on a private Facebook page, with a message to keep the information confidential. However, it was leaked to Herald senior investigative reporter Michael Morrah, who’s been following this story for around a decade.
Edward Rennell, the CEO of Greyhound Racing New Zealand, told Checkpoint’s Lisa Owen it’s not a secret flight that’s being arranged.
Morrah says: “But others I’ve spoken to say it absolutely is a secret and the reason it’s a secret is because it looks terrible, two and a half months out from a ban, to be wrangling a plane to go over to Aussie.”
He says clearly not everyone in that Facebook group was on board with the plan, because it was leaked to him.
“Not all who are on this Facebook group believe what’s happening is right, or just.”
He believes such an arrangement goes against the spirit of the ban, which aims to make life better for the dogs by taking them away from the racetrack.
Instead, if trainers opt to take up the offer, they’ll be heading right back into the sport that leaves too many dogs injured and having to be put down.
But, just like it has here, the sport’s life in Australia may have numbered days.
Worldwide, greyhound racing is dying, losing its social licence after report after report on what happens inside the industry.
According to Grey2K USA, which describes itself as a global voice for greyhounds, there are active commercial dog racing tracks in just five places around the world – Australia, Ireland, the UK, the US and for now, New Zealand.
Most of the licensed dog tracks are in Australia – 49 of them. There are just two remaining in the US, both in West Virginia. Fifteen remain in Ireland and 20 in the UK, although Scotland and Wales both enacted bans in March year.
There are 21 countries where dog racing happens, but it hasn’t reached commercial proportions.
Grey2K USA says New Zealand’s decision to close down the industry here makes it the third country in the world to outlaw dog racing, after Mexico and Vietnam.
Australia is wrestling with the issue … in some states there have been promises to ban the sport, and those proposals have been walked back. Tasmania looked set to do it but has now deferred a decision.
At the moment greyhound racing is legal in every state except the ACT – but it is under scrutiny, and in West Australia, a Parliamentary inquiry on it is under way.
There’s also a federal government bill in the works to ban gambling on the dogs, in order to hasten the death of the industry.
Morrah says in New Zealand it wasn’t a politically difficult decision, with public opinion against the industry and political parties on the left and right in favour.
Racing Minister Winston Peters, when announcing the ban two years ago, said the industry had been on notice over animal welfare concerns for several years.
He also said the dogs would be “rehomed, not re-racetracked … they can race around the park and they can race around the beach .. but they won’t be racing on a track and getting themselves injured to the degree they’re getting themselves injured now.”
The 2017 Hansen report was key to changing attitudes … it found 1,447 greyhounds were destroyed between the 2013 and 2016 seasons. Another 1,520 were destroyed after that.
Key concerns in the 2023 report were high injury rates, overbreeding, an inadequate adoption system and persistently unsafe racing conditions. Drugging was also a problem.
The Racing Integrity Unit found 54 drug positives from 2014 to 2023, including morphine and five for methamphetamine.
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