A commission of inquiry into Queensland greyhound racing has found “gross systemic failure” by the ruling body to protect animal welfare in an industry in which “archaic and barbaric” cruelty was likely widespread.
A damning report by commissioner Alan MacSporran called for a new racing watchdog after the inquiry, sparked by revelations of live baiting, uncovered further issues including the uncertain fate of thousands of unwanted dogs amid claims of brutal euthanasia methods.
The inquiry heard accounts of cruelty that included greyhound owners going to a man called “$10 Tom” to have their dogs killed with a hammer, while another trainer used an electric drill “to drill into the dogs’ brains” and cut off their ears to prevent identification of their dumped bodies.
Dogs were also allegedly shot, drowned, bashed, hanged, electrocuted and sold for bait in dog-fighting rings.
The commission report said most submissions by witnesses alleging cruelty gave valuable intelligence “but unfortunately little by the way of evidence”.
However MacSporran said it would be “naive in the extreme” to conclude there was not widespread live baiting – whereby dogs are trained by chasing and killing small animals including possums, pigs, rabbits and chickens.
The inquiry also exposed issues including overbreeding, which the Australian Veterinary Association said in its submission was the “biggest problem with greyhound racing in Australia” and led to unacceptable “wastage” or deaths.
More than 7,200 greyhounds, or 30% of those born in Queensland in the decade to 2013, were “unaccounted for”, the report said.
Those dogs likely suffered the same fate of most racing dogs upon retirement – 76% of them being “euthanised”, dying from “accidents” including snakebite or “simply go(ing) missing”.
The report said: “The real question, is what, if any, level of wastage is acceptable for any modern society which has due regard for animal welfare.”
The MacSporran commission – the first of three state-based inquiries into greyhound racing across Australia to deliver its findings – recommended sweeping changes to the industry including a new Queensland racing integrity commission (QRIC) to oversee all forms of racing, including horse racing.
The QRIC would be backed by the investigative, intelligence and surveillance powers of a police taskforce that has already charged 23 people with cruelty offences over live baiting and mass dog graves.
It would also result in the abolition of individual boards like Greyhound Racing Queensland.
MacSporran’s inquiry found Racing Queensland had failed to overcome a conflict of interest in which its commercial interest in greyhound racing trumped its responsibility to safeguard animal welfare.
“To put it simply, if those in the industry have participated in the archaic and barbaric practice of live baiting they have let the entire industry down and have treated the public with disdain,” he said.
“That it was allowed to happen at all in this day and age is a sad reflection on the state of the greyhound racing industry and those who participate in it whether for pleasure or profit.
“The practice of live baiting could not be engaged in without the acquiescence of many, who although not directly involved, chose to ignore the cruelty and turned a blind eye.”
The report said public confidence in greyhound racing “may have been dealt an almost terminal blow” by exposure of the practice by an ABC Four Corners report in February.
But the commission found that months before that throughout the previous year, Racing Queensland had “failed to give appropriate priority to the legitimate concerns” around greyhound welfare, including live baiting, raised repeatedly by Animal Liberation Queensland (ALQ).
“The requests by (ALQ) were reasonable, courteous and well-articulated but were routinely ignored,” it said.
Racing Queensland chief executive Darren Condon was forced to admit it was “inadequate” to have his secretary screening all emails from animal welfare groups that were regarded within RQ as implacable opponents of greyhound racing.
ALQ had emailed Condon following an interview on radio station 4BC in May 2014 in which he said he was unaware of greyhounds being killed for gambling. It asked why RQ had then removed “lack of ability” from a list of reasons owners could give for why a dog had been “humanely euthanised” on a form declaring its retirement from racing.
The commission found it was “difficult to understand how anyone with a close association with or involvement in the industry could express surprise that the practice of live baiting was still occurring” when greyhound training tracks were being registered by RQ without inspections.
One track at Glasshouse Mountains operated without a licence for more than 15 months but RQ, which invested $15,000, took no action despite that being a breach of its own regulations.
MacSporran recommended more enforcement of a system of tracking greyhounds from birth to retirement, including by microchipping pups and forcing new reporting requirements on owners and trainers.
The QIRC would maintain a public database, detailing all injuries from racing and whether dogs are put down.
The commission called for laws that allow a disqualified dog owner or trainer to “simply dispos[e of an] animal, as long as it is done humanely” to be replaced by rules forcing that owner to pay for a dog’s care until it can be adopted.
It also called for the scrapping of an RQ-funded breeding program, with the money to be diverted to a greyhound adoption program.
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is due to respond to the report in parliament this week.
A similar commission of inquiry into the industry in New South Wales will start next week and report back in September, while a report by the Victorian racing integrity commissioner is due for release now.
The MacSporran report said it was “far too simplistic to think public confidence will automatically increase” with the creation of the QIRC.
“However, a restoration of public confidence is very unlikely if citizens are regularly confronted with integrity or criminal violations by those involved in the industry,” it said.
