Queensland racing minister Bill Byrne says he is confident the Townsville greyhound racing club will not have to act on its warning that hundreds of dogs could be killed if it folded.
The club said it was likely many of its 200-300 greyhounds would face euthanasia if it was forced to close because it could not afford $180,000 to upgrade its track.
The club said Racing Queensland had threatened to pull televised races over the track’s failing “lure” mechanism, which twice led to race meetings being abandoned, but had refused to help fund repairs.
Club president Gary Heath told the Townsville Bulletin: “If they decide to close it, at a guess, I’d say we’ve got 200 to 300 greyhounds up here. We’d like to think we could find homes for them all, but being realistic, I think a lot of them would have to be put down.”
Animal Liberation Queensland, which uncovered the live baiting and cruelty scandal that triggered national reforms of the industry, accused the club of “emotional blackmail” and called on the government to guarantee the dogs would not be killed.
There are no legal repercussions to the dogs being killed, as long as it as done “humanely”.
Asked about government moves to guarantee the dogs’ welfare, Byrne said Racing Queensland was working with the Townsville club “to ensure scheduled racing continues without disruption”.
Byrne said he was “confident in the welfare and integrity measures currently being implemented” in response to the MacSporran inquiry, which found 76% of racing greyhounds ended up dead or missing upon retirement.
He said the government was in the process of establishing the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission after the inquiry called for a new watchdog to safeguard racing dog welfare in the wake of “gross systemic failure” by Racing Queensland.
“Racing Queensland, in partnership with government, is in the middle of a consultation process with racing industry stakeholders to develop a plan that secures a sustainable future for the Queensland racing industry,” Byrne said.
A Racing Queensland spokesman said in a statement it would “continue to work closely with the [Townsville] club to ensure the concerns with the lure are addressed and race meetings can continue as scheduled”.
“Racing Queensland contacted the club due to concerns about safety following the failure of the club’s lure system on a number of occasions in the past month,” he said.
“The club has since advised it has implemented additional steps to its maintenance program to mitigate the risk of future lure failure, which Racing Queensland is satisfied with.”
The president of Animal Liberation Queensland, Chay Neal, said it was “yet another example of why this industry should not be allowed to continue. The industry does not see any value in the life of a dog that is not being raced”.
“Of course, our concern right now is for the future of these 300 dogs in Townsville. But an end to the industry there would be a positive move, and would spare many future generations of dogs an uncertain fate once they outlive their financial usefulness.”
Neal said of 12,000 greyhounds that retired from the racing industry in Australia every year, only 2,000 were rehomed.
The MacSporran inquiry identified overbreeding as a key problem and recommended more funding for rehoming programs, but did not set a timeline on implementation.
