In all fairness it was a well ran session with our leader of the GRV putting his idea's across to participants about REDUCING GREYHOUND NUMBERS ....

If any one would like to ask a question about the session then i will be more than willing to answer any thing about it

I was impressed that some big name guy's where in attendance and they also sat on the panel for there idea's and it was great to hear a perspective coming from the State's two biggest and best breeders in Carl McGrath and PAW himself along with Ray Borda and Karen Leek they all did a great job ...

I do feel there is a huge change sweeping the GRV and many new position have become available but I do sense the man at the top WANTS TO FIX THINGS NOW and it was a positive approach from the PTB .

I was able to put my case across and many people there all had the same desire and focus to address the issues right now and everyone who wanted a say had a go .

I urge more people to attend these seminars and its well worth your time to make your voice heard .

PS
Not only was i entertained and feed I also made half a day's wage at the pokies ...

Alan was very direct and he was there the answer and say the things that needed to be said ..
I of course had to test the water you could say Mick but the man is as you see him and he comes with no bull sh1t attached at all a very true honest man who wants to fix things right now not next week not next month but now ....

He was very direct in his comments and his idea is that we all Breed to much and he wants to find the best solution to tackle this and i have the feeling his stance will hurt and affect a lot of people but we do need a standard to follow and he will implement it and he makes no excuses for the former staff and he is a no nonsense Man with a full on focused direction and i think it will all pan out in the end for the most people but there will be some huge casualties to come and i think it will be for the betterment of the industry to let this man do his Job ....

They say a leopard cannot change his spots but i do believe if we all let the cards fall that we will all be better prepared for the battle ahead with Animal welfare .

It's all about animal welfare Mick and the amount of people who continually breed year after year and never get a dog named or to the track or most don't even bother about GAP .

Alan is all in favour of giving money to any Greyhound charity organisation who is not aligned with any animal rights radical groups GREY2KWW Animals Australia because they support GREY2KWW so they should not be able to receive any funding as well so any Greyhound Charity groups can now get some money to help care and rehome greyhounds from the GRV and I think this is a fantastic thing to happen to the many small charities who do foster and care for our retired greyhounds .

Greyhound Safety Net are one of the first groups to receive funding from the GRV

reducing numbers is cause by to many people worry about times at 14 months old pups,

Less Wastage ...Less euthanasia Rearers Breakers Breeders everyone will be accountable and i guess to cut the fat here it will be the Best survive and the others have to be accountable and they will not stop breeding but they will stop over breeding and simply put Wastage ..
It's all about Animal Welfare now and everyone being accountable from birth to death a full trace history what farm its been on for how long and basic Business accountabilities for everything you do .
Its going to be a hard approach for some but for the ones doing it right the rewards will be the same nothing changes for successful Breeders and rearers will not be affected at all by any steps or policies the GRV are or will be implementing in the future.

There was also talk of course about Longevity in our Racing dogs in Australia and what is affecting the Australian greyhound ability to achieve more than 30 starts ..

Healesville could be used to help cater for older dog racing and this is a positive.

My personal take on the man himself is that he will get the job done and he welcomes consultation and interaction from the members and i guess his staff as well but the people now employed at the GRV will be working for every cent they earn over the coming months ......

I think we will see many things come into effect very very fast and it's full steam ahead for racing in Victoria .....

PS
I am considering applying for funding to the GRV for a BBQ and Beer pong jabby racing contest to held at your local track ...Talk about value add to your racing ....

Did pull ou his guitar and play some folk music for half time entertainment

EXTERNAL LINK

I have thought of a simple answer for you Anthony.
I have the feeling they had no choice but to come down hard on law enforcement and policies because of the nature of the beast it had to help fix ....

It's either sink or swim ....on so many levels for so many people....

Maybe by being heavy handed they are helping the government the public and themselfs and us all in one because let's face it the 22million non greyhound related or affiliated families did not not even know about greyhounds pre LB racing in Australia but Today 23 million now know all about the greyhound GOOD AND BAD but we should feel i guess privileged in a way that our Government and our population the Voters still allow us to race in Australia .

We still have racing we still have a viable product to sell and we are the best Country when it comes to be able to let the little back yard trainer train a greyhound capable of earning one million dollars and there is no other Country who has what we have and Australian trainers are unique to all the other trainers in the World .

Our tracks could be the best in the World with a bit of tweaking and that's also something that was brought up and this is something i think there are looking at very intensively so I am positive with the way it will move forward.

I will answer also the part about being heavy handed and the effects it has on your personal life your social interaction your feeling of you maybe stuffed up but now you are labelled a drug cheat by the GRV and your peers .....

I know the feeling all too well

With the GRV spending Thousands of $$$ on surveillance trying to catch me out at my family home and other going ons at a property
even my Owner of my Stud dog was told by the one staff member did she now know i was a convicted drug cheat .

I get it i know the feelings many must be feeling now .

I don't think the GRV really do take into account the the effect this has on a family and the consequences can be as extreme in many cases Anthony and as you point out there are people in pain and distress and they are under mental anguish but i have a feeling its just the tip of the ice burg with regards to law enforcement so a warning to all the old timers to lock away those old time bottles and make sure your records are up to date and current ....

We now have insufficient dogs to fill the races we already have and these muppets still think we have an over-breeding problem???

They're so concerned with welfare.......yet they ban carcasses as a training tool? They ban the best available seasonal suppressant so bitches are now severely disadvantaged as racing propositions? They take a pack animal and force it to be housed alone or with only one other pup at an age when they are still learning to socialise and run in a group? They continue to use income earned by the lower grade racers to prop up the elite classes that are running at a huge loss........

Sorry, but I don't give a flying jump at a rolling donut how much of a top bloke this guy is.....or how much wind he blows up our back ends........action talks and bulldust walks!

I must point out it was more of a workshop style thing designed on what the industry needs or has to do to justify the amount of dogs bred per what is needed to fill the racing model of the future .
Yes there are many flawed and conflicting things that confront a lot of people but the end result is being able to cut euthanasia rates plus filling the races that are needed to be filled with assistance for older dog racing and dogs coming back from injury style design races with maybe a testing track to iron out the issue of why Aust dogs get a third of the races compared to the USA greyhound

There is a need to stop wastage .
There is a need to prolong our greyhounds race careers in Aust
There is a need to bend and shape ourselves to help get greyhound racing viable and sustainable going into the next 5 to 10 years and beyond
There is a need for us to be able to rehome and use outside greyhound charity foster care groups for retired racers ..as well as GAP

The GRV are all about LAW ENFORCEMENT but there seems to be some people now running the show who have a genuine desire to help us all so let's see once again if I am right or WRONG ..

Give these new guys at the GRV a chance before we come out and attack something that not many of the grass root greyhound people know about or in many instances care to know about because i guess many just turn off the care switch and go back into their little worlds again thinking SHE will be right mate someone else will fix it up for us ATTITUDE ...

We have to change and evolve its as simple as that regardless of the casualties inflicted along the way .
Many of you understand how things look now and without going into any more greater details will understand it's going to and will happen the way we see it all now happening and there is nothing anyone can do to change this direction it's as simple as that ..

Paul Wheeler wasn't backward in coming forward. He took the opportunity to let GRV know of his concerns and let them know where he stands on curtain issues. He wasn't happy with the restriction put in place on Broodbitchs and I can understand where he is coming from cos he has got royal blood to breed with (Irma Bale) but can't breed because of restrictions...yet Joe Blow down the road can breed any skunk that's got no hope of getting any pup to the track and they can breed. He was also pretty adamant that pups need to be reared in numbers and have access to large galloping paddocks which he has seen the successful rearers around the world use. The major point that he kept coming back to was "Human influence" and I think this where GRV are heading in the right direction because for the greater welfare of greyhounds we need better breeding plans and rearers more accountable in their practices.

I applaud GRV at the moment because they are addressing many issues that have been waving in the wind of the past and their Pro-active approach is so positive and infectious.

I did not be want to distort or post anything that could of seemed negative towards any of the people who gave up their time to sit on the panel but i will say it was great to hear them answer with honesty and experience's based over many levels of the Greyhound game .
I do believe we have the right man in the job to fix the problems straight away and is not prepared to pass the buck and seems to want to tackle this head on.

I also believe the GRV have taken a newer and a fresher approach and they will use the experienced people from within our sport for advice and their input will be listened to and acted upon but that's from what i heard on the day so I hope we move forward sooner rather than later .

I will say this is only my opinion and I will give credit where credit is due but i hope in 6 months time that all of what i said does not come back to bite me on the back side but i am confident we will be in a better place in 12 months time .