EXTERNAL LINK

They just cant help lying'

Scott Parker, please take notice because you were hoodwinked by this foul organisation

The Florida debacle was not actually a ban of greyhound racing but a ban in gambling in greyhound racing in favour of stand alone gambling for casino operators

Casino operators purchased greyhound tracks to be able to establish themselves as their licence was coupled with the greyhound gambling licence

When push came to shove, the casino operators did not support the greyhound racing lobby as they lobbied for their own Bill to allow themselves to operate without the greyhounds

Therefore, what Grey2K achieved is putting 13,000 people out of work in the industry and affecting businesses of breeders, rearers, trainers, abbatoirs, veterinarians, transporters, dog accessory manufacturers, kibble manufactuers and the jobs of all the people who work for them etc etc

They also achieved a situation where Casino; would then dominate the entertainment landscape in Florida and create an even greater gambling problem for the residents of that State

What an absolute debacle they created and they think they are hero's

It just sickens me

Let's hope the British have a bit more commonsense

Martin, the sooner your Board wakes up to itself and starts getting a rake from the bookmakers on their intellectual product and a percentage of the gaming turnover on greyohunds the more money it will have to support tracks like Twocester (in receivership), address welfare issues and force prizemoney upwards

They need to be given a voice by the Government, not be shut in a corner

EXTERNAL LINK

The critical number is 69% - ie of people voting to end racing as we know it. The figure in Massachussets was in the 50s but still decisive. The antis do not care how it is done so long as it happens. Lies and exaggerations are part of the effort.

Australia risks a similar fate unless organised and concerted action is taken to convince that 50-70% of the population that greyhound racing is fair and equitable.

Million dollar races are of no account. Mugs in pubs don't matter. All the "whole of life" care is small beer. Even better tracks and stronger dogs will not fix the underlying problem - a cancer which is eating away at the heart of the industry.

What counts are the views of the average Joe and Jill in the street and what they tell their political masters. It's a straightforward PR job which has been ignored by administrators and the useless and error-prone GA for decades as they shift paper from the In box to the Out box.

It's almost too late but it has to be done. It will not go away.

I see they are coming to Dublin in November.

There are over 100 adoption groups that supported us during the fight in Florida and those are the groups that will get most of our retired dogs. I say most because there are always some people that don't care where their dogs go so some dogs will slip through the cracks.

Most of the greyhounds AR groups have now, in the U.S., are from either Macau, Ireland or England. Even the Pro groups are having trouble getting dogs because breeding has been down the last few years. With demand exceeding supply we are now at 100 percent adoption.

Certainly, there have been spasmodic attempts by VGOTBA to call GRV to account. But such a campaign needs to be 10 times bigger and stronger to have any effect.

The source of most of our problems is a lack of buyers and/or a lack of breeding (chicken and egg?), leading to empty boxes all over. I see Vic is now drawing 5-dog fields which I had thought was illegal. Yet no-one has got around to finding out why this is so. All the reactions are administrative rather than strategic.

Vic is pooling low class and average dogs in hybrid meetings and cutting a few rego fees. NSW asked for views on grading policies, where the usefulness of the info escapes me, and is inserting 280s in spaces once occupied by 520s. SA simply cut back to 6 runners in half its races. WA just runs more short races in prime time. All three codes in Queensland are in a mess.

The only saver is the widespread GAP campaign, which is good, but it serves only to illustrate that the more you go out to the public the more the industry will succeed.

Plainly, greyhound administration is not doing its job. They are handing out aspirin to fix a serious but undiagnosed disease and it is not working. There is a management challenge which bureaucrats cannot meet.

We need to put a bomb under the whole show, go back to scratch, set up a new system and hire people who can manage an industry.

pooling low class and average dogs in hybrid meetings is a desperate attempt by GRV to boost nomination numbers, however we can't nominate dogs that we don't have

7,6,and 5 dog fields are not good for the punter and if they start moving away from our product this industry will fade and die
no punters = no money = no industry
A bomb and a reboot of the show sounds like a good idea

EXTERNAL LINK

Things becoming clearer now. They would love to take Scotland down.

EXTERNAL LINK Good reply from GBGB but remember nothing other than the complete elimination of the racing greyhound will satisfy the puppet masters of these anti groups.

The Governments of England, Ireland and Scotland need to grow a set and tell these pretenders from the USA to go home

As long as they put greyhound welfare at the forefront of what they are doing by way of better rehoming, subsidized vet care, safer tracks, cutting out unnecessary euthanasia, restricting exports to countries with no welfare policy etc then there is no case to answer

The main thing for the Greyhound bodies from each of those countries is to promote these programs, achievements and the work they are doing to look after greyhounds and ensure that the general public is well aware of the good work being done so that a balanced position is presented to the populations of these nations

That is what will sway the political sentiment in your favour, work with the government and this will ultimately protect the sport

That is what Florida failed to do, don't let that happen to England, Ireland and Scotland

The Casino pays the prize money not the State?
Is this more spin?

Good to see the Governer in West Virginia having some rational thought

Would be good for the NGA to lobby this State to subsidize the addition of a few tracks in the State and give them a cut of the gambling turnover for their trouble

You're on the money there but I would add a bit prior to that.

The general public will adopt a position (if they can be bothered) based on what they hear on TV or read in a newspaper. They will have zero interest in what's on authority websites or in their media releases. There is no automatic connection.

But if they are driving past a paddock with a mare and foal cantering around they will have a good feeling. People like horses so there is a connection. Racecourses are big things and hard to miss. Then there is the Melbourne Cup every year - everyone knows that is part of the social calendar.

So, before worrying about how greyhounds are looked after or raced we have to create a situation where the breed is welcomed and valued.

There is one good starting point; most people like dogs. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, most people take a poor view of the greyhound (as surveys reveal). Being muzzled doesn't help because it adds to the impression of blooding/nasty/rabbit killers/chasing prey gained over generations.

The proof is in the converse; when they experience the actual dogs at GAP displays or Ag shows they tend to realise they are just another dog. But that's still only the starting point. We have to go deeper and wider.

We have to educate the public about the breed's history, makeup and its special athletic qualities. We have to reach out, not wait for them to come to us.

USA failed because it never went outside the kennel or the racetrack so everything was a reaction to what happened on the track. That became either boring or unprofitable (high takeouts/taxes in US states) or casinos were easier to patronise (often on the same premises). Rehoming is all very well but the bird had flown by that time.

The UK is a more traditional situation and (from my observation) the population is also geared to organising social dog clubs by breed - they have regular get togethers and walks. Even so, it also has a history of greyhound abuses (as does Oz) and a spotty record of participants.

Australia is heavily geared to the pooch in the backyard, the kelpie on the farm and the dingo in the bush. The greyhound appeared in the early days (due to the botanist, Banks) where it was a big help to settlers, and later aborigines, in finding food and repelling wild dogs. But it was not long before it morphed into coursing and eventually mechanical hare racing.

Only the last bit remains in the minds of the populace. The previous several thousand years are ignored or unknown.

Once, training the greyhound was literally the sport of Kings, Queens and Princes, right up to the time of Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, who had a statue of his favourite dog in the grounds of the castle. That's where we need to go - a modern dog on the tuckerbox.