[Edited Admin]

It is just that I live half way around the world and might have a different sight on things as the situations are not same state everywhere.

Might be I got you wrong, as I allways thought our opinions what might be best could be relatively close.

From my view here in Europ I see, that it is not that easy to get these amount of dogs rehomed in Europ at the moment seeking for a place to stay and live a happy bouncy doggylife, we (homers) would like to have it.

This has realy and very true absolutly nothing to do with pro or contra. It is fact, that one needs someone to adopt, if he wants a dog to be adopted. To get enough people wanting to adopt a greyhound is not easy and a longterm goal. As you say - the Greyhound is not a dog for everyone ..

I do have two retired racers here with me and don`t see what should be wrong with them (very oposit in deed :-) but most of my neighbours do have a quite different point of view.

The best way would be to have enough adopters willing to take a retired racer home as pet. But yet we are not at that point - just trying hard to get nearer.

PS: The link was the only way to get them counted, John.. all those "humanely destroyed" ones are uncounted - it is just i can`t get any figures of them.. might be this is been our missunderstanding

he is blind, came run down with flees and unerweight at the age of under three
the picture was taken when he was about 6 years
EXTERNAL LINK
They are not young, healthy and fit when rehomed - at least many of them..
and in deed i was happy, if i had the sea near enough to walk at the beach. I just try my best.

Strangely it seems like when you buy a car all of a sudden you notice heaps of the same make and model driving round the streets ...now all i see are greyhounds .....GREYHOUNDS everywhere!!

Its a fact that after this story hit the public domain of the atrocities some people inflict on the greyhound, the gradual demise of dog racing which was once a trickle in the U.K. has now developed into a torrent.

Very soon in the south of the U.K. the only greyhound stadiums to stand their ground will be those owned by bookmakers to preserve the game into the betting shops. The cartoon greyhound racing they are serving the public may be attractive as a novelty, but the real punters certainly prefer the true greyhounds to wager their cash on.

Im afraid that unless the sport stops all the squabbling within itself and elects a saviour to pull the sport up by its shirt-tails, this torrent will soon become a flood. I have a friend, who sends me whole threads from Greyhound Scene, and I despair, it is full of back-biting, back-stabbing, insinuation and contempt for whoever is in the driving seat of whichever organisation that have irked their ire this time around. As the sport cries out desperately for a leader of men, the more their squabbles persevere. In fact, there was more leadership at Custers last battle at the Little Big Horn than is being shown currently by the rank and file of the greyhound industry.

The re-homing of retired racers is a must above all else if you are to raise awareness that all is well within the sport. This alone keeps many former race goers away from the stadiums they once clamoured to attend, and they voted with their feet. This must be brought home to the public by advertising, as well has badgering the media to write or broadcast tales of the heart-warming kind to an apathetic public whose spendable pounds are now taken elsewhere.

When I walk around my local park with my hounds, 90% of people who stop and talk to me about the sport always show concern for the greyhounds that make the sport tick. In fact three out of the four people who walk around in my little group are so appalled at the tales they have heard over the last few years havent been to a greyhound meeting ever; the odd one out is me.

Greyhound racing can be saved, but its going to take a very big man to do it, but is there one?.

That's my part towards helping the greyhound.

ANIMAL WELFARE IN VICTORIAN GREYHOUND RACING

Wednesday 14 November, 2012

GRV appointed Dr Linda Beer as its full-time Animal Welfare Manager back in 2007. Dr Beer oversees the greyhound racing industrys many animal welfare initiatives and has focussed specifically on breeding practices within the industry with the aim of decreasing the number of litters bred, and increasing the quality of greyhounds whelped. Dr Beer also works to ensure participants comply with regulations and requirements relating to greyhound ownership and on educating the greyhound industry participants about their animal welfare responsibilities.

As a result of these initiatives, over the past four years there has been a 20 per cent reduction in the number of litters bred and in the last two years, a 15 per cent decrease in the number of greyhounds euthanized in Victoria. GRV recognise the number of greyhounds euthanized is still too high and is continuing to develop and implement animal welfare initiatives aimed at further reducing these numbers.

It is mandatory for all new greyhound trainers to attend an education session and undergo a kennel inspection prior to obtaining their license and GRV has mandatory competency requirements to qualify as a breeder or trainer both of which have a large animal welfare focus.

All owners are encouraged to place their greyhounds in the Victorian Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) when they are no longer suitable for racing. Since GAPs inception in 1996, thousands of greyhounds have found homes as pets via this fantastic program. GRV is continually looking for more members of the public to adopt a greyhound, as the organisation believes greyhounds make fantastic pets due to their calm, placid and loving nature.

GAP Victoria is the most successful industry run adoption program in Australia. The program is fully funded, operated and owned by GRV, at its dedicated adoption facility in Seymour. In addition, GAP runs programs such as the Prison Pet Partnership, where inmates at Dhurringile and Tarrengower prisons provide foster care, preparing greyhounds for their lives as pets.

GRV rigorously enforces the requirement of owners to report when their greyhounds have been retired from racing, and retirement reporting is monitored every month by GRV staff. If a greyhound owner chooses to euthanize their greyhound they are required to supply GRV with a Veterinary Certificate of Euthanasia to ensure the practice has been done humanely.

In 2005/6 the Responsible Breeding Task Force (RBTF) was established to address the issue of over-breeding of greyhounds. The RBTF put forward 17 recommendations all of which were endorsed by the GRV Board in 2008 and all of which are currently in place - either in their entirety or in a modified format.

In 2012, GRV expanded the RBTF to create a new Animal Welfare Taskforce with a wider scope than addressing breeding practices alone. The Animal Welfare Taskforce sees representatives from the greyhound racing industry work together with bodies such as the RSPCA to suggest, develop, and prioritise new animal welfare initiatives.

GRV introduced the mandatory micro-chipping of all adult greyhounds in 2011 to improve integrity within racing and to enhance traceability of all greyhounds through their entire lifecycle. GRV fully funded this endeavour and continues to heavily subsidise micro-chipping.

To increase the number of racing opportunities for greyhounds with poor form or limited ability, GRV introduced Family Race Meets in 2007 which was expanded into Tier 3 racing in 2010. This immensely popular initiative is aimed at prolonging the racing career of greyhounds that may not have the ability to compete in some of the races in Victoria. GRV also supports other forms of racing such as Coursing and Veterans Races to allow greyhounds every chance of continuing their careers.

Every race meeting in Victoria, whether it is Tier 1, 2 or 3, Coursing or Picnic Meeting is attended by an on-track Veterinarian to ensure greyhounds are fit to race and can receive timely care if accidents occur.

GRV has a robust Integrity and Stewards department comprised of 36 staff responsible for upholding the rules of racing and ensuring standards of care are met. Over the past two years, GRV Stewards have conducted thousands of random and targeted kennel inspections all over the state. The number of inspections is set to increase in the future.

The use of prohibited substances in racing is a serious matter, and GRV continues to expand and increase testing - pre-race, post-race and out-of competition. Working with GRVs testing laboratory - Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) - Stewards collected 3,133 samples in 2011 with a total of 22 positive swab results returned. The majority of positive results were for therapeutic drugs and despite regular testing, there were no positive swabs returned for erythropoietin (EPO).

GRV is serious about providing an exciting racing product that values high standards in animal welfare and will continue to develop and implement strategies that ensure continual improvement across the Victorian greyhound racing industry.