By this time most of you will have seen the recent activist-obtained video footage out of South Australia and Tasmania.
The mistreatment of greyhounds seen in the SA vision is inexcusable and abhorrent. The state of keeping of greyhounds seen in the Tasmania vision is inexcusable and intolerable.
People who do such things or allow their own property and animal husbandry to drop to that level let the whole greyhound community down. Don’t let them!
The NSW greyhound racing industry survived the shutdown 7 years ago by determination, hard work and genuine reform. That was led by forward-thinking, modern greyhound participants. The same determination, hard work and ongoing evolution of our sport is forever required to keep ahead of the anti-greyhound extremists.
Make no mistake: the anti-greyhound crowd will stop at nothing to advance their extreme aims. They will fly drones over your property, they will install secret (and illegal) cameras in kennels and at tracks and on private property. They will never show any of the good stuff – only the worst things that they can dredge up. Neither the law nor the truth will hold them back.
As we all know, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of greyhound participants love their greyhounds, treat them well, and do the right thing all the time. But the good ones will never be the focus of a media story. The anti-groups will always look for someone who is not doing right, and they will lie and paint everyone else with that same brush. They will find sympathetic and willing media to channel their campaigns.
I urge all of us to act every day in every way to the very highest standards of behaviour, of animal welfare, and of kennel care. Please have a look self-critically at everything you do, at every possible camera angle on your property and at your track, and fix anything that you would not be proud of if it was on the front page of the paper.
GRNSW, GWIC, GBOTA and GCNSW are all together absolutely committed to the future of our industry by ensuring that we meet the highest expected standards of care and behaviour in NSW. Every single one of us shares the responsibility of maintaining those standards. We must act as a community.
This sport can never ever tolerate bad behaviour, animal cruelty or poor animal welfare outcomes. Anybody who drops below standard lets us all down.
Please be vigilant about everything. If you see someone doing the wrong thing, say something. Say something to them, say something to us, say something to GWIC, say something to your club leaders, but DO NOT ignore someone doing the wrong thing. Such a person badly lets us all down. As to property conditions, if you know someone who needs help, or a property that is falling apart, please tell us or your club, and let us all help people who need help.
Working together we will keep our greyhound industry great and proud.
