Source: SAFE For Animals
Animal rights organisation SAFE is ringing in the new year with an urgent call for the Government to ban greyhound racing, after yet another dog suffered injuries severe enough to result in her death.
The greyhound, Megan’s Munch, sustained four broken bones after a fall at the Auckland tracks on December 29. Suffering what the vet report described as ‘catastrophic injuries’, she has since been euthanized.
SAFE Campaigns Manager Anna de Roo said the report made for stomach churning reading.
“Two broken legs, one leg broken in three places the other leg with a break so severe the bone protruded from the skin. This can’t go on.”
“We can’t keep subjecting greyhounds to painful and life-threatening injuries for gambling profits – the public won’t stand for it,” de Roo said.
In the short time since December 29, there have been 33 injuries on New Zealand dog racing tracks.
On January 8 alone, one greyhound endured a venous hemorrhage after a laceration ripped open a vein, another suffered a dislocated toe and metatarsal injury needing surgery, and a third greyhound required sutures.
“The social licence of this industry has been called into question time and time again. If New Zealand wants to be taken seriously as a world leader in animal welfare, action must be taken immediately.”
“We are already falling behind, with only seven countries in the world allowing this barbaric ‘sport’ to continue,” said de Roo.
The Racing Minister, Kieran McAnulty, will be considering the fate of the industry after receiving the Racing Integrity Board’s report on greyhound racing last month.
SAFE is Aotearoa’s leading animal rights organisation.
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Notes for editors:
- The stream of horrific incidents follows the release of a damning Petitions Select Committee report of the industry which highlighted “serious concerns” with everything from greyhound methamphetamine exposure to a disturbing upwards trend in serious injuries. The report, which was presented to the House of Representatives last month, questioned whether the greyhound racing industry retained the social licence required to continue to operate.
- A poll by Cammora Research ltd. found 74% of New Zealanders would vote to ban greyhound racing in a referendum.
- A 2021 petition demanding a ban on greyhound racing accrued over 37,000 signatures.
- Following a review of the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson, the previous Racing Minister, stated there are three fundamental issues that still need to be addressed; data recording, transparency of all activities, and animal welfare generally. He tasked the Racing Integrity board to identify a specific set of indicators over each of these areas that will be used to assess the industry’s progress, reporting back to the Minister before the end of 2022.
- In August 2021, Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan accepted The Greyhound Protection League of New Zealand’s 37,700 signature-strong petition, calling for a ban on greyhound racing in New Zealand. SAFE had been supporting the petition since November 2020.
- Greyhound racing is legal in only seven countries. A ban in the Australian Capital Territory came into force in April 2018, followed by a ban in Florida, USA, in November 2018. Since Florida is home to 11 of the USA’s 17 active dog tracks, this is a signal that greyhound racing will soon become a thing of the past in the United States.
