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Fact
sheet 1:
What
the Australian greyhound industry don't want you to know
The
Australian public are largely unaware of the cruelty inflicted on
greyhounds as we are sure if they knew the true facts about greyhound
racing they would not support it. We hope to enlighten you
Every year Tens of thousands of greyhounds in Australia are exploited
for profit in the name of entertainment and consequently sentenced
to a brutal death. The racing itself is cruel as greyhounds are
not built to run oval tracks which leads to frequent painful injuries
such torn muscles, ligaments, broken hocks and toes.
Due to the long periods of kennelling and confinement greyhounds
have suffered from dehydration, heat stroke which has on occasions
led to heartattacks. The training itself is gruelling for the dogs
and live bait such as cats, rabbits and chickens are often used
to bloody the greyhounds and work them into a frenzy. There is evidence
to suggest that some of the injured dogs are being injected with
illegal drugs to cover injuries whilst others are being pumped with
illegal performance enhancing drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines
and anabolic steroids with a view to fixing races.
Due to the over breeding and short racing 'careers' there is a huge
surplus of greyhounds with the majority of the dogs being murdered
such as the recent mutilations of the greyhounds in Hobart. RSPCA
figures show further evidence that many greyhounds are 'disposed'
of through other cruel methods such as drowning, shooting, beating
and some have been buried alive. Thousands of puppies that fail
the grade are routinely killed. Many dogs are abandoned with little
hope of finding a home, even though greyhounds are naturally docile
and affectionate dogs and given the chance they make wonderful pets.
The Australian greyhound racing industry and other callous individuals
are also supplying an enormous number of ex racing greyhounds to
universities, veterinary schools and vivisection laboratories for
the purpose of experimentation and dissection. These helpless and
frightened dogs are being repaid for their years of loyalty by being
tortured through unnecessary and painful experiments and finally
killed and dissected. The bodies of the dissected formaldehyde preserved
greyhounds are lined up on their backs with their legs in the air
next to one another on racks.
For evidence of how Australian ex-racing greyhounds used in horrific
experiments visit http://www.thylazine.org/photogallery/knight
Greyhounds Australasia Ltd who are responsible but claim not to
be accountable for Australian greyhound racing say that they are
against the donating and selling or passing of greyhounds to vivisection.
Yet they have refused to take action or implement and enforce any
measures to protect the greyhounds and prevent them from such a
barbaric fate
The Australian racing authorities, private individuals and corporations
are further adding to the suffering of Australian greyhounds by
promoting and encouraging greyhound racing in Asia.
The majority of the dogs are being exported from Australia with
racing and breeding already underway in Vietnam, Macau, Korea and
more recently Shanghai in 'Shanghai Wild Animal Park' were not only
greyhound racing is underway but horse and ostrich racing.
This is a park were live feeding of animals to the lions are considered
entertainment by tourists who pay money to see defenceless animals
being terrified and torn apart and eventually killed.
So what happens to the hundreds of Australian greyhounds in this
park when they are no longer useful to them!!!!!
The racing industry further plan on creating a network of tracks
throughout Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia. These are countries
notorious for the barbaric torture and slaughter of dogs for human
consumption. There is no hope or opportunity of rehoming greyhounds
that are 'surplus' to requirements in Asia. They are ending their
days being butchered in the dog meat industry. At present this is
the fate of Australian greyhounds in Asia and Australia
Undercover investigations have shown greyhounds have been tortured,
skinned and eventually murdered in Asia. The following photograph
is of Australian ex racing greyhounds in Korea and we have found
similar evidence in other countries.
Greyhounds
Australasia's disassociate themselves from any responsibility or
accountability for the welfare of Australasian greyhounds and no
doubt the figures for the number of greyhounds 'disposed' of every
year by the Australian racing industry and the export of Australian
greyhounds to Asia clearly speaks for itself.
Greyhound racing has been recognised as an inherently cruel 'sport'
and abolished recently in South Africa and in six states in the
US with ongoing campaigns.
The only way to prevent the massive suffering and killing of Australian
greyhounds caused by the greyhound racing industry is for greyhound
racing to be abolished in Australia.
The Australian greyhound industry don't keep records of greyhounds
killed, for the obvious reason that there would be outrage if these
figures ever got made public.
The best we can do, therefore, is to arrive at some sort of estimate
from other figures issued by the industry.
According to figures for 2002 (the latest available) issued by Greyhounds
Australasia Ltd,
greyhounds named = 12,875, litters whelped = 3,040.
This
means that in 2002, there were 3,040 litters of greyhounds born.
It is generally accepted that, on average, greyhound have 8 pups
per litter.
Thus, from 3,040 litters, there should be about 24,320 pups.
"Greyhounds named" means greyhound pups registered by
the racing industry (when they are given a racing name).
In 2002 12,875 were named, so what has happened to the remaining
11,445?
What
the situation looks like, is that over 24,000 greyhound pups are
born every year in Australia. Less than 13,000 of these are actually
registered, meaning that almost 12,000 "go missing". Sadly,
it looks like Australian greyhound breeders are killing thousands
of pups they think will fail to come up to racing standard.
In
Britain the average number of pups registered per litter by the
greyhound racing industry is about 6, so why is only just over 4
in Australia (and less than 3.5 in some states)?
Are Australian breeders that bit more ruthless than their British
counterparts?
Total
number of greyhounds registered yearly in Australia is 12,875.
If 12,875 greyhounds are registered every year, a similar number
will become "surplus to requirements" of the racing industry
in the same period, seeing as the industry is not expanding.
A small percentage of these dogs will be kept by "owners"/trainers
and some will be found homes by the Greyhound Adoption Programme
(GAP), which exists in a few states, but the vast majority will,
sadly, end up being put to death.
The following statements from GAP branches illustrates the problem:-
GAP
(NSW) is not a "rescue" organisation - at present we do
not have the resources to retrieve the many Greyhounds surrendered
to council pounds and vet clinics across NSW and the ACT each year.
We would like to be able to rehome every retired Greyhound in QLD.
Unfortunately this is not possible because of the sheer numbers
involved. Although countless greyhounds become available for adoption
each year, there are not enough people interested in having them
as pets.
Thus, we estimate that the Australian
greyhound racing industry is responsible for the deaths of as many
as 20,000 greyhounds every year.
Greyhound
Action Australasia has been set up to target and expose the ruthless
greyhound industry not only in Australia but also in New Zealand
and Asia.
Email: greyhoundactionaustralasia@hotmail.com
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