Slow Dog, Dead Dog ~ Jeff Corbett

[Carolyn Bailey]

This article was written in response to the call to ban greyhounds being exported from Australia to Macau, in which it was stated: 

"GREYHOUNDS exported to Macau are facing a ''death sentence'' and living in inhumane conditions but the government says it is not in control of animal welfare in other countries, despite placing strict conditions on livestock exported overseas." 
[http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/call-to-ban-export-...]

Sending greyhound pups to Macau, says the animal-protection group that uncovered the cruel fate of Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs, should be banned because the dogs are killed if they don’t perform. Huh?

Australians have developed a passion for sticking our nose into the practices of other nations, but our nose is far from clean. Sure, the cruelty involved in the slaughtering of cattle in some Indonesian abattoirs, as uncovered by Animals Australia, was distressing but for anyone with any experience of the world beyond Australia’s shores it was hardly shocking.

Our horror is curiously selective. Does anyone in the cattle and meat industry believe that animals in Australia are always stunned unconscious, as Australia requires, before having their throat cut so they can bleed to death to meet halal standards?

But the naivety in Animals Australia's outrage at the fate of Australian greyhounds sent to Macau is more remarkable than anything the organisation says about that fate. It says Australian greyhounds sent to Macau are killed if they fail to finish in the top three in five consecutive races.

What does Animals Australia think happens to slow greyhounds in Australia? It seems odd that the organisation is in a lather over the exporting of about 300 greyhounds a year to Macau when NSW alone has tens of thousands of them. If they won't chase, if they fight, if they are slow, if they are too old to race and to win, if they are not deemed suitable for breeding they are killed. They are as dead as they are in Macau when they’re killed for the very same reasons. And does it really matter if the Chinese eat them?

A few organisations try to find homes for retired greyhounds in Australia but as worthy a cause as it is for these friendly dogs comparatively few escape the bullet or the needle or the iron bar or whatever is the owner’s or trainer’s preferred method. Figures are hard to come by because greyhounds bred for racing are not required to be microchipped or registered with councils, but one estimate I’ve found is that more than 125,000 greyhounds are bred to race in Australia a year and that only a quarter of these actually race. Don’t look in pet shops for the 94,000 that don’t make it to the track.

http://www.theherald.com.au/blogs/jeff-corbett/slow-dog-dead-dog/24... 

[Kerry Baker]

There is a problem with the racing industry period.  Horses suffer like the greyhounds but I think that they are more obviously abused and out in the open.  And yes there is a hugely racist overtone to these debates, and complete denial of responsibility.  Consider that in Melbourne where horses are maimed and killed every year in steeplechase events, the Minister in charge of racing is a member of the Warrnambool Racing Club.  So it goes on even though the majority of people want them stopped.  Something like 20% of Victoria's revenue comes from gambling, and I suspect it's similar in the other states.  So it isn't likely we will see much responsible attitude towards the racing industry in the short term.