Background to racing greyhounds’ euthanasia revealed in new RTI document
Spleen cancer, blood clotting disorders and spinal infections, these are some of the conditions 59 racing greyhounds had before they were euthanised, an RTI document has revealed.
Tasmania
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Spleen cancer, blood clotting disorders, kidney disease and spinal infections – these are some of the conditions 59 racing greyhounds had before they were euthanised, a document released through the RTI process has revealed.
The data, published by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in January, lists information behind the cases of euthanised greyhounds from the racing industry.
Some dogs as young as one year were euthanised, with the comments for an unnamed greyhound listing “Greyhound had Cellulitis, sepsis and skin & muscle death”.
For veterinarian and advocate for the end of taxpayer funding for greyhound racing Dr Katrina Ward, seeing the prevalence of treatable diseases or chronic illnesses on the list was extremely concerning.
“As vets, we see a lot of euthanasia, but seeing so many treatable diseases or illnesses that are chronic makes me question the care these animals are receiving,” she said.
“There’s quite a few infections and some dogs dying from not being desexed.
“I notice a few without any explanation at all.”
Dr Ward believes better traceability and tracking of greyhounds by the industry and industry bodies throughout their racing career would make data like this publicly available, giving insight to greyhounds’ treatment in racing.
“Why are they failing to recover from desexing?” she said.
“Why are their wounds getting infected?
“If there’s no traceability, there’s no real data and no way to ensure proper industry standards.”
RSPCA Tasmania CEO Andrea Dawkins said the RTI data was the first of its kind she had seen and indicated the need for reporting consistency in racing.
The organisation outlined a Tasmanian Greyhound Traceability System in its July 2024 Improving Welfare Outcomes for Tasmanian Greyhounds report, which would build off of NSW’s own ETrac greyhound tracking software to follow a greyhound for their whole life in racing.
As to the future of monitoring greyhounds, Ms Dawkins said the RSPCA is hopeful of the state’s first Tasmanian Racing Integrity Commissioner Sean Carroll, who will begin his new role in February.
“We are putting our faith in Sean Carroll in the hopes that he can make these changes for industry,” she said.
A spokesperson from the Office of Racing Integrity (ORI) said all registered greyhound deaths are investigated and results are publicly reported.
In response to potential links between health conditions and prohibited substances, the ORI spokesperson said incidence of substances in Tasmanian racing greyhounds “is very low”, with only four form 612 swabs taken in the 2023-24 year.
“The ORI is aware of the location of all Tasmanian registered racing greyhounds and any that have been retired as pets to a licenced greyhound racing participant,” the ORI said.
“The reporting of deaths of any of these dogs to the Office of Racing Integrity is mandatory.”
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Originally published as Background to racing greyhounds’ euthanasia revealed in new RTI document
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