Greyhound ban: Baird pushes on, despite claims key report over-estimates number of dogs being killed

A DETERMINED Premier Mike Baird will take the first formal step towards banning NSW’s greyhound racing industry today. HAVE YOUR SAY.

• MPs URGE BAIRD TO GIVE INDUSTRY A CHANCE
• A DOG’S LIFE FOR MUM-AND-DAUGHTER TRAINERS
• EDITORIAL: BAIRD’S GREYHOUND BAN BITES TOO HARD
• DOG RACE ORGANISERS FACE ONE YEAR JAIL AND FINES

A DETERMINED Premier Mike Baird will take the first formal step towards banning NSW’s greyhound racing industry today despite claims a key report used to justify the closure over-estimates the number of dogs being killed by up to 10 times.

The Baird government will table its greyhound ban legislation in parliament’s Upper House this morning, giving the $350 million industry less than 11 months before it is shut down on July 1, 2017 — nine decades after the state’s first dog race at Epping Racecourse in Glebe.

Mr Baird remains adamant his government had no choice after former High Court judge Michael McHugh’s damning report on the live baiting scandal and greyhound “wastage”.

Lawyers acting for the GBOTA strongly dispute the dog death figures / Picture: Nathan Edwards

“It is not an easy decision. It is one that has weighed heavy on all of us. But we genuinely think there was no other option. We think it is the right thing to do,” Mr Baird said. “We understand there are good people in the industry who have been let down very badly by their own.

“There are many in the industry that have sat back while live baiting has continued, the slaughter of healthy dogs has continued, injuries have not been reported — some of them catastrophic.”

Mr McHugh’s report is at the centre of a Supreme Court case that launched yesterday.

Lawyers acting for the GBOTA strongly dispute the dog death figures and are questioning the legal validity of Mr McHugh’s suggestion the greyhound industry no longer has a “social licence” to operate.

Premier Mike Baird addresses the media at Parliament House yesterday over the ban / Picture: Sam Ruttyn

GBOTA lawyer David Bennett QC told Supreme Court Justice Christine Adamson the GBOTA is seeking a declaration that Mr McHugh’s findings were invalid due to “inadmissable evidence,” including, “very serious statistical errors”.

The greyhound industry claims Mr McHugh over-estimated the amount of dogs killed by a factor of 10.

The McHugh report estimated up to 70 per cent of greyhounds born are killed because they aren’t suitable for racing. But Greyhound Racing NSW conducted an audit of all dogs born over three years and found only 7 per cent were euthanised because they weren’t suitable for racing.

The audit, called Project 106, tracked the status of the 9149 dogs born between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013. It found 504 dogs were euthanised because they were non-competitive.

But Noel Hutley SC, acting for the government, said the claim Mr McHugh made statistical errors when estimating the amount of greyhounds killed was, “completely wrong”.

The government has the numbers to pass the legislation, potentially within a few days / Picture: Nathan Edwards

The case will return to the Supreme Court for directions on September 29 — long after the ban is expected to have been passed into law.

The government has the numbers to pass the legislation, potentially within a few days. But the Coalition has been bruised over the issue, with at least three Liberal and National MPs vowing to not support the legislation and others raising serious concerns about its impact on their constituents.

Liberal Peter Phelps and Nationals Katrina Hodgkinson and Kevin Humphries stopped short of promising to vote against the government but have been scathing their criticism.

Deputy Premier Troy Grant got a round of applause from more supportive MPs during yesterday’s joint partyroom meeting, which ticked off on the legislation.

Premier Mike Baird says he won’t back down over the ban / Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Luddenham Pet Foods co-proprietor Rebecca Pace will be forced to sack up to 12 staff as a result of the ban. The 50-year-old family business supplies food to racing dogs across NSW.

“The greyhound industry is 80 per cent of our trade,’’ Ms Pace told the Daily Telegraph.

“We just won’t be able to survive on 20 per cent, it will kill us.

“We’ll have to let all of our staff go and they’re going to find it very difficult to find jobs.”

Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association (GBOTA) boss Brenton Scott was still clinging to hope for a reprieve as he met Mr Baird and Mr Grant yesterday morning. There is still no firm detail on what compensation the government will provide.

The industry insists it should be given more time to reform and Mr McHugh’s report makes 79 recommendations that offered a pathway to change. Its top recommendation was for parliament to consider a ban.