Former TV star Lynda Stoner, now Animal Liberation CEO, overjoyed at decision to shut down greyhound racing in NSW

ANIMAL activist Lynda Stoner said she was hopeful other states would follow the lead of NSW premier Mike Baird in ending greyhound racing.

Animal Liberation CEO Lynda Stoner.

ANIMAL rights activists including Mosman’s Lynda Stoner were jubilant about the ban on greyhound racing in NSW, announced today.

“We are jumping with joy,” said Stoner who is CEO of Animal Liberation.

“It is the most wonderful decision by the NSW Government and puts an end to this terrible, cruel sport which caused the deaths of thousands of dogs and other animals with live baiting.

“Cruelty goes hand in hand with greyhound racing.”

Lynda Stoner (front, right) with other activists protesting the export of Australian greyhounds to Macau.

Animal Liberation is one of the groups who have been lobbying for many years to put an end to greyhound racing.

“It is not a widely attended sport but it involved a few people making money off the back of dogs — dogs that would be gotten rid of as soon as their racing lives were over,” Ms Stoner said.

Ms Stoner although greyhound racing had yet to be banned in other states, she was optimistic they would follow NSW’s lead.

“It’s taken an inquiry to end this unspeakable ‘sport’ — if you can call it that — and the writing is now on the wall for other states,” she said.

Premier Mike Baird making the announcement about the end of greyhound racing in NSW.

Ms Stoner said while there would be a challenge in rehoming some of the greyhounds, more importantly the ban would put an end to breeding greyhounds for racing in NSW.

“Even when the greyhounds are kept alive, they are often kept in concrete boxes,’’ she said.

Ms Stoner recently attend a protest outside the Irish consul in Sydney to protest greyhound racing in Macau in Hong Kong. A ban on importing Australian greyhounds to Macau had triggered trainers to source dogs in Ireland.

“Macau is also likely to be shut down soon,’’ she said.

A scene from the Four Corners program exposing the practice of live baiting in greyhound racing.

NSW premier Mike Baird said the greyhound industry in NSW — which employs 1000 people directly and earns $30 million in state revenue — would be shut down completely from July next year.

The decision follows a Special Commission of Inquiry, the findings of which were handed to the state government last week.

It was ordered after a report on the ABC’s Four Corners in February 2015 revealed that illegal practises such as the use of piglets, possums and rabbits as live bait were rife in the Australian greyhound industry.