Coalition for Protection of Greyhounds says Townsville death part of spike in race fatalities

An animal welfare organisation says the death of a greyhound on the Townsville racetrack continues the spike in fatalities in Queensland.

The death of a young greyhound on the Townsville racetrack has highlighted the region’s high greyhound fatality rate, say animal welfare advocates. Picture: File Photo

An animal welfare organisation says the death of a greyhound on the Townsville racetrack continues the spike in fatalities in Queensland.

“Queensland has been a disaster zone for greyhounds,” Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds director for Queensland Annie Hendley said on Wednesday.

Ms Hendley was speaking after the death of Velocity Jelisa, aged 22 months, who was running at the Townsville Greyhound Racing Club on October 25.

According to the Stewards’ Report from the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission, Velocity was “severely checked” rounding the first turn in Race Four and failed to complete the course.

“A post-race veterinary examination revealed an injury to the right wrist and the greyhound was subsequently humanely euthanised,” the report reads.

Greyhounds racing in this file photo.

CPG said the race video had been removed from the official Racing Queensland website.

It said that while the death was the first on the track this year, 10 other greyhounds had died in the Townsville region in 2024.

“Of these, five were euthanised due to ‘injury’, including Nadina Bale, suffering heat stress in her last race, and Four Rangers, suffering head bruising,” the coalition said.

“Another two greyhounds were euthanised due to supposedly not being rehomable.”

Racing Queensland said it was continually exploring and adopting new strategies to reduce injury and euthanasia rates of greyhounds.

“This includes analysis of injury data and research into risk factors for injury; the development of track curator conferencing; and standardisation across track maintenance, preparation methodology and equipment.”

A Racing Queensland spokesman said about 3 per cent of starters across all Queensland greyhound tracks incurred injury, with the “vast majority of those able to return to racing inside a fortnight”.

“The adoption of the Race Meeting Injury Scheme, along with QRIC’s enhanced protocols around the treatment of on-course injuries, supports the industry’s commitment to placing animal welfare at the core of its day-to-day activities,” he said.

“Since launching the RMIS, euthanasia rates have reduced by more than 70 per cent, with the policy designed to remove any barriers that may exist for Queensland participants to rehabilitate their greyhounds.”

A greyhound at the Townsville Greyhound Racing Club in this file photo.

CPG said three greyhounds had now died racing on Queensland tracks in October, and 15 in total this year, compared to the death of a 12 dogs on tracks in all of 2023.

Ms Hendley said previous Racing Minister Grace Grace had done little to address concerns in the industry, including unsafe tracks, unnecessary euthanasia and overbreeding.

“It’s too easy to kill a greyhound in Queensland.”

She asked why Velocity Jelisa was not saved by the injury rebate scheme.

“By censoring race videos, Racing Queensland is admitting that the community doesn’t accept the ongoing suffering of racing greyhounds.”

Ms Hendley said that according to Racing Queensland’s latest annual report, greyhound racing wagering revenue fell 23.7 percent.

She said the industry was shrinking and “propped up by Queensland taxpayers”.

“The Queensland Racing Integrity Commission has to urgently talk to greyhound welfare groups about the many serious issues that plague the industry.”

QRIC deputy commissioner Kim Kelly said the death of Velocity Jelisa was “regrettable”.

He said, however, that while there was an increase in the number of greyhounds euthanised in 2024 when compared to 2023, the details that alleged these incidents happened exclusively on track were untrue.

He said the other animals mentioned sustained injuries at registered kennels and not on track as alleged.

The QRIC were unable to provide the exact figures on Thursday afternoon.

Originally published as Coalition for Protection of Greyhounds says Townsville death part of spike in race fatalities