Greyhound trainer Simon Humphries accused of live baiting, emailing ‘disgraceful’ comments to female GRV steward
A Victorian greyhound trainer has been accused of kicking a rabbit before emailing “disgraceful” and “sexist” comments to a steward amid a live baiting investigation.
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A veteran greyhound trainer is accused of kicking a live rabbit before he emailed “sexist” and “disgraceful” comments to a female steward in another live baiting scandal to hit the greyhound racing industry.
Trainer Simon Humphries, whose experience in the greyhound industry spans more than four decades, remains at the centre of an ongoing live baiting investigation dating back more than 12 months.
The report, handed down by Damien Morris, GRV’s head of integrity and welfare, uncovered a video of Mr Humphries kicking a rabbit held on a leash as it tried to escape from a whippet.
“(The video) depicts Mr Humphries with a live rabbit on a lead encouraging (the) whippet to interact with the rabbit,” the report states.
“Mr Humphries kicked the rabbit to make it move and it tries to escape while the whippet continues to harass the rabbit.
“The rabbit is clearly terrified and frightened and continues to try to escape whilst its movement on the lead was controlled by Mr Humphries.”
The remains of a burnt rabbit were also found in a fire pit on his property last July.
Whippet racing — which is privately conducted by breed clubs and individuals — is not regulated by GRV but the governing body are still actively probing the reports.
A search of Mr Humphries’ property in December then found “items used to trap and capture rabbits” including ropes fitted with nooses that “could be used to restrict and control the movement of rabbits”.
A month later, racing stewards were threatened by Mr Humphries at his kennels before he launched a series of “insulting and offensive” Facebook posts directed toward officials.
He is then accused of emailing “derogatory, offensive, sexist, degrading and disgraceful” comments to a female GRV steward.
He has since been warned off pending the outcome of the broader probe into his behaviour.
Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, who has long called out dodgy practices within the “hideous” industry, said a historic review of live baiting within GRV’s ranks was failing.
“Live baiting is arguably the most concerning element of the greyhound killing industry and this latest case proves to us that we can’t trust GRV and its fake assurances that they’ve cleaned up their act,” she said.
“Live baiting is part of the business model. The only difference now is that industry participants know they shouldn’t do it, so instead they find ways to quietly do it.”
Ms Purcell called on Racing Minister Anthony Carbines to step in.
“GRV’s spin doctors say they’ve cleaned up the industry and removed the rot, but it’s still there and it’s time that Racing Minister Anthony Carbines intervened,” she added.
“Greyhound Racing Victoria simply cannot be trusted to stamp out the cruel practice of live baiting, so it’s time that the Allan government formally puts this industry on notice.”
Mr Humphries could not be contacted for comment.
Racing Minister Anthony Carbines said authorities acted “swiftly” to suspend Mr Humphries.
“We take the safety of racing animals very seriously,” he said.
“It’s why we work closely with Greyhound Racing Victoria to implement significant safety improvements - including the $2m we’ve delivered for the new Greyhound Whole of Life Digital Tracking Program.
“GRV are taking this matter very seriously — acting swiftly to suspend this trainer and launch an investigation.
“We will continue (to) back GRV with what it needs to protect dogs and uphold racing integrity.”
Originally published as Greyhound trainer Simon Humphries accused of live baiting, emailing ‘disgraceful’ comments to female GRV steward
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