Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Greyhound racing

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (14:56): I rise to speak on the ongoing tragedy of greyhound deaths and injuries in Victoria. As we approach midyear it is a sorry and painful task to outline the casualty rate of the cruel and exploitative greyhound racing industry. Shamefully yet again we see that Victoria is by far the most lethal state for greyhounds. The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds collates death and injury data from publicly released stewards reports. To date for 2024, 56 greyhounds have died from on-track injuries across Australia. By a large margin Victoria shamefully has the highest death toll, at 21 dogs, nearly three times more than New South Wales, which has eight. Whilst stewards reports reveal the large numbers of greyhounds that die on racetracks, we know many more dogs are killed away from the tracks after being injured. 1339 greyhounds suffered on-track injuries in Victoria, 248 of those major injuries.

The Victorian Animal Care and Protection Bill, which will replace the current Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986, presents an opportunity to resolve the current disgraceful situation whereby greyhounds in the racing industry are effectively exempted from the mandatory cruelty protections that other dogs receive. A life of misery in the name of entertainment is not acceptable, and it is time to make the racing industry treat greyhounds as well as you or I would.