Wednesday, 14 August 2024

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (09:59): I talk about issues within greyhound racing a lot. Victoria does not just have record-high track deaths, skyrocketing injury rates and dogs being hidden away before being killed, we also have an overbreeding crisis that the government and Greyhound Racing Victoria are unwilling to address. Right now the greyhound racing industry is breeding five times more puppies than industry groups have the capacity to rehome. That means that volunteer-run, donor-funded and largely anti-racing community rescue groups are stepping in to pick up the pieces without a single cent – not a cent – from the government to do this work. But right now they are overwhelmed, with a six-month-long waitlist. Trainers are literally begging them to take dogs – they even begged my office to take dogs. But we simply cannot due to the sheer number of them compared with the limited places for them to go afterwards. That is why organisations like Greyt Greys Rescue are right now calling for foster carers, so they can free up more space and spare more dogs in need right now from their suffering. I have been a foster carer, and it is incredibly rewarding. I am very bad at it; I always foster fail. It simply requires taking a dog for a period of time until they find their perfect match through the adoption process. Fostering quite literally saves lives, so if you can offer up your heart, your home and, to be honest, probably your couch, please sign up to foster today.