It seems to be an over reaction to suggest that Greyhound racing be banned in New South Wales because some trainers have been caught "blooding " their dogs by tying live rabbits or other small animals to the lure. This form of cruelty is banned - along with cock fighting and dog fights on which bets are placed on the winning animals.
Unfortunately, when gambling and sport come together it opens the door for all sorts of malpractice. It is up to the sports administrators to impose strict rules and usually the ultimate penalty for the most serious infringements is to ban the person concerned from participating in that sport for life. That would be a more realistic punishment in this "live baiting "case than shutting down a sport with a huge following and which employs thousands.
It is said that horse racing is the "Sport of Kings ". It certainly takes immense amounts of money to buy, train and field a race horse and this is clearly the prerogative of wealthy people. In contrast, Greyhound racing is said to be the "Sport of Battlers ". Very ordinary people buy a promising dog and often feed it better than they feed themselves, spend countless hours in the wee small hours of the morning exercising the animal to race fitness - and if they are lucky - produce a champion that brings in lucrative winning cheques.
Racing Greyhounds is different to most other animal sports. The aim is to get the dogs to compete with others and race around a track for a given distance - and to do that they require something to chase. In this case, it is a mechanical lure - usually referred to as the "Hare " - and quite clearly the intention is to fool the dog that it is chasing some sort of animal. In the distant past, many trainers considered that the only sure way to get a dog excited enough to consistently compete was to allow it to catch and tear apart a real live animal as bait. This was referred to as "blooding "the dog and it drew the ire of many people and was legally banned.
It is suspected that some trainers substituted "road kill " to overcome this ban. Placing a dead animal on the lure certainly allowed the dog to taste victory during the training regime and it technically circumvented the law, but it would also be repugnant to many people. Greyhounds are a breed feared by many. They are required to be muzzled when exercised by long walks on public streets and because of their training they sometimes attack other dogs or cats they encounter. There are also limits on how many Greyhounds can be exercised in a bunch by a single trainer.
Greyhound racing is a national sport and is widely covered by the media. Betting facilities are provided by both the TAB and bookmakers and the industry is supported by a range of government inspectors who take blood samples from dogs to check for illegal stimulants. Racing takes place at racing tracks dedicated to that particular sport and the annual turnover amounts to many millions of dollars.
Old folklore remedies die hard and some old hands are adamant that a Greyhound must taste blood to create the excitement to beat others in chasing the hare. It seems that in this instance a minority have broken the law and brought the industry into disrepute. If sufficient evidence can be obtained, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and serve at least a lengthy suspension from further participation in Greyhound racing. That would be the expectation of followers of this sport.
To simply ban Greyhound racing because of the actions of as small minority makes no sense !
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