Australian betting operator Tabcorp said it supports an announcement made today by the New South Wales government that greyhound racing in the region will be given the opportunity to continue beyond July 2017.
NSW greyhound racing represents around five per cent of Tabcorp’s total wagering turnover.
The company is in favour a well-regulated greyhound racing industry where animal welfare is the priority.
The new regulations, in response to animal cruelty, will include:
· Mandatory life bans as well as increased jail terms for live baiting;
· Registering all greyhounds for their entire lives;
· An independent regulator with strong new powers to ensure transparency and accountability; and
· Substantially increased resources for enforcement and prosecution as well as animal welfare.
The head of the NSW government, Mike Baird, announced a greyhound industry reform panel that will determine the new regime and ensure NSW greyhound racing is the cleanest in the country.
Baird said the government had listened to community concerns about the racing ban and the way it was implemented.
“It’s clear the community agrees that the cruelty must end,” said Baird. “But we underestimated the community’s desire to give the greyhound industry one last chance to reform and conform to the highest standards of animal welfare.
“The industry can’t return to the status quo - the barbaric practices of live baiting, cruel wastage and high rates of injury must end.”
The RSPCA, members of the greyhound racing industry and government representatives have been invited to join the five-person panel. The greyhound industry’s own commitments to having total life cycle management, controlled breeding, zero tolerance for animal cruelty and eliminating avoidable injury will be the starting point for the panel’s work.
Subject to the panel’s recommendations, legislation would be introduced early in 2017 to repeal the ban and deliver the new regime under which racing would operate.
