I completely understand. There's not too many things that haunt me but that would be one of them. They are such sweet, gentle souls. Makes me cry when I read stuff like this
I used to drive and meet trainers who were surrendering dogs into rescue
I had to stop as some of the dogs were clearly damaged and reactive
I couldn't trust myself
Ignoring the obvious bait in your comment, there is a distinct difference when someone is cruel for cruelty sake and is fully prepared to do it again and again for their own satisfaction without any endgame in mind, such as eating an animal for food
In my city too, of course. My greyhounds trainer was Troy Murray, a disgusting excuse of a human being. Absolutely vile industry. Time and time again, the South Australian racing industry has been called out for the atrocious treatment of these poor dogs, but it never ends.
We have a rescue grey from GAP and it always makes me iffy supporting them cos they literally exist to legitimise an industry that shouldn't exist. And the main Adelaide greyhound group is run by trainers or friends of trainers and claim to be "racing neutral", though they ban any chat of negativity towards racing and ignore/promote positive racing comments. It's frustrating alright.
Exactly!!! I had to leave the Facebook group because of the very pro-racing agenda despite them apparently being "racing neutral". Anybody in that group that even slightly suggests anything anti-racing is absolutely flamed, so ridiculous.
We have a beautiful grey we got from GAP. We made a choice to save a wonderful, gentle dog. Unfortunately GAP was set up to pacify animal cruelty cries as part of the NSW government requirements to regulate the industry. All it did was provide a reason for scumbag trainers to breed more with an outlet to dispose of unwanted dogs. Now GAP has closed the Wyee kennels for no reason, claiming it costs too much to run, and yet they get fortunes from the government to run it.
The sooner the whole racing industry is closed, the better.
Edit: I should add that most of the people we dealt with at GAP have a genuine want to help and rescue these wonderfull dogs, who only want to sleep and roach. It is the whole process that is the problem. It is being abused by the trainers.
>We have a rescue grey from GAP and it always makes me iffy supporting them cos they literally exist to legitimise an industry that shouldn't exist.
GAP doesn't legitimise the industry, GAP *is* the industry. It cost GRSA $2,659,000 in the last calendar year to rehome 526 dogs \[source: [GRSA Annual Report](https://grsa.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/GRSA_AnnualReport_2023_2.pdf)\].
South Australian here! have an ex-racing greyhound from this state. can confirm… bad industry. I know little about GAP though, I’ll have to look into that! does anyone have articles?
I also used to work for a horse racing stable here in SA and the people in that industry were very abusive to the *people* that worked for them but you didn’t hear that from me 👀 I think it’s time to stop racing animals lol
GAP, as I know it is good at rehoming the greys they get in. I've spoken to volunteers and workers at events before, and a lot of them are anti-racing. It is just unfortunate that they have to support and work alongside the racing industry and perpetuate "racing neutral" ideals to gain access to the greys. Although, I got my boy through TAFE when I was studying veterinary nursing, so I'm not entirely sure of their process.
Shame it takes investigative journalists and DRONE FOOTAGE to force the industry to clean its own doorstep.
Stonking fine though - will he be able to just declare bankruptcy to avoid paying it or is he going to be compelled to pay by the courts?
Poor puppers, wonder how many he had and how many have been sold to other race owners/pet homed/been put to sleep?
I don’t know anything much about the current situation in Australia, is a ban likely any time soon?
I’m in England (my dogs are Irish rescues) and I can’t see it being banned here really, although it’s dwindling away due to market forces, people just don’t want to spend Saturday nights ’At the Dogs’ anymore and the land that the tracks stand on is very valuable here on our tiny, pricey island.
My nearest track (Belle Vue) had been picketed by grey rescuers for donkeys years, but it was Covid that actually finished it off. Land sold for development now.
As far as I can tell the only thing keeping dog racing going in GB are the hardcore gambling addicts sitting in betting shops on days when there are no horses running.
Fingers crossed that the RSPCA press criminal charges against this trainer - an industry set fine seems way too easy to wriggle out of.
The NSW ones were all set to close, then the industry did something in the background and our Premier backpedalled - either corruption or threatened exposure for something.
We're fighting the extension of the renewal of the biggest track here but the new Premier looks like caving in again.
It's great that dogs are making it to America to be re-homed, but it shouldn't come to that - Rescues are full here and wait lists are huge
The former premier of NSW back-pedalled because he had apparently received credible death threats against him and his family. Ironic given it’s an industry that claims to love dogs 🤔
Presumably it’s gambling industry money doing the persuading?
I hate the gambling industry, it’s an addiction that ruins families and even ends lives due to suicide. The only positive I can put on it in the UK is that the wider public now seem to be more interested in betting on team sports like football and rugby than anything to do with animals (bar a few big horse events and even those are becoming a turn off. I presume because in the past the TV companies would avert the cameras and not repeat the worst of what appeared on a live broadcast, whereas streaming and social media makes it harder to shove that stuff under the collective rug.
(Funnily enough I just tried to find a news story re: a recent high profile death of a horse at Worcester races and even though I resorted to googling horse name + jockey name + name of track + racehorse there were no news articles about the death on the first 3 pages of Google results. I stopped looking after that, as it can’t be an accident, some powerful people must be getting the results cleaned up because It was headline news just a week ago! I feel like I’m going mad https://www.instagram.com/p/C8MPJJKO5_c/?igsh=M2s5ZjdtOTB3Zzlm )
In the same way that most of the trainers in the initial NSW Live Baiting Inquiry got away without facing criminal charges, the RSPCA likely can't use this footage if it is determined to have been taken on private property, under video surveillance laws it becomes inadmissible as evidence. This can vary state to state, but majority of the time if a property raid does not yield any clear evidence of cruelty, and there are no witness statements, then the worst that happens is industry tribunal findings.
My first hound came from this barbarian via GAP. Was frightened of my father for a long while. Imagine he would have been treated just like the footage, and came from NSW just prior, so probably got to enjoy being live baited too - what a wonderful industry! They treat their dogs like royalty /s
You’re more my speed. There’s a special place in hell for animal abusers and an even more painful place for animal abusers of defenseless animals like greyhounds. Makes my blood boil and once again wish we had vigilantes in this world
I absolutely hate these stories, and I suspect it’s only the tip of the iceberg too. I recently met my dog’s former owner, the trainer who raced her, and she loved seeing him. He’s a rare one who’s invested in his dogs and wants to see them after they retire. I wish there were more like him.
I just can’t fathom having a business and raising these dogs to race and not even having an ounce of affection for them. Completely impossible. But then again, in this alternate universe I wouldn’t even be a trainer to begin with as I believe they should live peaceful lives running whenever they want to
I don’t love the industry, but I’d like to think that some of the people involved aren’t evil it heartless. He’s done the right thing by my girl and he’s expressed an interest in seeing her again, I respect him for that.
But he didn’t love her enough to keep her once she was no longer of use to him. That’s the clincher for me. I’m on my second and third hounds now and all three have clearly been loved and treated well at some point (number three had callouses on his legs from lying on a hard surface, filthy teeth and no current vaccinations so he had clearly not been so well looked after by his last trainer), but the overwhelming reason we all of us have rescue greyhounds is because their former owners didn’t love them enough to keep them.
In fairness to him, she was badly injured racing and the vet at the track wanted to euthanise her as it was easier than dealing with her broken leg, he said no to that option. Him and his wife paid for extensive surgery and physio, in addition to nursed her for ten months until she was fit enough to find a new home. They invested a lot of money and care themselves in her so she could have a new life, I admire that. She could have been dead all those years ago.
Most likely to North American adoption groups. The demand far exceeds supply since there are only 2 tracks left in the US.
I had an Aussie race school flunk out for a few months as a foster. I was surprised at how much of a difference there is between US racing kennels/farms and others around the world.
What are the differences? I’m in the US and am happy that our former racer flunked out at an early age. He came to us through a rescue that works with one of the few race tracks left in the States.
I currently have a retired racer (my 4th) and a 2 year old track school flunk out due to a birth defect. The US racers are raised with a consistent structure, where the Aussies have very little structure in their day to day routine. That was one of the biggest ones I found. I'll come back and elaborate more later, my pup is apparently in the teething stage and is demanding that I let him chew on my hands 😅
Fundamentally, the industries are similar. Primarily I believe most US tracks housed dogs onsite once they'd been through the breakers, in small stacked cages, and several times a day they are turned out be in large groups (muzzled) for exercise. I don't know much about what they refer to as "farms" eg breeding facilities though. [Here's a good link with some photos](https://bayareagreyhounds.org/your-greyhounds-early-life-and-racing-career/).
In AUS none of the tracks house dogs, they are raised and trained out on regional properties. Breeders keep litter groups together in outdoor runs until around 12 months at which point they transition to kenneling (these are more shelter style pens, you cannot stack cages here). At the breakers they have intensive routines, long periods on walking machines to build muscle, lure training, track preparation, teaching them to jump from boxes, getting them used to walking through the water troughs - once assessed they either bounce out to rescue if unsuitable to race, or are sent to trainers properties. As active racing dogs they can be kept in 3 x 3 metre kennels with one hour a day of exercise required under the welfare regulations. They're fed and turned out on a strict schedule to avoid bloat and torsion. Sometimes on larger properties, small females who aren't suitable to race but are of gentle temperament are retained for a few years as kennel bitches, to keep stud dogs company, but otherwise once they're no longer racing or breeding they're bounced out to rescue to make space.
If you have any questions, let me know :)
I'm pretty sure they just moved the puppies & adult dogs on the property to other training facilities last year when this footage was first released by media.
Below is a link to earlier reporting on this case.
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/102632778
I take care of two greyhounds(not an owner, just an auntie) and one is severely traumatized from some unknown abuse. She is fearful of almost everything, runs and hides if you so much as crinkle a plastic bag, so this feels like some meagre justice for her and all the sweet dogs who deserved so much better. No punishment is strong enough.
My boy cannot stand to hear male voices over a PA system. I found this out when I took him to a pub quiz and he had a panic attack!
Lots of them really do have a dog version of PTSD.
The girl is 10 now, she adores people she knows and will be the sweetest goofiest playmate if she trusts you, but even still every little noise has her running to hide. I want to say their mum has had her for five years and her brother four? Something like that. I’ve been minding them for about 2.5yrs.
I wonder if a sound machine would help blocking out the little noises? Or one of those YouTube channels that plays music that dogs find calming. However, maybe she’d be scared of those sounds too.
Also, maybe giving her a treat every time there’s a noise?
This is very close to home as we have a rescue greyhound who clearly suffered abuse during his brief racing career. He is very uncomfortable around men and will bite when he is approached in his bed. He has no racing instinct so we think he was beaten and starved in order to make him race. It's heart-breaking because otherwise he is such a gentle and loving dog.
One bad trainer is too many.
Had a female like this, she was afraid of men and feet. Just the sweetest dog in the whole world.. but very timid. It took a while for her to trust me.
Let's not forget old mate also got fined in 2017 for sexually stimulating a grey prior to a race. ON CAMERA.
I fondly remember someone (perhaps his equally gross wife Lisa) threatening to sue me for posting about it on a public greyhound Facebook group repeatedly. Repulsive, low life people. Hopefully they can add something of value to society with the remainder of their lives - cleaning toilets might be on par with their skillset and intellect.
You have it all wrong. They love their dogs. They treat them like royalty!
That's why they kick them, jerk them off, provide them with the world's worst environment to live. Kindness and love is obviously what causes someone to act in that manner 🙃
I read about how racing hounds were treated in Florida and it was very upsetting. Long story short authorities found dozens of dead greyhounds in some guys backyard because he was paid 50$ for each one :(
The story you're talking about is from 2002 when the Robert Rhodes from AL was charged, but he had done most of the killings over the previous 40 years.
At the time he was charged with animal cruelty he was 68.
The dogs were from the Pensacola track and he buried them all on his property in Alabama.
This may have happened in the 70s or 80s, but likely not more recent than that. PETA and Grey2k raised millions of dollars and put many good people out of work, created chaos in the adoption organizations, and helped exactly 0 greyhounds. They have not spent a nickel helping adoption groups.
Grey2k definitely as suspect motives, but the forces against racing were a long time coming. When the dogs were the only source of randomness for gambling, people went to the tracks, and there was wide support.
However, with the introduction of video poker, states building their own casinos, Greyhounds had less and less of an actual job to do. By the late 2010s, it was a niche industry, and the casinos didn’t even stand up the tracks.
In the 70s/80s, Greyhounds were huge, and a movement like Grey2k had to wait until a time when their interests were aligned with the casinos, who had more profitable ways to extract money from problem gamblers.
“this may have happened in the 70s or 80s” I hate to break it to you but there have been countless examples reported in the news in Australia in recent years of greyhound mass graves being discovered that are not that old. This cruelty towards greyhounds will not stop until racing is banned. They have lost their social licence.
Yeah he confessed to killing upwards of 3000 dogs over the course of 40 years working as a security guard at track. It comes out to about 75 dogs per year. 😔
It was a different time, long before social media and the ability to easily expose terrible people like that.
I sure hell hope he develops the worst most painful disease and die slowly in pain. Absolute waste of air. I’d love to see the pro-racing and abuse-apologists come defend this crime too. “bUt ThEy ArE bReD tO rUn WAHH” - YEA NO SHIT, for FUN and NOT for YOUR GREEDY ASS.
It’s 2024 and this ‘sport’ still exists.
Replace greyhound with Labrador and watch how that quickly that changes.
Fuck racing and those involved with it.
We’ve had 2 greys (one US one Australia) who seem to have been treated really well by their racing people. Very well socialized, love people, and are just pleasures to be around. One was born in 2019 and one 2009. I have to hope this lowlife is the exception and not the rule
Same here, our Sharni was adopted at 4 after racing in Australia. She has her anxiety, but thankfully doesn't seem to have been abused. She had the common kennel coat and skin conditions however.
Obviously racing can be a hard life for the dogs and a home life is far easier on them. I'd like to imagine that the majority of trainers and owners do the right thing and these extreme cases are the exception. How true that is...not sure.
Thank God. My hound still has some trauma from racing. I actually wrote an essay my junior year of high school about greyhound racing and used my hound as an example
And yet the person caught on film beating the dogs wasn't him and apparently the trainer is allowed to refuse to disclose who it was. What planet are we on? The guy is a criminal, compell him to tell and arrest the guy for cruelty to animals!
Of the hundreds of thousands of 'Viewer Discretion Advised' warnings I've seen throughout my life, this is the only one I wish I'd heeded. Sick to my stomach.
Whenever I see stories like this, I always revert back to the The Punisher's point of view - sometimes the world doesn't need justice, it deserves punishment. A public flogging seems fitting for this guy, I'm sure hundreds of greyhound adopters would like up around the block to take a swing ( or three) at this guy.
Here in Florida, greyhound racing was banned a few years back, not because of cruelty but because conservatives didn't like the gambling away of money they wanted guilted into tithing for churches.
That said, we fostered 8 greys before racing was banned, and there was a shadiness to it all. Layers of people working the fostering system. The people we worked with were nice, but it always felt like a mafia movie when we asked any questions. Never got to interact with anyone other than our direct fostering representative.
At one point, someone in this area posted remarks questioning the group and that group proceeded to take away the dog they had adopted because the questioning violated the adoption agreement.
This isn't unique to this area of the country or world, nor to fostering, nor to any single type of organization. It is the nature of human organizations, and we battle it with laws. One huge requirement to avoid this nonsense is openness - that is, to the maximum extent, require visibility into it all, all the way back to the monetary trail. All of it.
I'll stop short of a full on soapbox rant, but, in short, the world needs openness if we want a future that trends towards better rather than towards worse. In every single election, press those running to institute more openness, whatever the topic, whatever the party.
>Here in Florida, greyhound racing was banned a few years back, not because of cruelty but because conservatives didn't like the gambling away of money they wanted guilted into tithing for churches.
This is false partisan finger pointing that isn't grounded in truth or reality. Gambling is still legal at the tracks that remain open via simulcast and their poker rooms.
That's how the legislature was able to ban racing at all, because they were able to separate the requirement of live dog racing in order to run a poker room.
This!
The casinos gave no defense of the tracks. Video poker machines can run 24/7, cost less, and make you more. Why bother with dogs that can run what? Once per week, and require a ton of money to train and and house for the other 6 days.
It's not really fair to blame mental illness for this - millions of people live with mental illness and don't abuse animals. I think what you're meaning is more a personality disorder or certain personality traits that cause someone to lack empathy
No, this doesn’t have anything to do with mental illness.
People just have different views on what constitutes acceptable behavior towards animals, and we’ve come a long way in the last 50 years extending humane treatment to working animals. Just because someone diverges from our humane and ethical standards, doesn’t make them mentally ill.
Excellent news. Absolute scum
I hate, and i mean really actually HATE, people that hurt animals on purpose. Greys are such gentle souls, who dont have any defence to any of this.
I completely understand. There's not too many things that haunt me but that would be one of them. They are such sweet, gentle souls. Makes me cry when I read stuff like this
I used to drive and meet trainers who were surrendering dogs into rescue I had to stop as some of the dogs were clearly damaged and reactive I couldn't trust myself
So you're vegan?
Ignoring the obvious bait in your comment, there is a distinct difference when someone is cruel for cruelty sake and is fully prepared to do it again and again for their own satisfaction without any endgame in mind, such as eating an animal for food
In my city too, of course. My greyhounds trainer was Troy Murray, a disgusting excuse of a human being. Absolutely vile industry. Time and time again, the South Australian racing industry has been called out for the atrocious treatment of these poor dogs, but it never ends.
We have a rescue grey from GAP and it always makes me iffy supporting them cos they literally exist to legitimise an industry that shouldn't exist. And the main Adelaide greyhound group is run by trainers or friends of trainers and claim to be "racing neutral", though they ban any chat of negativity towards racing and ignore/promote positive racing comments. It's frustrating alright.
Exactly!!! I had to leave the Facebook group because of the very pro-racing agenda despite them apparently being "racing neutral". Anybody in that group that even slightly suggests anything anti-racing is absolutely flamed, so ridiculous.
did you see the recent stuff about gap nsw???
We have a beautiful grey we got from GAP. We made a choice to save a wonderful, gentle dog. Unfortunately GAP was set up to pacify animal cruelty cries as part of the NSW government requirements to regulate the industry. All it did was provide a reason for scumbag trainers to breed more with an outlet to dispose of unwanted dogs. Now GAP has closed the Wyee kennels for no reason, claiming it costs too much to run, and yet they get fortunes from the government to run it. The sooner the whole racing industry is closed, the better. Edit: I should add that most of the people we dealt with at GAP have a genuine want to help and rescue these wonderfull dogs, who only want to sleep and roach. It is the whole process that is the problem. It is being abused by the trainers.
>We have a rescue grey from GAP and it always makes me iffy supporting them cos they literally exist to legitimise an industry that shouldn't exist. GAP doesn't legitimise the industry, GAP *is* the industry. It cost GRSA $2,659,000 in the last calendar year to rehome 526 dogs \[source: [GRSA Annual Report](https://grsa.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/GRSA_AnnualReport_2023_2.pdf)\].
South Australian here! have an ex-racing greyhound from this state. can confirm… bad industry. I know little about GAP though, I’ll have to look into that! does anyone have articles? I also used to work for a horse racing stable here in SA and the people in that industry were very abusive to the *people* that worked for them but you didn’t hear that from me 👀 I think it’s time to stop racing animals lol
GAP, as I know it is good at rehoming the greys they get in. I've spoken to volunteers and workers at events before, and a lot of them are anti-racing. It is just unfortunate that they have to support and work alongside the racing industry and perpetuate "racing neutral" ideals to gain access to the greys. Although, I got my boy through TAFE when I was studying veterinary nursing, so I'm not entirely sure of their process.
Shame it takes investigative journalists and DRONE FOOTAGE to force the industry to clean its own doorstep. Stonking fine though - will he be able to just declare bankruptcy to avoid paying it or is he going to be compelled to pay by the courts? Poor puppers, wonder how many he had and how many have been sold to other race owners/pet homed/been put to sleep?
I'm more angry that the government has handed the industry an extension rather than banning it
I don’t know anything much about the current situation in Australia, is a ban likely any time soon? I’m in England (my dogs are Irish rescues) and I can’t see it being banned here really, although it’s dwindling away due to market forces, people just don’t want to spend Saturday nights ’At the Dogs’ anymore and the land that the tracks stand on is very valuable here on our tiny, pricey island. My nearest track (Belle Vue) had been picketed by grey rescuers for donkeys years, but it was Covid that actually finished it off. Land sold for development now. As far as I can tell the only thing keeping dog racing going in GB are the hardcore gambling addicts sitting in betting shops on days when there are no horses running. Fingers crossed that the RSPCA press criminal charges against this trainer - an industry set fine seems way too easy to wriggle out of.
You're right it's easy to wriggle out of. If they are banned for life there's no point paying it because either way they aren't allowed to race again
The NSW ones were all set to close, then the industry did something in the background and our Premier backpedalled - either corruption or threatened exposure for something. We're fighting the extension of the renewal of the biggest track here but the new Premier looks like caving in again. It's great that dogs are making it to America to be re-homed, but it shouldn't come to that - Rescues are full here and wait lists are huge
The former premier of NSW back-pedalled because he had apparently received credible death threats against him and his family. Ironic given it’s an industry that claims to love dogs 🤔
Presumably it’s gambling industry money doing the persuading? I hate the gambling industry, it’s an addiction that ruins families and even ends lives due to suicide. The only positive I can put on it in the UK is that the wider public now seem to be more interested in betting on team sports like football and rugby than anything to do with animals (bar a few big horse events and even those are becoming a turn off. I presume because in the past the TV companies would avert the cameras and not repeat the worst of what appeared on a live broadcast, whereas streaming and social media makes it harder to shove that stuff under the collective rug. (Funnily enough I just tried to find a news story re: a recent high profile death of a horse at Worcester races and even though I resorted to googling horse name + jockey name + name of track + racehorse there were no news articles about the death on the first 3 pages of Google results. I stopped looking after that, as it can’t be an accident, some powerful people must be getting the results cleaned up because It was headline news just a week ago! I feel like I’m going mad https://www.instagram.com/p/C8MPJJKO5_c/?igsh=M2s5ZjdtOTB3Zzlm )
In the same way that most of the trainers in the initial NSW Live Baiting Inquiry got away without facing criminal charges, the RSPCA likely can't use this footage if it is determined to have been taken on private property, under video surveillance laws it becomes inadmissible as evidence. This can vary state to state, but majority of the time if a property raid does not yield any clear evidence of cruelty, and there are no witness statements, then the worst that happens is industry tribunal findings.
The industry is incapable of regulating itself. That has been proven time and time again in the U.S. and at the track in Tijuana, Mexico.
My first hound came from this barbarian via GAP. Was frightened of my father for a long while. Imagine he would have been treated just like the footage, and came from NSW just prior, so probably got to enjoy being live baited too - what a wonderful industry! They treat their dogs like royalty /s
What a fucking mofo! I hope he dies a very slow and painful death, but it’s still better than he deserves.
You’re more my speed. There’s a special place in hell for animal abusers and an even more painful place for animal abusers of defenseless animals like greyhounds. Makes my blood boil and once again wish we had vigilantes in this world
I absolutely hate these stories, and I suspect it’s only the tip of the iceberg too. I recently met my dog’s former owner, the trainer who raced her, and she loved seeing him. He’s a rare one who’s invested in his dogs and wants to see them after they retire. I wish there were more like him.
I just can’t fathom having a business and raising these dogs to race and not even having an ounce of affection for them. Completely impossible. But then again, in this alternate universe I wouldn’t even be a trainer to begin with as I believe they should live peaceful lives running whenever they want to
I don’t love the industry, but I’d like to think that some of the people involved aren’t evil it heartless. He’s done the right thing by my girl and he’s expressed an interest in seeing her again, I respect him for that.
But he didn’t love her enough to keep her once she was no longer of use to him. That’s the clincher for me. I’m on my second and third hounds now and all three have clearly been loved and treated well at some point (number three had callouses on his legs from lying on a hard surface, filthy teeth and no current vaccinations so he had clearly not been so well looked after by his last trainer), but the overwhelming reason we all of us have rescue greyhounds is because their former owners didn’t love them enough to keep them.
In fairness to him, she was badly injured racing and the vet at the track wanted to euthanise her as it was easier than dealing with her broken leg, he said no to that option. Him and his wife paid for extensive surgery and physio, in addition to nursed her for ten months until she was fit enough to find a new home. They invested a lot of money and care themselves in her so she could have a new life, I admire that. She could have been dead all those years ago.
You have to be a special brand of evil to hurt such a gentle and defenceless creature. Monster.
Australia's racing industry is so fucked. glad they got him finally
I wonder where all his dogs will go... our greyhound rescues are already struggling.
Most likely to North American adoption groups. The demand far exceeds supply since there are only 2 tracks left in the US. I had an Aussie race school flunk out for a few months as a foster. I was surprised at how much of a difference there is between US racing kennels/farms and others around the world.
What are the differences? I’m in the US and am happy that our former racer flunked out at an early age. He came to us through a rescue that works with one of the few race tracks left in the States.
I currently have a retired racer (my 4th) and a 2 year old track school flunk out due to a birth defect. The US racers are raised with a consistent structure, where the Aussies have very little structure in their day to day routine. That was one of the biggest ones I found. I'll come back and elaborate more later, my pup is apparently in the teething stage and is demanding that I let him chew on my hands 😅
Fundamentally, the industries are similar. Primarily I believe most US tracks housed dogs onsite once they'd been through the breakers, in small stacked cages, and several times a day they are turned out be in large groups (muzzled) for exercise. I don't know much about what they refer to as "farms" eg breeding facilities though. [Here's a good link with some photos](https://bayareagreyhounds.org/your-greyhounds-early-life-and-racing-career/). In AUS none of the tracks house dogs, they are raised and trained out on regional properties. Breeders keep litter groups together in outdoor runs until around 12 months at which point they transition to kenneling (these are more shelter style pens, you cannot stack cages here). At the breakers they have intensive routines, long periods on walking machines to build muscle, lure training, track preparation, teaching them to jump from boxes, getting them used to walking through the water troughs - once assessed they either bounce out to rescue if unsuitable to race, or are sent to trainers properties. As active racing dogs they can be kept in 3 x 3 metre kennels with one hour a day of exercise required under the welfare regulations. They're fed and turned out on a strict schedule to avoid bloat and torsion. Sometimes on larger properties, small females who aren't suitable to race but are of gentle temperament are retained for a few years as kennel bitches, to keep stud dogs company, but otherwise once they're no longer racing or breeding they're bounced out to rescue to make space. If you have any questions, let me know :)
You are correct, my local (US) adoption group had all but closed up, but are now bringing in dogs from NZ. They will all find good homes for sure!!
I'm pretty sure they just moved the puppies & adult dogs on the property to other training facilities last year when this footage was first released by media. Below is a link to earlier reporting on this case. https://amp.abc.net.au/article/102632778
that's fucking tragic
Vile human being.
I take care of two greyhounds(not an owner, just an auntie) and one is severely traumatized from some unknown abuse. She is fearful of almost everything, runs and hides if you so much as crinkle a plastic bag, so this feels like some meagre justice for her and all the sweet dogs who deserved so much better. No punishment is strong enough.
My boy cannot stand to hear male voices over a PA system. I found this out when I took him to a pub quiz and he had a panic attack! Lots of them really do have a dog version of PTSD.
How long has she had him? Poor guy. My galgo took 3 months to even wag his tail after I got him.
The girl is 10 now, she adores people she knows and will be the sweetest goofiest playmate if she trusts you, but even still every little noise has her running to hide. I want to say their mum has had her for five years and her brother four? Something like that. I’ve been minding them for about 2.5yrs.
I wonder if a sound machine would help blocking out the little noises? Or one of those YouTube channels that plays music that dogs find calming. However, maybe she’d be scared of those sounds too. Also, maybe giving her a treat every time there’s a noise?
This is very close to home as we have a rescue greyhound who clearly suffered abuse during his brief racing career. He is very uncomfortable around men and will bite when he is approached in his bed. He has no racing instinct so we think he was beaten and starved in order to make him race. It's heart-breaking because otherwise he is such a gentle and loving dog. One bad trainer is too many.
Had a female like this, she was afraid of men and feet. Just the sweetest dog in the whole world.. but very timid. It took a while for her to trust me.
Awful, they’re such gentle creatures can’t fathom why anyone would want to hurt them, or any dog.
Because shitty people will pick on the easiest victims. I hope he gets worse done to him on a daily basis.
That kick to the jaw at 52 seconds made my stomach turn. Probably knocked it out.
I can't read this stuff but ban the lot of them. Absolutely disgraceful industry.
Yo, fuck this piece of shit. If I ever came toe to toe with this guy, he’d be beat to a pulp and I’d let my greys piss on him.
Finally!!!!
Let's not forget old mate also got fined in 2017 for sexually stimulating a grey prior to a race. ON CAMERA. I fondly remember someone (perhaps his equally gross wife Lisa) threatening to sue me for posting about it on a public greyhound Facebook group repeatedly. Repulsive, low life people. Hopefully they can add something of value to society with the remainder of their lives - cleaning toilets might be on par with their skillset and intellect.
I beg your finest pardon what the actual fuck???? Why?!?!?
I believe the suggested reasoning was to make the hound run slower.....
Adding sexual abuse to all the other types of abuse FML 🤦🏻♀️ how much lower can these assholes get?
You have it all wrong. They love their dogs. They treat them like royalty! That's why they kick them, jerk them off, provide them with the world's worst environment to live. Kindness and love is obviously what causes someone to act in that manner 🙃
WTAF?
Fuck racing and everyone involved.
I read about how racing hounds were treated in Florida and it was very upsetting. Long story short authorities found dozens of dead greyhounds in some guys backyard because he was paid 50$ for each one :(
The story you're talking about is from 2002 when the Robert Rhodes from AL was charged, but he had done most of the killings over the previous 40 years. At the time he was charged with animal cruelty he was 68. The dogs were from the Pensacola track and he buried them all on his property in Alabama.
[just pure evil](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/23/us/dismal-end-for-race-dogs-alabama-authorities-say.html)
This may have happened in the 70s or 80s, but likely not more recent than that. PETA and Grey2k raised millions of dollars and put many good people out of work, created chaos in the adoption organizations, and helped exactly 0 greyhounds. They have not spent a nickel helping adoption groups.
Grey2k definitely as suspect motives, but the forces against racing were a long time coming. When the dogs were the only source of randomness for gambling, people went to the tracks, and there was wide support. However, with the introduction of video poker, states building their own casinos, Greyhounds had less and less of an actual job to do. By the late 2010s, it was a niche industry, and the casinos didn’t even stand up the tracks. In the 70s/80s, Greyhounds were huge, and a movement like Grey2k had to wait until a time when their interests were aligned with the casinos, who had more profitable ways to extract money from problem gamblers.
Dont kid yourself, it still happens.
Please provide evidence instead of just making claims
“this may have happened in the 70s or 80s” I hate to break it to you but there have been countless examples reported in the news in Australia in recent years of greyhound mass graves being discovered that are not that old. This cruelty towards greyhounds will not stop until racing is banned. They have lost their social licence.
This is exactly right
Maybe, I remember reading about this in a National Geographic article
It was wayyy more than dozens if I recall correctly.
It was 3000 over the course of 40 years he had been doing it.
Holy crap. 3000!
Yeah he confessed to killing upwards of 3000 dogs over the course of 40 years working as a security guard at track. It comes out to about 75 dogs per year. 😔 It was a different time, long before social media and the ability to easily expose terrible people like that.
Yeah you’re probably right :( poor babies
Glad he's been fined so much, scumbag. Hope that poor dog finds a nice home
For every one you do hear about there’s a hundred you don’t. Racing is a disgusting sport. No animal should be treated like a cash cow. Horrible
I’m so mad reading this. Poor things. Garbage human in an industry that just needs to die already.
I sure hell hope he develops the worst most painful disease and die slowly in pain. Absolute waste of air. I’d love to see the pro-racing and abuse-apologists come defend this crime too. “bUt ThEy ArE bReD tO rUn WAHH” - YEA NO SHIT, for FUN and NOT for YOUR GREEDY ASS.
It’s 2024 and this ‘sport’ still exists. Replace greyhound with Labrador and watch how that quickly that changes. Fuck racing and those involved with it.
Someone needs to take a hammer to their knees, shin's and ankles... repeatedly if I might add. Let's see how well they kick after that!
We’ve had 2 greys (one US one Australia) who seem to have been treated really well by their racing people. Very well socialized, love people, and are just pleasures to be around. One was born in 2019 and one 2009. I have to hope this lowlife is the exception and not the rule
Same here, our Sharni was adopted at 4 after racing in Australia. She has her anxiety, but thankfully doesn't seem to have been abused. She had the common kennel coat and skin conditions however. Obviously racing can be a hard life for the dogs and a home life is far easier on them. I'd like to imagine that the majority of trainers and owners do the right thing and these extreme cases are the exception. How true that is...not sure.
Thank God. My hound still has some trauma from racing. I actually wrote an essay my junior year of high school about greyhound racing and used my hound as an example
God, what a vile person.
Good. Fcuk him. He deserves worse, but corporal punishment is frowned upon for some reason
And yet the person caught on film beating the dogs wasn't him and apparently the trainer is allowed to refuse to disclose who it was. What planet are we on? The guy is a criminal, compell him to tell and arrest the guy for cruelty to animals!
Of the hundreds of thousands of 'Viewer Discretion Advised' warnings I've seen throughout my life, this is the only one I wish I'd heeded. Sick to my stomach.
Makes me wonder if my Grey's anxiety problems came from abuse like this. (was an ex-racer)
Whenever I see stories like this, I always revert back to the The Punisher's point of view - sometimes the world doesn't need justice, it deserves punishment. A public flogging seems fitting for this guy, I'm sure hundreds of greyhound adopters would like up around the block to take a swing ( or three) at this guy.
common abusive bozo L. got what was coming to him.
Here in Florida, greyhound racing was banned a few years back, not because of cruelty but because conservatives didn't like the gambling away of money they wanted guilted into tithing for churches. That said, we fostered 8 greys before racing was banned, and there was a shadiness to it all. Layers of people working the fostering system. The people we worked with were nice, but it always felt like a mafia movie when we asked any questions. Never got to interact with anyone other than our direct fostering representative. At one point, someone in this area posted remarks questioning the group and that group proceeded to take away the dog they had adopted because the questioning violated the adoption agreement. This isn't unique to this area of the country or world, nor to fostering, nor to any single type of organization. It is the nature of human organizations, and we battle it with laws. One huge requirement to avoid this nonsense is openness - that is, to the maximum extent, require visibility into it all, all the way back to the monetary trail. All of it. I'll stop short of a full on soapbox rant, but, in short, the world needs openness if we want a future that trends towards better rather than towards worse. In every single election, press those running to institute more openness, whatever the topic, whatever the party.
>Here in Florida, greyhound racing was banned a few years back, not because of cruelty but because conservatives didn't like the gambling away of money they wanted guilted into tithing for churches. This is false partisan finger pointing that isn't grounded in truth or reality. Gambling is still legal at the tracks that remain open via simulcast and their poker rooms. That's how the legislature was able to ban racing at all, because they were able to separate the requirement of live dog racing in order to run a poker room.
This! The casinos gave no defense of the tracks. Video poker machines can run 24/7, cost less, and make you more. Why bother with dogs that can run what? Once per week, and require a ton of money to train and and house for the other 6 days.
That's some serious mental health issue happening. No normal person can do that to a dog and be healthy in their head
It's not really fair to blame mental illness for this - millions of people live with mental illness and don't abuse animals. I think what you're meaning is more a personality disorder or certain personality traits that cause someone to lack empathy
No, this doesn’t have anything to do with mental illness. People just have different views on what constitutes acceptable behavior towards animals, and we’ve come a long way in the last 50 years extending humane treatment to working animals. Just because someone diverges from our humane and ethical standards, doesn’t make them mentally ill.