The Queensland Greyhound breeders, owners and Trainers association is working really hard to have the Racing Queensland and the State Government convicted for discrimination, which is a breach against the oath of conduct. The QGBOTA president, Brenton Wilson stated that the greyhound racing has currently been facing a very sturdy upward spiral, thus the proposed cuts to prize money which was set for 1^st April could not be warranted as perceived by his organization. Wilson said that they had earlier on discussed the cuts with the head of operations for RQ, Declan Martschinke and Ian Hall, but they were unable to validate the cuts. He however added that he knew the prize money was expected to be around a 28 to 38 percent decrease.

Brenton Wilson, also said that the QGBOT had a problem with how the greyhound industry was been treated when compared to other two codes, he said that it was a very unfair move. He also added that a new greyhound racing course in south- east Queensland was underway, which is to serve as an example of how unfairly the code was being misused. The prize money among the three codes had been rationalized due to the loan granted to the control body of around 17.5 million dollars, the state of government had loaned out the money to fulfill its financial obligations. The wagering projections were responsible for the prize money levels, and it is also certain that there is some flexibility in the tracking towards the adjustment of the prize money levels which are adjusted on quarterly reviews of the projections and gambling figures.

Racing Queensland has most often been challenged by the Queensland Greyhounds Affiliation from September of last year, in terms of their revenues which they said had been clearly miscalculated. The QGA wrote to the outgoing acting chief, Ian Hall, stating that it had evidence in terms of data to prove that their revenue estimates were very incorrect and that the projections would never be used by any organization. Andrew Taylor, the owner of Greyhound stated that the RQ had pushed the industry so hard that the people in operation had to agree without hesitation. He left it up to them to handle the situation how they felt fit.

According to the Inquiry, the officials of Greyhound racing NSW have refused to submit information of individual involved in live baiting to RSPCA due to privacy concerns.

The stewards of greyhound racing were told to “downplay” greyhound injuries and deaths to avoid negative publicity, the inquiry into the greyhound racing industry heard.

The special commission in charge of greyhound racing was told that the diary, which contained “valuable information”, was taken during a raid in February, 2015 on an anonymous trainer who was suspected of using live animals to train greyhounds in his property in Sydney.

David O’Shannessy, who is RSPCA’s chief inspector, told the commission of inquiry on Thursday that the society had asked Greyhound racing NSW to pinpoint the people in the diary that had a list of Christina names alongside telephone numbers.

David said the racing organization was not going to assist in the case unless they received a formal notice that prompt them to release the information.

On the other hand, RSPCA did not think it was necessary in the circumstances and did not want to be seen doing anything that will jeopardize any awaiting court cases.

The special commission was setup following last year’s scandal on live baiting that forced the industry to shake up.

The former CEO of Greyhound racing NSW, Brent Hogan alongside other board members had to step down from their positions after the scandal broke.

The inquiry was told that the stewards of greyhound racing were told to “cease” from offering too much information regarding injuries and deaths of greyhounds, because the industry was going to be affected by negative publicity.

The chief inspector of RSPCA said they had received a number of complaints within a year regarding greyhounds but the number rose to 100 in 2015 after the exposure of live baiting. With regards to that, the CEO of greyhound was recalled to provide evidence to the inquiry.

Brent Hogan, the former head of Greyhound Racing NSW isproviding evidence at the special commission of Inquiry in the next two days concerning the high rates of Greyhound injuries and poor welfare standards in the industry. The Inquiry already heard that the Officials played down the injuries in order to avoid negative publicity and no deaths were reported.

Mr Hogan stepped down as Greyhound’s Racing NSW CEO last year due to the wake of Four Corners on live baiting.

An email was sent to Commissioner MicaherMcHugh from the chief steward of GRNSW which urged the officials to downplay the injuries of the dogs in post-race events to avoid negativity. The mail suggested that a broken leg can be referred to as an injured leg.

According to the suggested policy, if a dog was put down after a race, it is only the injury that will be reported and not the death itself. As such, this policy misled the public and therefore policy change was necessary.

Mr Hogan told the commission that the change of policy was intended only to make it easier for steward’s report and make the language consistent.

According to the commissioner, it appears to him that the policy was made deliberately to excite the interest of animal welfare groups.

“ Do you agree that this policy mislead the public?” the commissioner asked.

Mr Hogan replied, “Looking back to it, Yes.”

The commission has previously been told that up to 17,000 dogs were not allowed to race because they were not good enough. In fact, every month, over 600 greyhounds are reported to be injured in Australia, suffering from different and serious bone fractures as well as musculoskeletal injuries.

“Nonetheless, it is clear that the controlling bodies have failed to keep and also publish comprehensive injury reports,” Stephen Rushton, the assisting counsel to the inquiry said.

Aging in greyhounds and horses can be fatal to the animals as their owners have no use to them. This mainly results in ending the lives of these animals that have their career coming to an end. Reports have indicated that over 15,000 dogs are killed each year when their career expires.

Animal wastage has been the prime welfare to all racing in the globe. There are however a number of greyhound owners and trainers who are conversant with the animal welfare. The killing of these animals has subdued in Australia as the NSW parliament select committee submitted a report that the killing claims conducted in three years up to 2012-2013 had gone down to 0.4%. There are a number of ways to reduce killing of greyhounds.

Restructuring races is one of these ways. Apparently, Australia can be in a position of re-homing about 2,000 greyhounds every year. This can be achieved from the 2014-2015 stats that showed that 834 adoptions were made.

Each year one out of four greyhounds retires. There are over 55,000 of these greyhounds in Australia. Rather than killing that one retiring dog, it could be more advisable to adopt it to families who like pet dogs. Generally, dogs can race for almost four years in their lifetime. This comes as the greyhounds need not be ridden, whipped or even made to jump obstacles in a race. They basically follow a straight line chasing a synthetic lure that is operated mechanically.

Back in 2009, the GRNSW took over the adoption role which saw more than 100 greyhounds adopted each year. This rose to several hundred as years went by. If at all the wasting of greyhounds is to be completely eliminated, the banning of these events must be eradicated for good. This will be the case incorporated by 39 states in the U.S.

The variation based on corporate model will involve the owners and trainers having their own breeding mechanism that would oversee the grey hounds take to the races three or four times in a year. This would eradicate the threats of career end threats and in turn would be fundamental in the elimination of wasting greyhounds.

Nine years ago, Chapapote one of the greatest greyhounds in Spain and a champion of different occasions went on missing. It was alleged that the greyhound was stolen by unidentified assailants with search and rescue operations by the police having no end until 2013. However, exactly nine years after the champion was stolen, his DNA emerged in one of greyhound events held in Spain. Reports from the Local claimed that two greyhounds that were set to take part in the event possessed Chapapote’s DNA. This called for a massive action to be initiated which prompted the cancellation of the event.

Chaos erupted and the case was presented to the nation’s sports tribunal who will have to sit down and decide on the fate of the event; if it should go on or not. One owner of the two dogs in subject told the Marca newspaper that he had no idea the breed from which his dog came from. He continued to argue that most of greyhound owners are in his similar situation where they have no idea of which breed fathered their dogs. He added that there are other greyhounds that have raced in Spain and some have still been identified to have Chapapote DNA.

The popular race Chapapote vanished and later in 2013 when the police recovered him claimed that it was a group of breeding gang had stolen him. They recovered the champion in a black market when he was about to be sold to other breeding gangs b his assailants. Activist groups who cared for the well being of animals had tabled a motion on how these greyhounds have been mistreated and urged the Spanish government to initiate various methods in curbing the issue.

A British charity that is sponsored by Ricky Gervais and Judi Dench has initiated a strategy to save the lives of some of mistreated greyhounds who are sometimes burnt with acid and cigarettes, others left alone to wander in busy motorways, others hanged on trees while others are left in tunnels to die. Some have had serious injuries with broken limbs, open wounds with others suffering from starvation related diseases after many days without food.

There has been evidence that animal cruelty has been common among various greyhound trainers. This comes after three trainers were found guilty of the act and imposed various punishments. Two of these will have to spend some time in jail whereas the third trainer has been accorded with a long terms suspension sentence. These three men were caught red handed indulging in the Four Corners live baiting scandal.

For greyhound trainer John Cauchi, 18 months in cell awaits him. Furthermore, he was accorded with a 12 month non-parole jail term in the 18 months sentence. The convict who is the current manager of the licensed Boxhill Trial Track based in Western Sydney was eager to plead guilty of using rabbits as a way of luring the ‘bloody’ greyhound. It was evident through a video how Cauchi was trying to excite and entice his greyhound using a rabbit.

John as well as his brother Tony Cauchi did not try to resist their charge and pleaded guilty with over 15 counts of animal cruelty to their names. Tony faced similar sentence of 18 months as his brother. However, the sentence was suspended as it was claimed that Tony had a problem of intellectual impairment.

At the same time, Ian Morgan aged 58 and a trainer of Telopea pleaded guilty of animal cruelty and was accorded with a 12 month sentence. This came after he was caught red handed by a hidden camera back in January using a live possum in attempt to lure one of his dogs.

The video clip showed Morgan taking the possum to Londonderry property of Zeke Kadir a popular person in the industry who is known for his tactics of breaking ingenuousness greyhounds. The evident showed Morgan giving the possum from his car to Kadir.

According to state magistrate Fiona Toose, the trainer was accorded with the custodian sentence after it was evident that the possum inflicted pain and cruelty to the dogs. Morgan has to undertake 9 months of indoor sentence before being granted a parole sentence.

The three convicts were denied a chance to be close to any animal for a period not less than 20 years.