The real world of greyhound racing
February 27th 2011 05:10
Mention greyhound racing, and chances are you will get a negative reaction. Like many things with a bad name, however, that reputation can be created by a dishonest and selfish minority, to the detriment of the honest and fair-minded majority.
And like many things which have a poor reputation, it can be made worse by self-righteous, indignant criticism from people who do not not the full story.
Jennie Alcorn does know the full story. She is a veteran of greyhound ownership, fostering and support through Greyhound Adoption Program volunteering in South Australia. And in her years serving retired greyhounds in these various capacities, she has had a lot of contact with the greyhound racing community.
In this and future articles, Jennie presents an objective insight into the positives, and occasional negatives, of greyhound racing.
. . . o O o . . .
By JENNIE ALCORN
One of the great things that have happened to me since I became a foster carer for the Greyhound Adoption Program is the friendships and knowledge I've gained in a world I knew nothing about. This is the world of greyhound racing.
As a rural foster carer living closer to many of the trainers than to the city-based GAP office, I get to meet the trainers as I go to pick up my new foster hounds and I am shown around their kennels and introduced to their racing hounds and retired pets. I get to see how much love is poured into these dogs and to enjoy the enthusiastic affection of the hounds as they come up for a rub and a cuddle, and I get to hear the commitment these trainers have to the welfare of their hounds and to GAP, the organisation which gives their hounds a future.
I've also been able to learn about how GAP operates and how lucky we are to be working with a racing code that is committed, like the trainers, to the welfare of the greyhounds on which the industry is based, from birth through their racing careers and into retirement.
Greyhound Racing Australia has a strict code of ethics. Its trainers, like those in Britain but unlike those in the United States, keep their own kennels off track and can race their dogs anywhere in Australia if they are prepared to do the travelling.
They apply for a licence for the number of kennels (and therefore dogs) they intend to keep and those kennels are inspected regularly. If they don't come up to standard, the trainer is heavily fined and banned for a period of time, and if he/she continues to keep below standard-kennels, they are banned for life.
The same rules apply to any case of cruelty to the dogs - a fine and suspension for the first offence, banned for life for repeat offences.
Training to live bait is also illegal, most dogs being trained on a track to the mechanical lure. Trainers have to have a licence to breed a litter of pups and all pups have to be registered. There are big fines if you have an accident and your dogs breed without the necessary permission. This way, the number of pups per year is kept to a reasonable level and all pups have to be accounted for.
Greyhound Racing Australia also supports the Greyhound Adoption Programs in each State. There are only two greyhound rescue groups (one in Victoria, one in NSW) that don't operate through the financial support of greyhound racing. Trainers throughout Australia are strongly encouraged to place their hounds with the adoption programs.
In the United States, big, casino-type gambling concerns control most of the greyhound tracks, but in Australia casino and poker machine-type betting are kept completely separate from the TAB, which controls gambling on the racing codes (gallopers, trotters and the dogs).
The distribution of the gambling profits from the TAB is evened out within each state across the racing codes so that the biggest earner, the gallopers, doesn't get all its earnings and the smaller earners get somewhat more than they earn. This ensures that all sections of all racing codes can continue to operate and are able to attend to animal welfare issues.
In Britain, with a bigger population and therefore a bigger income for all racing codes, the official Great Britain Greyhound Board is able to go one step further than Greyhound Australia, providing grants for trainers to improve their dogs’ living conditions (for instance to put air-conditioners into dog trailers) and they have a database of all registered hounds which tracks them from birth to death.
If an owner/trainer cannot account for a registered dog, the fines are massive. When the dog retires, trainers must place it with an adoption agency or find it a home unless there is a very sound reason for it to be put down. If a retired dog does have to be put down, the owner or trainer has to approach the GRGB for permission to do so and provide it with a copy of the vet certificate to prove that it was done humanely.
Unfortunately, however, there is a second unofficial, unlicensed code of racing in Britain where there is no system of registration for either the dogs or the trainers, and this code has a pretty bad reputation and gives the whole industry a bad name. It is an aspect of racing that I imagine all responsible owners, trainers and stewards in Britain would be only too glad to see shut down.
If you get a chance go to watch greyhounds racing in Australia or in Britain, go down to the track side and watch the dogs walk out, tails thrashing, leaping forward, utterly keen to run, and watch them come off afterwards, so full of their achievement and the fun of doing what they do best – running like the wind
I've never heard a trainer abuse his losing dog after a race. They are often disappointed but the usual response to an enquiry is "it wasn't our night" or "better luck next time".
Watching the dogs take off out of the box is poetry in motion. The power of greyhounds, the second-fastest land animals on Earth, as they take the first leap forward is phenomenal. Their heart rate goes up from about 45 beats per minute to more than 315 beats per minute during a 30-second race. They use as much energy in the first seven seconds as in the last 23 seconds, They reach speeds of between 60 and 70 kilometres per hour within seconds. In full flight, greyhounds are in contact with the ground for less than 25 per cent of their stride.
Pure power, pure grace, pure magic.
. . . o O o . . .
Note from the writer: This article was dedicated partly to clarifying some things which are often misunderstood, but its principal aim was to generate interest in fostering greyhounds. Greyhound Adoption Programs do a great deal of work with dogs before placing them in adoptive homes, including a careful screening process in a home environment. This both introduces dogs to inside living, and helps identify individual characteristics. The result is a greatly enhanced ability to create suitable dog-adoptive home matches.
However, it takes time and resources, and it is often the single biggest bottleneck in the adoptive process.
Wherever you are, there is a strong likelihood that your local greyhound adoption or welfare group needs more volunteers in the fostering process. It is important and very rewarding work.
If you found the article above interesting, please consider contacting your local greyhound adoption group and having a chat about what it takes to foster a dog.
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