Andrea Dawkins MP | Greens Animal Welfare spokesperson
Tasracing's claim they will re-home all ex-racing greyhounds after 1 July 2019 is a sign of desperation from an industry whose social licence is well and truly gone.
The greyhound racing industry can't just fund adoption programs and hope the bad press about the years of animal cruelty will vanish.
Tasracing have made the bold claim that they will re-home all ex-racing dogs, but they've talked down the fact they still plan to euthanize the many that don't think fit behavioural standards.
Countless greyhounds will still be killed when they won't make the cut for adoption, because of the industry's treatment.
In its commitment, Tasracing fails to mention the many greyhounds that don't even make it to whelping. Ignoring the unknown number of puppies who are killed and disposed of before they even make the track is callous and cynical.
The government funded Greyhound Adoption Program only re-homed 38 dogs in the first six months of 2016. For an industry that sees hundreds of animals lose their lives every year, it's a big step up.
There are welfare organisations, like Brightside Farm Sanctuary, who are re-homing many more greyhounds and get no government funding at all.