Investigation Into Greyhound Trafficking From Australia to China
Greyhounds are allegedly being flown to the UK before being rerouted to China for racing, despite bans on exports there.
The Integrity Unit of Greyhound Racing Victoria is investigating, according to the Herald Sun.
It wouldn’t be the first time export rules have been breached in order to earn extra cash from dogs deemed “too slow” for Australian tracks. In 2016, 179 greyhound trainers and owners were charged for having allegedly exporteddogs to Macau, a region of China notorious for greyhound racing. In 2017, three Australians were found to have shipped 96 dogs there.
Despite an appalling cruelty record, the Macau Canidrome was the country’s only legal dog-racing facility until its closure in 2018. This begs the question: in 2021, where exactly are these exported dogs going? The one thing we know for sure is that nothing good will happen to them.
Both abroad and in Australia, greyhound racing is fraught with cruelty. Dogs often spend their entire lives muzzled inside cramped, filthy cages, except when they’re taken out to race. These gentle, sociable animals rarely know the comfort of a kind word or a loving touch. Illnesses and injuries – including broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks – claim the lives of many of them.
According to the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds, so far in 2021, 100 greyhounds have died on Australian tracks and 6,484 have been injured.
Then there’s the fact that thousands of dogs simply go missing every year. In the 2019-20 financial year, there were 3,554 greyhounds in New South Wales who should have been adopted, but statistics show that only 1,405 were retained by trainers, rehomed privately or accepted by an animal rescue or adoption agency. This is a discrepancy of 2,149 dogs who are not accounted for.
What more will it take for the government to stop pretending that this industry cares about animal welfare?
Please take a moment to sign our petition to the New South Wales government requesting that it ban this disgusting “sport”:
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