The RPSCA has uncovered a mass grave containing the bodies of nine dogs on the property of a licensed greyhound trainer in Sydney’s West. The RSPCA conducted the search after a tip off at the beginning of the month.
Greyhound racing in NSW has been subject to scrutiny over the past three years after the ABC’s Four Corners program showed extensive graphic footage of multiple licensed trainers engaging in illegal behaviours including live baiting, cruelty to native animals, and having mass graves on their properties.
A number of the perpetrators were Greyhound Racing New South Wales Regulators who were in charge of keeping the industry clean.
Following the exposure, the then NSW Premier Mike Baird outlawed Greyhound Racing in NSW, making the practice and entire industry illegal based on the grounds of “widespread cruelty” in the industry.
At the property in Western Sydney, the RSPCA and police officers also seized twelve more dogs who were suffering from multifarious illnesses including malnourishment and parasites and ‘pressure sores.’ Steve Coleman, the chief of the RSPCA, described the scene as ‘grisly’.
Following the Four Corners enquiry, a special enquiry uncovered things that Baird described as “chilling, confronting, horrific.” These included routine blood letting, doping, widespread mass killings, cruelty to dogs and other native animals, and cruelty that was ‘systemic’ from trainer to regulator.
The ban was overturned by the same Premiere who introduced the ban in October 2016, Baird saying he had “got it wrong.” He resigned early the following year.
Racing Minister Peter O’Toole said in a statement there would be “zero tolerance for such abhorrent behaviour.”
The special report into greyhound racing in 2016 found that almost half of all greyhounds bred to race in the previous 12 years were killed. This equates to number of dead dogs somewhere in the vicinity of 48,000 and 68,000.
