Greyhound welfare "Day of Action"

This Saturday, a coalition of animal rights activists from the Greyhound Protection League of New Zealand, Auckland’s Direct Animal Action, Wellington Animal Rights Network and Christchurch Animal Rights Action are joining forces for a national day of action against greyhound racing.

A protest will be held outside the Rydges hotel in Auckland where the Greyhound Racing AGM and Awards are being held, mirrored by actions in Wellington and in Christchurch. The coalition is calling on the government to ban greyhound racing.

“Every year, hundreds of greyhounds in New Zealand are killed by the greyhound racing industry as wastage because they were too slow or unsuitable for racing. Despite supposed industry reform, overbreeding remains the industries biggest problem” says Aaron Cross, of the Greyhound Protection League.

“It’s completely unnecessary and our government needs to take action and ban this pointless activity”.

Greyhounds on the track are also at risk from a variety of serious injuries, and the severity of these often leads to the animals being euthanased off-camera at race events.

“The acute and chronic injuries sustained by racing greyhounds are unacceptable and many injuries result in death because it renders the dog unprofitable. It’s not just their pace we’re betting on - it’s their lives” says Emily Robertson, the Protection League’s South Island spokesperson.

NSW have recently passed a ban effective from 2017, following an investigation which revealed systemic animal cruelty in greyhound racing and concluded there was a culture of cover-up. In 2013 the Greyhound Protection League petitioned the government for transparency around culling and injuries of greyhounds.

“We have been unsuccessfully asking the Government to provide industry statistics for years. As the New South Wales investigation found, there are systemic welfare concerns and a culture of cover-up which makes regulatory control impossible.” says Amie Wolken of Direct Animal Action.

“A ban is the only way to stop the issues inherent in greyhound racing”.

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