Add Category
In short:
Greyhound trainers in NSW say the industry has improved since it was almost shut down in 2016.
A report from the former vet of greyhound racing NSW alleged "barbaric" treatment of the dogs persists.
What's next:
The Coalition is calling for the industry to be shut down, but NSW Premier Chris Minns has ruled that out, instead announcing an inquiry.
Lynn Maney has kept greyhounds for 54 years.
She met her husband Michael at the dog races, and now their grandchildren are rising through the ranks of the sport.
"To us it's just a way of life," Ms Maney said.
The couple has 16 greyhounds on their property at Wimbledon, near Bathurst, west of Sydney.
"We're not the top trainers, but we're not unsuccessful either," Ms Maney said.
However, the veteran trainer admits her lifelong passion has not always been a source of pride.
"In years gone by, I used to look at greyhounds as they presented at the track, and I was a little bit ashamed, to be truthful," she said.
"But now things are really good."
An assessment by the former chief vet of Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) suggests otherwise.
Upon his departure from the governing body, Dr Alex Brittan wrote a handover report alleging that cruel practices are still occuring.
He claimed dogs were allowed to be raced at a "barbaric" frequency, with deaths under-reported and rehoming figures inflated.
"Animal welfare continues to play a distant second fiddle to the fiscal demands of the industry," Dr Brittan wrote.
GRNSW CEO Rob Macaulay resigned after the report was made public on Tuesday.
The allegations have sparked two investigations, one ordered by GRNSW and another by the state's racing minister, David Harris.
The government has given the GRNSW Board until the end of Friday to explain why its members should not be stood down. Those on the board include barrister Adam Casselden SC and defamation lawyer Rebekah Giles.
At the Richmond Race Club on Thursday, where two of Ms Maney's dogs were racing, there was a sense of deja vu by the track.
"We've always got that dark cloud hanging over our heads. Are we going to survive? Are we going to be shut down?" Ms Maney said.
The industry came under intense scrutiny in 2015 after a Four Corners episode prompted a Special Commission of Inquiry.
Following the inquiry's damning findings in 2016, then-premier Mike Baird tried to ban greyhound racing, but he ultimately backed down.
Ms Maney insisted the industry had cleaned up its act.
"Over the past eight years, I think the welfare of greyhounds has improved enormously," she said.
"From my experience, I haven't seen any welfare issues in the last 12 months."
Young trainer says the industry has changed
Mackayla Clarke, 21, is one of the youngest trainers at Richmond Race Club, and said she has never known anyone to treat their dogs poorly.
"Everyone I speak to or associate, with they treat their dogs with kindness, love, they look after them. They give them everything that they require to thrive," Ms Clarke said.
"Mine get Maccas after a run because they're spoiled."
Ms Clarke said those who broke the rules were a small minority and were generally reprimanded.
"In any racing industry, there will always be people that do the wrong thing by the animals," she said.
"There've been inquiries before. I don't think anything different is going to come out of the inquiries. So I don't see the point in spending an excessive amount of money."
Kylie Field, the NSW director for the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds, agreed another inquiry was not the answer.
"This industry can't reform. It couldn't reform in 2016 when it was given another chance, and eight years later, we're standing here talking about reform," Ms Field said.
The organisation is calling for the industry to be shut down, but NSW Premier Chris Minns has already ruled that out.
Mr Harris said he was committed to a "responsible" industry that maintained the highest standards of animal welfare.
"My job is to ensure I'm on their tail," he said.