Australia’s violent abuse of gentle greyhounds

9 min readFeb 2, 2025

Credit: Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds

While the ongoing Drake Inquiry into Greyhound Racing NSW took a break from hearings over the holiday period, resuming on Monday, the horrific deaths and injuries suffered by greyhounds on and off tracks around Australia have continued daily.

In 2016, the shocking McHugh report and former NSW premier Mike Baird’s decisive ban should have marked the end of NSW greyhound racing forever and created momentum for an end to the cruelty in other states. But Baird instead decided to follow the well-worn route of many a spineless leader, back flipping on what he knew was the right decision.

Around the world, greyhound racing is a dying form of gambling and entertainment, built on animal exploitation and suffering. Australia is one of a only a small number of countries still supporting a commercial greyhound racing industry, an industry regularly exposed over many years for its abhorrent cruelties and corrupt practices.

At a recent Drake inquiry hearing, former Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) chief vet Dr Alex Brittan spoke about greyhounds who were “quite literally being sliced in half by a flailing broken wire from the lure”. Dogs that had “run into poles & had their skulls crushed”. Dogs with “legs ripped off”. Dogs with bilateral fractures, torn stomachs, twisted lungs, ruptured blood vessels in abdomens.

Can you imagine forcing your own dogs, the ones sitting next to you on the couch right now, on to a track each week to face the constant risk of serious injury and death? It would be like letting them run around on a busy road or dropping them into a warzone. And if you think in 2025 the serious injuries and deaths must by now be minimal and occasional, think again.

The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG) does a fantastic job informing the public on the brutal realities of greyhound racing, navigating endless obstacles put up by industry, governments, media and supporters. But it wasn’t until I recently started digging into the detail, reading daily post-race reports from around the country, watching footage when available, sometimes tuning in to live streams, seeing these beautiful dogs crashing into each other and into railings, falling, so many horrific falls, so many injured dogs staggering off to the side or trailing far behind the others, that I really grasped the scale of the relentless abuse.

Day after day, the post-race reports list lacerations, abrasions, sprains and strains, along with the more serious injuries that include many fractures. After four year old Panama Girl collapsed and fell during a race at Gunnedah last week — reported as her second collapse — she was found to be “severely distressed”. (Update 3 Feb: Panama Girl’s status has just been listed as “deceased”)

Some research, as quoted in the McHugh report, has shown that only sixteen percent of serious injuries are diagnosed at track. One on-track vet told the inquiry that dogs are “so worked up” they may finish the race without exhibiting obvious pain, but “if you looked at them again two or three hours later” the injuries may be more obvious.

In October last year, Kevin Sweet, Chief Innovation & Technology Officer at GRNSW, told the Drake inquiry that “Taree is probably our safest track in the state”. But the evidence has shown again and again that no track can be made safe for vulnerable greyhounds, who are well known to prefer sleeping on a couch to running anywhere.

Just over a week ago, during a race at the “safest track in the state,” three year old Ted Robbo died after straddling the rail and “making contact with multiple upright posts”. Two weeks earlier, also at Taree, two year old Shirl’s Rocket had suffered “a compound fracture of the off side radius and ulna and a suspected spinal cord injury”, also after straddling the rail and “making heavy contact with multiple rail posts”. He was “euthanised”. After millions of dollars spent redeveloping the Taree site, this is the greyhound industry’s idea of safe.

In 2016, the McHugh inquiry’s investigations discovered GRNSW had been deceiving the public by “deliberately misreporting the extent of injuries suffered by greyhounds at racetracks” and deliberately failing “to make available to the public information about deaths of greyhounds at racetracks”. In 2025, NSW stewards’ reports do now include death and injury information, although some of the language used still seeks to conceal serious injuries, but what GRNSW presents visually to the public remains a lie.

When I recently searched for the race replay after Ted Robbo’s catastrophic injury at Taree, it was nowhere to be found on GRNSW web pages. When I checked later, the replay did appear but with Ted Robbo’s fall edited out of the footage. The replay of the Shirl’s Rocket race has not been available at all online.

When a greyhound falls or dies in NSW, those race replays are regularly “missing” from the GRNSW web pages or have been sanitised to remove the deaths, injuries, disturbing falls or other incidents. The replay of a race involving a distressing incident at Wentworth Park, just last night, is currently nowhere to be found on GRNSW web pages.

This censorship can only be seen as a continuation of past behaviour, attempting to deceive the public as to the true nature of greyhound racing.

So far this year, CPG has reported eleven greyhounds killed on tracks around the country (listed below) and 893 injuries reported at track. Many of the injured dogs will not survive, dying later because of the severity of injuries or because a decision is made to end their lives. Listed as injured in Hobart (Tas) last week, with “a fractured left hock,” the status of Perfect Shadows now appears as deceased. Another dog, Rock Burner, injured at Dapto a few weeks ago and given a 90 day incapacitation period, is also now listed as dead.

Many of the injured dogs are killed because, temporarily or permanently, they can no longer race, not because they are beyond saving or rehabilitation. Many more greyhounds are regularly injured and killed off-track for various reasons. One breeder giving evidence to the 2016 McHugh inquiry stated, “dogs who don’t have the instinct [to chase] or the tools to be a consistent winner — well a good handler can spot it a mile away … Most of the time I’d drown the pups”.

In his evidence to the Drake inquiry, Dr Brittan said he had discovered unreported off-track deaths that only became known during the Greyhound Welfare and Intergrity Commission’s (GWIC) “proof of life events”. Dr Brittan told the inquiry, ‘they’d ring up a participant and say, “Our records show you’ve got ten dogs on site. Can you please confirm that,” and the participant would go, “Oh, actually, I’ve only got six. Four have died but, whoops, I forgot to phone in and tell you”’.

Dr Brittan was also asked if he thinks greyhound racing “as it now stands” in NSW should continue. His answer, “at this point in time I don’t feel that greyhound racing in NSW should be continuing”.

Greyhound racing is on its way out in Australia and around the world, it’s just a matter of time. Polls have consistently shown that most Australians do not support this cruel form of gambling.

These sensitive dogs belong on couches, not on racing tracks, and the urgent question our politicians need to answer is how much longer will you wait? How many more of these beautiful dogs will have to suffer and die before you can find your backbone and ban this cruelty forever?

The gentle greyhounds killed on tracks around Australia in January 2025 ↓

Shirl’s Rocket suffered “a compound fracture of the off side radius and ulna and a suspected spinal cord injury,” straddling the rail and “making heavy contact with multiple rail posts”. He was killed on track at Taree (NSW). He was two years old.

Ted Robbo died after straddling the rail and “making contact with multiple upright posts” at Taree (NSW). He was three years old.

Ramblin’ Ethics suffered “a near side radius and ulna compound fracture” at Muswellbrook in NSW and was killed by the on-track vet. The two year old’s sister, Shelly’s Ethics, had on Christmas Eve suffered a broken leg at Ipswich and was given a 90 day incapacitation period, but was later listed as dead.

Fiesta Azul suffered a right radius/ulna fracture and was killed at Warragul (Vic). He was two years old.

Brocky’s Ethics fell heavily after a race when entering the catching pen at Casino (NSW). The three year old suffered a “nearside fore comminuted compound fracture of the radius, ulna & carpus, with hemorrhage”. He was killed by the on-track vet.

Charli Marley suffered a “radius/ulna fracture” and was killed by the on-track vet at Bendigo (Vic). She was two and a half years old.

Apache Shout collapsed during a race at Sandown (Vic) and was pronounced dead by the on-track vet. He was four years old.

My Matilda suffered a “left humerus fracture” and was killed by the on-track vet at Angle Park (SA). She was three and a half years old.

Racoon Riot suffered a “right radius/ulna fracture” after reportedly contacting the catching pen gate. He was killed at the Warrnambool track (Vic) by the on-track vet. He was just one & a half years old.

Memphis Raines suffered a leg fracture at the Ipswich (Qld) track. He was killed by the on-track vet. He was two years old.

Lucky suffered a right hock fracture at Sandown (Vic) and was killed by the on-track vet. He was two years old.

Websites:

* I have been, and will continue for now, posting footage and details of Australia’s greyhound track deaths and injuries here and less frequently here. You can find more consistent, regularly updated, detailed information and commentary on greyhound deaths and injuries in Australia on the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds website.

Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds: https://greyhoundcoalition.com/

Grey2kUSA Worldwide: https://www.grey2kusa.org/index.php

Animal Liberation: https://www.al.org.au/greyhound-racing-nsw-shameful-fail

Animal Justice Party: https://www.animaljusticeparty.org/greyhound_racing

The Greens: https://greens.org.au/news/greens-launch-plan-put-animal-welfare-back-national-agenda-starting-shutting-down-cruel

Links to greyhound rescue groups: https://greyhoundcoalition.com/links-to-greyhound-rescue-groups/

Drake Inquiry into Greyhound Racing NSW: https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/office-of-racing/inquiry-into-greyhound-racing-nsw/hearings-and-transcripts

The 2016 “McHugh report” Special Commission of Inquiry into the Greyhound Racing Industry in New South Wales: https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/Special%20Commission%20of%20inquiry%20volume%201_0.pdf

Post-race stewards’ reports:

NSW: https://www.thedogs.com.au/racing/stewards-reports

Victoria: https://fasttrack.grv.org.au/Meeting

Queensland: https://www.racingqueensland.com.au/racing/race-day-stewards-reports

South Australia: https://greyhoundracingsa.com.au/care-and-integrity/stewards-reports

Western Australia: https://racingwa.com.au/racing/greyhound-racing/greyhound-stewards-reports

Tasmania: https://tasracing.com.au/integrity/greyhound/stewards-reports-greyhounds-2024-2025

Northern Territory: https://www.darwingreyhounds.com/stewards-reports/

Update 14 Feb 2025: Below I have copied some of the links to online postings I have made in recent weeks on injuries, deaths, falls and other incidents in NSW.

I have generally only posted about the most serious injuries and deaths — there are of course many many more injuries every single day that I have not posted about.

I remain utterly horrified by what I see happening every day on tracks within NSW and around the country. I cannot understand how anyone could seriously believe it is acceptable to allow greyhound racing to continue in NSW or anywhere else.

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1889967374385995820

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1889901281147486252

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1889645504155222247

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1889789405973332382

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1889596724240367989

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1889292677965119824

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1888842535642243284

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1888846622093893744

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1888517426884792769

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1888200744089854258

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1888515807912833092

https://x.com/susanamet/status/1888505491602686329