A parliamentary report into the Tasmanian greyhound industry has found that there is no substantiated evidence that live baiting occurs in the state but admits it would be hard to prove if it was.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The cross-party joint select committee report, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, found that the practice had occurred in the state in the past but the Office of Racing Integrity would now find it difficult to obtain evidence that would lead to prosecution.
“This finding does not exclude the possibility that live baiting could be happening in Tasmania,” the report said.
“Live baiting, if it is occurring, is at a very low level.”
Live baiting refers to the use of living small animals, like rabbits or piglets, as a lure for training greyhounds on a track.
The report has made 31 recommendations for improving the greyhound racing industry, focused on lifting animal welfare, reviewing the housing and rearing of greyhounds, and reviewing greyhound adoption programs.
It recommended a lifetime ban from racing for anyone caught live baiting and that all training facilities be registered and investigative powers of these facilities be enhanced.
The inquiry had found that the there were at least 31 facilities in the state that the Office of Racing Integrity did not know existed.
It recommended that the government look at animal welfare laws and whether mental suffering should be incorporated into the Animal Welfare Act.
The committee heard evidence that re-homing rates were low with just 121 re-homed in 2013-14, whereas between 600 and 700 greyhounds were born each year.
The committee found that housing standards were inconsistent with some evidence stating that dogs were often kept in small, barren kennels with poor socialisation.
The Tasmanian Greens expressed their disappointment in the report’s findings, considering them weak, and tabled a dissenting report in Parliament in response.
Their report highlighted an “obscene” level of wastage of healthy or injured greyhounds with 1608 named dogs had died or been killed between 2013 and 2016.
It said that Australia is one of only eight countries in the world that had not prohibited greyhound racing.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor, who was a member of the joint select committee, said there were compelling reasons to ban greyhound racing in Tasmania and that the government report was weighted too far in favour of the industry.
“This is an industry that kills hundreds and hundreds of dogs each year at taxpayers’ expense,” she said.
“It’s an industry that treats animals as disposable items for profit.”
Racing Minister Jeremy Rockliff said it would consider all the recommendations and expected the industry to uphold the highest animal welfare standards.
“We have no intention to shut down the industry, rather we will provide it with the opportunity to make the necessary reforms,” he said.
RSPCA chief executive Peter West accused the committee of not making a stand to better the lives of greyhounds.
“The focus now shifts to the state government to see what it will do to ensure greyhounds get a better deal,” he said.
