I must admit that about the only time I gamble is when I order Chinese food, however, you must have lived under a rock if you didn't know this practice went on within the greyhound industry, as well as the horse racing industry, the difference being that most dud horses go to the knackery.

Perhaps if the dud dogs had been processed for the likes of fertilizer or fish food it would not have caused such a sh-t storm. But the reality is, if not for the industry, these dog would not have been born and lets face it, no one is going to pour good money into a dud.

Its no different than a farmer shooting an unwanted dairy calf, or a useless disobedient dog. It happens every day.

I have no problem with a man racing his dog against other men's dogs.

I have no problem with people having a wager on the side.

I object to the breed discrimination inherent in the industry, because I think there are lots of other breeds besides greyhounds that race well.

I object vehemently to animal cruelty.

//If I was a dog I would definitely prefer to be a greyhound.//

Are you mental? If I was a dog I would be, in top 5 order of preference:

1) A rich, lonely person's dog. Man they must have it sweet.
2) A seeing-eye dog. They do have to work to earn their keep, but they are kept extremely well. In the land of the blind, the sighted dog is king.
3) A family pet in a loving home. Dogs are social animals; they love company, and a dog can do lot worse than one square meal a day, a warm kennel and all the affection he can put up with.
4) A Customs or Police sniffer dog. Like seeing-eye dogs, they have to work to earn their keep but they are kept well. But I doubt they get as much love as seeing-eye dogs, simply because the Police and Customs handlers are not dependent on their dog the way blind people are.
5) A herding dog. Had a hard time prioritising this one and the former; but in the end I put the sniffer dogs ahead because even though I think herding dogs are more loved by their owners, they live a much harder life than most modern working breeds.

//Greyhounds get top quality food, proper housing, good vet care, plenty of fun. They enjoy chasing and it can be done cleanly and without cruelty.//

Not necessarily. This is why the industry should have been thoroughly investigated and reformed, not prohibited.

Instead, the geniuses in the NSW parliament have adopted for prohibition. We all know how this story goes: dog racing continues clandestinely. With less regulation there is more corruption and more cruelty. The dogs are the ones that suffer the most.

The sudden and unexpected announcement of such a drastic decision makes me smell a rat, and it stinks of corruption. It's as if the Government would never have dreamt of it, then somebody hands the relevant ministers some cash in a brown paper bag with not a word to the taxman, and hey-presto! No more dog racing!

Make no mistake; there is a hell of a lot of corruption in the gambling industry, and it goes all the way to the top.

I'd love to get down to the local park on a weekend to watch my mate's greyhound-X? (I assume cheetah) smash everybody else's dog out of the ballpark.

Maybe the ban on greyhound racing is a chance for people to rebuild dog racing on a local, community based level without the breed discrimination, cruelty or corruption.

But that might be a bit too much fun, so the fun police will have to crack down on it.

N.W.A. almost said it best when they almost said 'F#&k the Fun Police'.

Toni,

Your 'Top 5' is one of the best posts that I've ever read. Congratulations.

LOL Toni
I have always wondered how other types of dogs would go at racing.
There is no reason why not. As long as they are matched with dogs of similar ability Im sure they and their owners would love it.

That is part of the problem with greyhound racing. They only want the fastest and there is no where for the slower dogs to go.
It has been suggested that a grading system like Ireland's, where they have 10 grades and even the slowest dog can find a race to be competitive in, should have/should be introduced. That way they dont need to "waste" the slow dogs and the older dogs can race longer in lower grades.

Along with increased surveillance and licensing requirements, massive punishments for wrongdoers and better track design there is no reason why racing has to be shut down and thousands of people hurt and impoverished. Not to mention the likely execution of many of the greyhounds who cant be rehoused.

There is much being said here, for example by Toni Lavis, that I agree with.

I reckon what is being done is that the government and the activists it is responding to are happy to select one small part of a large and complex social system to take umbrage and to over-react with a ban.

Likely too, there is some secondary gain for various interests including government that could for instance see prime real estate developments replacing green 'underutilised' land.

Some might see some parallels with the government's and developers' jealous attempts to snatch back the broad green and scrubby acres of the historic ANZAC rifle range with the fauna it protects. Government was narrowly pipped there, but doubtless the plans have gone into some senior bureaucrat's drawer only to reappear some time in the future.

Meanwhile on the internet a woman video-streamed the death of her loving partner, while he expired after being stopped for a broken tail light.