- In January 2015, Western Australia’s “leading” greyhound trainer Linda Britton was disqualified for 18 months and fined $500 for the following offences:
- the prohibited substance [testosterone] was found in a urine sample taken from the greyhound following the races where she placed first and third.
- failing to keep treatment records detailing the administration of ethyloestrenol tablets to greyhound bitches trained by her. …
- in the possession of approximately 1500 ethyloestrenol tablets in two unlabeled containers located by stewards on October 10, 2014 in the fridge within her residence at her training premises which were not prescribed in compliance with the relevant provisions.
- [Her prior record] included a six-month ban in 1984 in relation to Pholcodeine and a $750 fine in 1999 in relation to antibiotics
What racing Greyhounds like Wynny give their lives for
From Greyhounds WA:
The financial rewards for being an industry participant can be an exciting part of the sport with stakemoney for Western Australia exceeding $10 million.
Easy come, easy go
- Unlike racehorses, Greyhounds are not expensive to "produce", with an average litter resulting in up to 10 puppies in just 9 weeks, and pups are raised as cheaply as possible, often in bare outside pens with the minimum of food.
- But where do all these puppies go? For example, the father of my current rescue Greyhound has sired almost 3500 pups, but only a small percentage of these reach adulthood - the rest are euthanised or handed over to Veterinary Schools and research laboratories. Figures taken from the industry (Greyhounds Australasia) show that between 2003 and 2011, an average of 10,000 greyhound pups per year don't even reach the age of naming and registration for racing. Who knows how many of the remainder are "disposed of" later because they don't meet expectations on the track.
- The ABC's "Lateline" current affairs programme covered these aspects of the industry in November 2012.
- From January to June 2013, 81 Greyhounds died on the racetrack, and another 151 suffered fractures (leading to subsequent euthanasia). Imagine the outcry if this happened in horse racing.
- There is now a thriving export trade in Greyhound puppies from Australia to Macau (China) where there are no animal welfare laws at all. Click here for details of the campaign to stop this cruel and irresponsible export trade.
Helping nature along
- The list of drugs permitted to be given to racing Greyhounds is staggering, and includes steroids, anti-inflammatories, caffeine, stimulants, emetics, strong analgesics, and antibiotics.
- In June 2013 Mark Azzopardi, a well-known Australian greyhound trainer, was "suspended" when one of his dogs tested positive for cocaine, but not until 3 months after the positive test. During that time he transferred many of his dogs into another kennel name so that he could continue to train under that name despite the suspension.
- From the Australian National University
While testing on athletes and in horse racing has been going on for many years, it was only in July 2008 that Greyhounds Australasia started testing the dogs for possible illegal use of substances such as steroids.