Is this the role of an independent industry regulator?
The NSW Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission (GWIC) is keen to see children as young as 12 involved in greyhound racing.
A 23 July 2024 article in Greyhound Recorder, about a 13-year-old boy excited about getting his associate attendant registration when he’s 14, had some interesting quotes from GWIC’s acting chief steward.
Dean Degan said: “It’s great to see the young ones coming through, we need the next generation…I like to support them and encourage them because they are our future.”
GWIC allows 12-year-olds to be “junior” attendants, letting them catch and box greyhounds at greyhound trials.
The article appeared shortly after a report from GRNSW’s former vet Alex Brittan sparked a wave of media articles that revealed claims of animal abuse, cruelty, and under-reporting of deaths.
An editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald declared that greyhounds have “been treated so cruelly in NSW that the greyhound racing industry has now run its course.”
It further stated: “the entire industry – administrators, owners, trainers and patrons – cannot escape responsibility for allowing the cruelty to persist.”
Brittan also wrote that “It is utterly immoral to allow yet more greyhounds to enter this unsustainable morass of exploitation and suffering.”
The same can be said for GWIC and the young children it encourages to enter a world of animal abuse and gambling.
Chief vet Alex Brittan noted that catching pens were areas of collisions and injuries, while GWIC admits that greyhounds die at trials. These are places for 12-year-olds?
One could also question the timing of the Greyhound Recorder article. A case of exploiting a child to counter the negative media coverage and show that everything is happy in the world of dog racing?
Source:
https://www.thegreyhoundrecorder.com.au/news/going-to-be-fun-jasper-counting-down-the-days/