The latest greyhound death on the Ballarat racetrack has highlighted Victoria’s status as the deadliest state in Australia, say greyhound welfare advocates.
Three-year-old “More Rage” suffered a broken foreleg and was euthanased at the Ballarat race meeting on 1 August 2026.
She is the 19th greyhound to die at a Victorian track this year, the highest number in Australia. A further 26 dogs died away from Victorian tracks after suffering serious injuries in their races.
In the FY25 annual report, Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) revealed a total of 90 racing deaths.
“More Rage”’s death came a few days after GRV released data that purported to show the economic benefits of greyhound racing to Victoria.
However, although the Ballarat Times misreported the research as being “independent”, the data was commissioned by GRV and provided by consulting firm IER, a client of the racing industry.
Leading economist Saul Eslake has described the supposed economic contribution estimated by IER, and claimed employment numbers, as “egregiously exaggerated”. IER’s methodology has been criticised by the Australian Government Productivity Commission, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, state Treasuries, and the Victorian Auditor-General.
In fact, the Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that banning greyhound racing would save the state $451.6 million over a decade, driven by $687.4 million in lower expenses offset by $235.8 million in lost tax revenue.
A spokesperson for the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds said:
“The Victorian greyhound racing industry keeps rolling on, killing dogs and misleading the public and politicians.
‘More Rage’ is just another statistic in Australia’s deadliest state for greyhounds.
GRV says it reviews every death, but after hundreds of deaths it refuses to reveal one safety improvement from all these reviews.
The racing industry has conned politicians into giving their support. Claims of economic benefits are misleading and exaggerated, while boasts about animal welfare standards are painfully false.
The Ballarat track was upgraded for $3.3m, with half coming from taxpayers. Greyhounds kept dying and suffering appalling injuries. Taxpayer funding of this dog-killing business must stop.
Premier Ben Carroll has announced a Royal Commission into the CFMEU. Now is also a good opportunity to establish an independent inquiry into the Victorian greyhound racing industry.”
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Links:
Stewards report:
https://fasttrack.grv.org.au/RaceField/ViewRaces/1289864104?raceId=-2086632935
GRV economic benefits:
https://www.grv.org.au/news/2026/07/22/greyhound-racings-854-million-impact/
Image at top courtesy of Seven News – from the news broadcast below on 4 August 2026