Injury Severity Classification is as shown in Table 1 below, as cited in the report.
1st Quarter Report
According to the first quarter report, out of 254 race meetings across NSW at TAB and Non-TAB venues, 4,520 dogs raced a total of 19,556 race starts.
On average there were 4.3 starts per dog in this period.
There were 663 incidents affecting 620 dogs.
This means that there was a 13.7% risk of an “incident” happening to any one dog.
Table 2 taken from the report is below. It shows that 2.4% of dogs suffered a major injury. While this injury classification is not reported as resulting in death, the reality is that most dogs who suffer a major injury will be killed later – off the track.
Dogs who suffered Catastrophic injuries – otherwise described as horrendous comprised nearly 1%. That is reported as 37 incidents in Table 2 below.
One dog dying for gambling is not acceptable, 37 dogs dying is significantly worse. Add to that the 109 who suffered major injuries and it becomes clear why greyhound racing cannot be reformed.
In the report itself, it is concluded that:
“there has been a general increase in the total number of injury incidents over the reporting period, with the overall injury rate of 33.9 injuries per 1000 starts greater than the injury rate of 29.3 per 1000 starts for the previous quarter.”
2nd Quarter Report
According to the 2nd Quarter report, out of 298 race meetings across NSW at TAB and Non-TAB racing venues, 4357 greyhounds raced in a total of 23,271 race starts.
There was an average number of 5.3 starts per greyhound throughout the reporting period.
There were 722 incidents affecting a 641 greyhounds.
This means that there was a 14.7% risk of an “incident” happening to any one dog.
Table 2 taken from the report is below. It shows that 2.9% of dogs suffered a major injury – compared to 2.4% in Q1.
As with Q1, the percentage of Catastrophic injuries, albeit insignificantly lower (.1) remains almost 1%. That is reported as 31 (versus 37 in Q1).
Looking at the statistics for 2018 Q2, in another way:
- About 1 out of every 7 dogs who raced in Q2 sustained an on-track injury.
- A greyhound dies on a NSW track every 3 days.
See NSW Injury reports at: http://www.grnsw.com.au/welfare/veterinary/injury-report