Tabcorp

Without gambling, there’d be no racing.

Tabcorp could reduce these annual death and injury tolls – 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 – by demanding that its racing partners act on their own track research findings.

The research done by UTS shows six-dog racing (instead of eight) and using straight tracks (instead of the old fashioned curved tracks) would reduce dog deaths and injuries.

Sadly, Tabcorp is big on fancy words, but there is no substance behind them when it comes to animal welfare. Just like its vision statement, Tabcorp’s animal welfare position statement is just more meaningless words and no action. 

Tabcorp announces five-year contract with SA and claims it will drive animal welfare reform, but such deals never have before.

What should Tabcorp do to prove it has integrity and deserves public trust? It should work with its industry partners to make beneficial change for racing dogs and horses.

CPG’s five-point plan explains how to do this and includes whole-of-life tracking of each dog, reduced breeding, sanctuaries and increased penalties for mistreatment.

tabcorp values

Sadly, Tabcorp could show leadership on animal welfare by requiring its racing industry partners to lift their game, but has failed to do so. See the evidence of this below.

Tabcorp - claims vs fiction

Claims

Fact
Tabcorp’s ASX disclosure statement says – “As a participant in the thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing industries through the offering of wagering products, Tabcorp expects the highest standards of animal welfare and integrity and has zero tolerance to animal cruelty, in racing and in society in general. Tabcorp is committed to working in partnership with racing industries to ensure the welfare of animals is prioritised.”

CPG asked Tabcorp what it had achieved for animal welfare by ‘working with its industry partners’ – the answer was zero.

You can read about it in full here (courtesy of the Crikey news website).
It’s very hard to reconcile Tabcorp’s public statements on animal welfare with its prior sponsorship of the Million Dollar Chase (MDC). The many heats and grand final resulted in many injuries.
  • The MDC results in a fresh round of injuries each year.
  • The 2018 MDC terms and conditions included a promise (items 18-20) that the participating dogs would get to live, but this welfare measure has been removed from the latest MDC race terms and conditions.
  • Given its animal welfare policy, has Tabcorp asked its partner GRNSW about moving to six-dog races in order to reduce greyhound deaths and injuries? This is a basic and obvious question for anyone who cares about greyhound welfare and is making money from dog racing.
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