[WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT]
The shocking and tragic deaths of two greyhounds in a bike locker in western Sydney have highlighted serious flaws in the greyhound rehoming system.
Details of the case
According to the NSW Police, Western Weekender and the Daily Telegraph, at 4pm on 19 November 2025 police were called to bike lockers at Penrith train station after a dog was heard barking inside.
The temperature on the day reached 35 degrees.
With the metal too hot to touch, the fire brigade had to break free two greyhounds, named Chilli and Ebony. Chilli was dead, Ebony died later at a veterinary hospital. Both died from severe heatstroke.
The offender was charged with eight counts, including recklessly beating and killing an animal and aggravated cruelty. He pleaded guilty and was remanded until sentencing on 30 January 2025.
The greyhounds’ racing names are believed to be Spring Chilli and Orara Ebony. Both were eight years old. Evidence at the site suggests the greyhounds were left at the locker on previous occasions.
GAP dogs?
Information suggests that Chilli and Ebony were obtained from GAP NSW.
Animal Liberation and Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds have asked key questions from Greyhound Racing NSW, the regulator Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission (GWIC), and racing minister David Harris. To date (2 Dec 2025) there has been no response.
Critical questions include:
- Is GRNSW and GWIC investigating the death of these two dogs, How often were they left in the bike locker. What standard of welfare did they experience under their owner.
- Were Chilli and Ebony obtained from GAP. If so, when.
- Does GAP conduct background checks on every greyhound adopter
- Does GAP conduct home checks on every greyhound adopter
- Will GWIC reinstate the names of all dogs that are deceased or rehomed to its public eTrac greyhound database
- Why doesn’t the industry track those greyhounds rehomed to “3rd-party” participants or those dogs sent to the US
- When will Minister Harris release the Drake Report
The dangerous shambles of NSW greyhound rehoming
The Drake Inquiry into NSW greyhound racing had a major focus on the problems of rehoming. The Inquiry heard that greyhound rehoming is basically unregulated, with GWIC responsible for welfare but GRNSW responsible for rehoming.
A couple of transcript extracts:
Jamie Palmer, director of rehoming and adoption programs, GRNSW, Oct 2024: “GWIC is responsible for welfare, GRNSW is responsible for rehoming”.
Leo Saunders, counsel assisting, Dec 2024: “The Inquiry has heard evidence that, of the proportion of racing greyhounds that are privately rehomed by participants to non-industry participants, Greyhound Racing takes no steps to follow up on the outcomes of those greyhounds.”
Because the industry cannot find homes for all retired racing greyhounds, many problems exist:
- In the Jul-Sept 2025 GWIC Lifecycle report, 46% of retired greyhounds were “accepted” by GAP and other adoption agencies, but 53% were retained by participants or “rehomed privately” by them.
- The 166 dogs rehomed privately are not tracked by GWIC. Many are given to unsuitable adopters, with some ending up for free on sites like Gumtree.
- GWIC now conceals data on dogs rehomed outside the industry from its public eTrac database.
- In GRNSW FY25 annual report, 1650 greyhounds are reported as being rehomed, far less than the required 3800.
Amy MacMahon, president of CPG, said: “Chilli and Ebony shouldn’t have suffered their shocking deaths. The racing industry breeds greyhounds, races them, and then discards them. The industry has failed to take responsibility for the greyhounds it breeds for gambling and rehoming is a mess.”
Image allegedly shows the bike locker in Penrith