Lambton (Awabakal country): Abigail Boyd, Greens MP and Animal Welfare spokesperson, has today joined candidate for Wallsend Rebecca Watkins and owners of former racing greyhounds at Lambton to call on local Liberal and Labor candidates for the State election to back the Greens plan to rein in animal exploitation, including by shutting down the greyhound racing industry and establishing a transition program for affected workers and communities.
Greens MP Abigail Boyd said:
"In the six years since it was almost shut down, the greyhound racing industry has shown that it is incapable of reform, with dog injury and death rates higher than ever. For so long as this cruel gambling-fuelled industry is allowed to continue, where the objective of making money overrides all concerns for animal welfare, we will continue to see unacceptable animal abuse.
"Greyhound racing has had its second chance. Despite the hundreds of millions of public money it has been handed, dogs are still dying at the hands of this industry. It's time to shut greyhound racing down for good.
"The days of racing animals for profit are numbered, but that doesn't mean the people that rely on racing to make ends meet should go without. The Greens will support workers and communities reliant on greyhound racing to transition out of this cruel industry.
"The land at The Gardens and Maitland tracks should be returned to the community for use as a public park, community infrastructure or social housing. The Greens plan will facilitate the shutdown of the inhumane greyhound racing industry while looking after workers and providing for the community."
Lizzie Manning, rescue greyhound owner, said:
"I don't think the industry can prioritise animal welfare when there's billions of dollars in gambling revenue at stake.
"Despite public money being poured into integrity measures and track upgrades, 59 dogs lost their lives on NSW tracks last year, and one in five dogs that step foot onto a racetrack are injured - while gambling revenue has skyrocketed."
The Greens NSW have announced their plan to shut down the greyhound racing industry and establish a transition program for affected workers and communities.
The Greens plan will:
- Ban greyhound racing, with a one year implementation period
- Establish a transition program for industry workers and impacted communities that will:
- reskill industry workers and support them to find new jobs
- resource impacted communities and repurpose racetracks for community benefit
- Rehabilitate and rehome all affected animals
- Implement urgent welfare reforms while working towards greyhound racing shutdown
- Rehome animals trapped in the industry
Further quotes attributable to Abigail Boyd, Greens MP and spokesperson for Animal Welfare:
"The greyhound racing industry has made it clear it simply refuses to prioritise welfare, and NSW has had enough.
"The industry has rejected suggestions to introduce breeding caps, they have refused to stop building and racing on dangerous curved tracks, and recent revenue increases were invested by Greyhound Racing NSW into prize-money rather than welfare. It's clear that nothing has changed since 2016."
Policy: https://greens.org.au/nsw/reininginanimalexploitation
