Trudy Baker, Greyt Exploitations, Greyhound Racing in the UK: an update on welfare 30 October 2018, Portcullis House, London All-Party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group (APDAWG) � 1
Make the Connection
Calls for public injury database ignored by the industry since 2007
Injury & Euthanasia Data: Formal Agreement (2015) Terms of the formal agreement between the DEFRA Minister and the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) Publication of injury and euthanasia statistics GBGB undertakes to annually publish summary figures for greyhounds injured or euthanised at racecourses licensed by GBGB and for these figures to be presented as a percentage of total greyhound runs each year. GBGB will commence with publishing 2017 figures in the first part of 2018. � 4
Euthanasia & Injury Figures EFRA compared to GBGB * Figures from GBGB tracks submitted to the EFRA inquiry, “Greyhound Welfare” (2015-16). Source: Racecourse Promoters Association. ** Source: GBGB “2017 Injury/Retirement Data” (14.03.18) � 5
Greyt Exploitations’ Data ❖ GE has compiled data since 2005 from GBGB race comments recording track incidents that would indicate an injury. Our database is open to public inspection. ❖ Did Not Finish (DNF) ❖ Finished at a Distance (DIS) ❖ Finished Lame ❖ GE data shows 5,735 greyhounds DNF or DIS in 2017 ❖ 798 more greyhound injuries than the GBGB‘s figure of 4,937 ❖ 590 injured greyhounds destroyed throughout 2017 – averaging 11 killed every week � 6
Retirement Data: Formal Agreement (2015) Formal Agreement between DEFRA and the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) Publication of retirement records GBGB will annually publish summary statistics for the number of GBGB registered greyhounds that leave the sport each year (and by what method). GBGB will commence with publishing 2017 figures in the first half of 2018. � 7
GBGB call for Retirement Forms It can take more than 6 months before the GBGB is in possession of Retirement Forms. At what point and after how many months does the GBGB consider a dormant greyhound as formally retired? � 8
Leaving by what method? Formal agreement between DEFRA and GBGB stipulated that GBGB will publish number of greyhounds leaving racing AND BY WHAT METHOD � 9
Retirement Agreement broken GBGB fails to identify the numbers of greyhounds that left the industry for ‘Racing on independent tracks’ – ‘Racing abroad’ and ‘other’- such as research and dissection. � 10
Trainers’ Kennels Agreement broken Trainer’s kennels GBGB will put in place an agreed set of standards for trainers’ kennels and these standards will be enforced by GBGB inspectors with in-depth knowledge of racing greyhound welfare. In addition, GBGB will ensure that through the British Standards Institution (BSI) a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is developed for trainer’s kennels. Once a PAS has been agreed, GBGB will obtain an extension to its current scope of UKAS accreditation to include trainer’s kennels by December 2017. As of October 25th – GBGB has not secured an extension to its scope of UKAS accreditation to include trainers’ kennels which should have been done by December 2017. � 11
Horse racing industry reporting standards are far superior � 12
Conclusions ❖ Self-regulation has and never will work ❖ Published data lacks detail and therefore transparency ❖ GBGB has not fully honoured agreement with DEFRA ❖ Year after year we’ve seen failed attempts to reform and hollow promises at the cost of thousands of greyhounds’ lives ❖ Greyhound racing will always depend on cruelty for its profits and sustainability ❖ Phase out greyhound racing leading to a nationwide ban � 13
Greyhounds are companions just like any other breed of dog you care for at home but the industry destroys them in their thousands � 14
Greyt Exploitations Email: info@greytexploitations.com Website : http://greytexploitations.com Greyt Exploitations’ Data: http://greytexploitations-greyhound- data.com Twitter : @Greytexposers Facebook: Greyt Exploitations � 15
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