The Chief Commissioner of the NSW Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission, Mr Alby Taylor, announced that from 1 May 2023 a pilot scheme of having the Commission’s On-Track Veterinarians attend club trials will commence at the Richmond and Wentworth Park greyhound tracks.

“The pilot, which will run for twelve months, is the first of the many race injury reduction strategies agreed
to at an industry Summit in February”, Mr Taylor said,

From 1 May 2023, GWIC’s veterinarians will attend all club trials conducted at both the Richmond and Wentworth Park tracks. The veterinarians will be present to attend to greyhounds that may be injured in addition to providing health and welfare advice to trainers.

“The Commission’s veterinarians will also be supported by one of our Stewards who will scan greyhounds for participants to meet our new eTracking requirements” Mr Taylor said.

In circumstances where a greyhound is injured at a trial the GWIC On-Track Veterinarians will work with trainers to ensure a greyhound receives appropriate treatment before they are cleared to race.

“The key objective of the pilot is to determine whether involvement of veterinarians at club trials can result in lower serious injury rates both at the trials and race meetings. If a trainer at a trial has a concern that their greyhound may be injured, our veterinarian will be there to carry out an examination. It is this interaction that we’re hoping will prevent greyhounds from racing with an existing injury that has the potential for worse outcomes should they race”, Mr Taylor said.

If the pilot scheme is successful in lowering serious injury rates consideration will be given to rolling the scheme out across the State.

The commencement of the pilot scheme was welcomed by the Chief Executive Officer of Greyhound Racing NSW, Mr Rob Macaulay. “It is great to get some of our race injury reduction strategies off the ground. Make no mistake, we are united in our commitment to seeing reductions in serious racing injuries in our sport” Mr Macaulay said.

“In the very near future GRNSW will be commencing pilots of the use of double arm lures and preferred box draws at some tracks” Mr Macaulay said.

Allan Hilzinger, Chief Executive Officer of GBOTA was pleased to see the first injury reduction pilot was about to commence. “I am really pleased that possibilities we discussed in Bathurst back in February are now getting underway. I am confident that some of these initiatives will prove to be positive changes for greyhound racing in NSW”.

President of Greyhound Clubs NSW, Mr Shayne Stiff also expressed his support "GCNSW is pleased to see further resources in place which ensure that in the event a greyhound sustains an injury there is immediate treatment available. Ensuring our canine athletes are well cared for, is constantly front of mind for all industry stakeholders."

Contact: media@gwic.nsw.gov.au | 0448 193 270