Earlier this month, Premier Mike Baird announced greyhound racing would be prohibited across the state from mid 2017.

While the decision has drawn applause from animal right groups, those in the industry say it will devastate regional parts of the state that rely on the sport for income. 

Charles Sturt University veterinary practice lecturer Sarah Pollard-Williams adopted greyhound Candy two years ago.

Candy is now a part of Ms Pollard-Smith’s family, and accompanies the vet on visits to aged care homes across Wagga. 

Previously a greyhound vet, Ms Pollard-Smith left the position after becoming aware of live baiting and the drugging of racing dogs in regional Victoria. 

Ms Pollard-Williams said based on her expertise and personal experience, re-homing a greyhound is not more difficult than other rescue pets.

“They find it no harder to adapt than any other dog who hasn’t lived in a house,” she said.

“They house train quite quickly.”

Greyhound groups were extremely mobile at moving dogs to the right homes.

One unwanted racing dog was recently moved from Broken Hill to a new home in Wagga, Ms Pollard-Williams said. 

It comes after multiple Riverina rescue groups told The Daily Advertiser last week their services will struggle to cope under a rise in demand for re-homing.

The dogs could be hard to place because of their different needs, such as wearing a muzzle in public and their larger size, the rescue groups said. 

Ms Pollard-Williams said she was motivated to adopt after witnessing up to 70 greyhounds a year being given to CSU to be euthanised. 

Most were between 18 months and three years old, however, were discarded as they were not good racers, she said. 

“Seeing those young dogs … [it] confirmed my decision to get a rescue greyhound.” Ms Pollard-Williams said.

Members of Wagga’s dog racing community are unsure of what a ban could mean for the region’s greyhounds. 

Greyhound trainer and owner Kirsten Oakman said she was devastated over what could happen to the nearly 30 dogs her family owns.

“Twenty are young pups we were breaking in,” she said. “We’ve put that on hold at the moment because we have no idea what’s in store for them.”  

Ms Oakman said no plans have been made yet, however, there was a “big possibility” not all of them would be able to find places racing interstate or as re-homed pets.

“There’s no way we could keep 30 dogs as pets,” she said. “They’re beautiful animals, if I could keep 30 greyhounds I would.”

Wagga Greyhound Racing Club manager John Patton said the region’s greyhound community was still “heartbroken” and concerned about what livelihood they will have if there is a ban.