Despite their differing views on the racing industry, there’s one thing Border greyhound owners agree on – they are the best pet you could have.
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Albury’s Jacinta Ducat is an active member of greyhound Rescue Network Australia and has three dogs that were bred to race – two of which didn’t make the cut.
“I never thought I would have three, but with greyhounds they say one is never enough,” she said.
“They are very quiet, affectionate dogs …. they’re very cat-like.”
With greyhounds, they say one is never enough
- Albury-based foster carer Jacinta Ducat
Ms Ducat welcomed the NSW government’s decision to ban racing from July 2017.
“I’ve been on the receiving end through the foster program of the emotional blackmail that often occurs with trainers,” she said.
“You have 24 hours to take their greyhound or they’ll get rid of it.
“As an industry I’m quite pleased there’s a ban, but there are some really good trainers out there who really do love their dogs.”
Among those was Wodonga’s Ken Blair, who now owns three dogs, one of which was an ex-racer in South Australia.
“There was no way she was going to get knocked on the head because she wasn’t any good on the track,” he said.
“Personally, and I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I saw no evidence whatsoever and had been to a number of greyhound facilities.”
Mr Blair said he was worried about the jobs at risk with an industry ban.
“What I’m concerned about is the flow-on effect on people who supply collars and jacket to vets that work for race clubs,” he said.
“I believe it was somewhere in the vicinity of 80 to 85 recommendations and the Premier Mike Baird decided to take the most extreme option.
“Just because there’s a few rotten eggs doesn’t mean we’re all the same.”
Albury MLA Greg Aplin said the state government believed the size of the industry had been overstated.
“There is about 1100 jobs involved, mostly in the Sydney, Illawarra and Hunter regions,” he said.
Mr Aplin said while Albury was no longer actively involved in the industry, residents could consider re-homing dogs in the future.
“Since the media exposure, there has been some calls and emails and it’s running about 10 to one in support of the ban,” he said.
“The government will be working very closely through this transition with the RSPCA with re-homing.”
