STATEMENT: 4 CORNERS EPISODE “MAKING A KILLING”
PRESS RELEASE
16TH February 2015
STATEMENT: 4 CORNERS EPISODE “MAKING A KILLING”
On Monday 16th February an episode on live baiting in Greyhound Racing in NSW, VIC and QLD aired on Four Corners. The imaging and the report was distressing, and utterly barbaric.
CEO of Greyhound Racing South Australia Mr Matt Corby said “The outrageous actions of a number trainers within the Greyhound Industry in Australia is totally unacceptable. Anyone at all found to be participating in this activity will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and immediately removed from the industry.”
This type of cruelty to animals is a criminal act. In South Australia it carries with it a prison sentence of up to 4 years and fines in excess of $50,000. This is an incredibly shocking and horrendous practice toward both the animals being used for live baiting and the Greyhounds. Intrinsically Greyhounds are placid and gentle creatures.
Mr Corby said “The Greyhound Industry and Greyhound South Australia will work with the relevant authorities with swift, immediate and strong repercussions. There is zero tolerance for this behaviour in our industry and we will work diligently to eradicate the risk of this practice occurring in South Australia”.
Whilst Greyhound Racing South Australia does not have any evidence that live baiting is occurring here, we will allocate maximum resources to ensure our capacity that this illegal conduct never occurs in our jurisdiction.
We are taking immediate steps to review our methods of monitoring including:
1) Increasing our expenditure to develop more sophisticated means of surveillance on trial tracks and licenced premises
2) Increasing the support for our Integrity Standards Department and Animal Welfare Officer
3) Increasing resources for our Integrity Standards Department
4) We are encouraging anyone who may have any evidence of this type of practice in South Australia to approach directly the CEO of Greyhound Racing of South Australia [email protected]