Queensland greyhound racing – not so beautiful
ASIDE from Fernando Bale, there is not much on the plus side of the ledger at the moment and even he is not quite perfect. Has Australia become blinkered about anything other than live baiting? Here are some examples.
The stark truth about racing finances in Queensland is now emerging. The recently sacked boards said things were fine. So did the previous administration which was accused of improper contracting. Between 2003 and 2013 greyhound stakemoney increased by 72.5%, according to GAL statistics, although that was below the national average.
Yet the stand-in Racing Queensland manager (from KPMG) took no time at all to find that it lost $12 million last year, increasing to a likely $28 million loss in the current financial year. A code breakdown is not available.
According to new Racing Minister, Bill Byrne, “the finances of Racing Queensland had a foundation built on rivers of gold that didn't exist.”
Whatever the reasons for all that, for more than a decade now almost all greyhound numbers have declined. GAL data shows these changes:
It’s dogs running around in a circle. Time to get a new hobby.
Scott Parker has been open and up-front about welfare and wastage being a real issue (and not just an annoyance to the number crunchers).
I think it shows courage and integrity to meet your foe head on, rather than ignore the elephant in the room.
It’s dogs running around in a circle. Time to get a new hobby.
Scott Parker has been open and up-front about welfare and wastage being a real issue (and not just an annoyance to the number crunchers).
I think it shows courage and integrity to meet your foe head on, rather than ignore the elephant in the room.