Former chief vet claims: GRNSW concealed deaths amid ethical violations
A “handover” letter addressed to Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) by its own former Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), Alex Brittan, has denounced the industry as “unsustainable”.
In a 54-page complaint that arose seven-months after his departure from GRNSW, Brittan accused the organisation of concealing deaths from the public eye.
In his submission, made in June 2024, Brittan’s “handover” document asserts that:
- Adoption rates are exaggerated, with numerous dogs being left in kennels post racing.
- Dogs are pushed to race at levels that are leading to a rise in injuries.
- The industry faces an issue of greyhound breeding resulting in issues with rehoming dogs.
Brittan claims in the letter that “until the existing backlog of un-rehomed greyhounds is acknowledged and addressed, it is utterly immoral to allow yet more greyhounds to enter this unsustainable morass of exploitation and suffering.”
The former head vet also warned any newly appointed CVO would face serious challenges, saying, “GRNSW’s internal stance and attitude to indentured animal welfare concerns is reprehensible and would place the incoming CVO at a potential conflict with the NSW vet code of conduct.”
The existence of the Brittan “handover” document was acknowledged two weeks ago by GRNSW and their Chief Executive Officer, Rob Macaulay, when he appointed former Victorian Police Commissioner Graham Ashton to independently investigate the claims.
The rising awareness of Brittan’s letter in June, reportedly prompted unnamed industry insider’s to discredit Brittan claiming his tenure with GRNSW “was littered with radical suggestions including plans for greyhounds to wear protective shoes in races and to be scanned through x-ray machines before racing.”
The letter however had remained out of public scrutiny until yesterday when it was tabled in the NSW Parliament alongside the response of the NSW integrity regulator, the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission (GWIC).
The tabling of the letter and any associated documents was ordered through parliamentary process by Animal Justice Party (AJP) MP Emma Hurst in mid-June 2024, and gave the Racing Minister David Harris, GRNSW and GWIC just 21 days to produce the documents.
The release of the document has prompted demands for yet another NSW Government inquiry in to greyhound racing from Hurst, who labeled the accusations as “devastating.”
“This is unacceptable – the community will not tolerate systemic animal cruelty for gambling profits,” Hurst said.
“It’s a disturbing state of affairs that sounds eerily similar to 2015 when this industry was first exposed,” she said.
Brittan’s letter also highlights worries about the industry’s travel compensation system, which he believes encourages racing and heightens injury risks.
He suggests implementing a gap of four days between races to allow for full recuperation.
Brittan also claims in his letter that “the industry continues to over-produce exhausted greyhounds that are no longer able to race.
“They are not being rehomed, despite massive PR campaigns to promote the effectiveness of GRNSW rehoming policies,” he said.
Brittan’s letter reportedly includes GRNSW internal data that alledges the true number of greyhound deaths in 2023 was 3384.
That figure is more than three times as many as the 970 deaths by euthanasia, natural causes or accidents that were publicly reported by GWIC
GRNSW CEO Rob Macaulay has been quoted by mainstream media as calling Brittan’s letter a “long and rambling dissertation”.