Australian greyhound exports once again under the microcope
The Australian government is currently being urged to investigate allegations of greyhound exports to China for racing purposes.
This investigation was prompted by a report from the ABC's 7.30 program, which highlighted the transportation of greyhounds to China over many decades.
According to the report, these dogs are being used for races and breeding in China, where gambling is allowed.
Since 2015, the exportation of greyhounds to China has been banned due to concerns about their welfare.
However, the rules only apply to greyhound industry registered individuals.
Members of the public outside the greyhound racing industry are free to export any dog, regardless of breed, to any country on the world.
Only recently, Greyhounds Australasia (GA) further restricted its ‘passport' system for industry registered person to just four countries, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Meanwhile, thoroughbred horses are still allowed to be exported to any country in the world.
Despite the onerous restrictions on greyhound participants, Australia's ABC claims that “exporters have been bypassing this ban by declaring that the dogs are being sent to countries like Vietnam”.
However, the ABC reports suggest the exports are of a dated nature, prior to export bans, or that the exports were facilitated by persons outside the industry's integrity reach.
ABC Investigations claims it “has tracked several dogs that were exported to the United Kingdom, United States, and South Africa but later sent to China and advertised” on a Chinese breeding site.
GA CEO Simon Stout told ABC Investigations: “Most greyhound exports occur within the passport system, though we acknowledge there are some bad actors who try to get around the system.”
The ABC listed just three greyhounds, Katoby, Myrniong And All, and Mickey Doo, as examples of what they claim is a widespread abuse of the GA export rules.
The Australian Government's own border control organisations do not officially recognise GA's Greyhound Passport, so while industry participant's can expect to be investigated for greyhound exports without an approved Greyhound Passport, non-industry owners of greyhounds will remain free to export greyhounds whenever and wherever they choose.