Australian Greens Senators' Dissenting Report
1.1The Australian Greens firmly reject the committee’s recommendation, and strongly recommend the passing of this bill to ban the export and import of greyhounds and greyhound genetic material for racing, breeding and commercial purposes. This bill would be a critical step towards ensuring that beautiful, sentient greyhounds can enjoy a dignified life free of the cruelty and exploitation associated with their export and import. It would respond to overwhelming public support for ending greyhound suffering related to exports and imports, and reflect the consensus of contemporary expert evidence on greyhound welfare.
1.2The committee’s view to oppose this bill is a disgraceful and indefensible decision to effectively perpetuate the suffering of greyhounds. Sadly, given the major parties take significant donations from racing-associated gambling industries, it is unsurprising they continue to do their bidding, along with pouring enormous amounts of public money into these exploitative industries.[1] It is deplorable that the major parties continue to prioritise economic profit and greed, instead of listening to the views of the community and ending greyhound cruelty. Shame on them.
1.3It is deeply disappointing that the committee has ignored the overwhelming public and expert support for this bill. In support of the bill, the inquiry received around 1700 campaign letters, 640 unpublished short statements, and an overwhelming majority of the 217 submissions.[2] This included support from animal welfare experts and advocates including Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG), Animals Australia, Free the Hounds, RSPCA Australia, Greyhound Rescue, Animal Liberation, GREY2K USA Worldwide and Sentient (The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics).[3]
1.4There is widespread support for ending all greyhound cruelty and suffering, and this bill is an important step to achieving that aim. Independent polling commissioned by Senator Faruqi’s office in May 2023 showed that nearly two‑thirds of Australians believe greyhound racing is cruel and should be banned. A 2022 survey conducted by CPG and GREY2K USA Worldwide showed that 57 per cent of Australians wanted greyhound racing to be banned.[4] A 2021 RSPCA Australia survey found that 75 per cent of Australians are concerned or very concerned about the treatment of greyhounds by the racing industry.[5] Tens of thousands of Australians have signed petitions in WA and Tasmania to end greyhound racing, and ACT has banned greyhound racing.[6] More than 6000 people signed an Australian Greens petition in support of this bill.
1.5Australia is falling behind globally in animal welfare, and is one of only seven jurisdictions worldwide that still permits commercial greyhound racing, yet has by far the most greyhound racing tracks, and accounts for more racing‑associated gambling revenue than all these other countries combined.[7] Fortunately, it now appears imminent that New Zealand, one of the major importers of Australian greyhounds,[8] will ban greyhound racing.[9] This will hopefully reduce demand for greyhounds and be a further nail in the coffin of the cruel greyhound racing and gambling industries.
1.6Greyhounds exported from Australia, who are often transported on to third countries with no effective animal welfare protections, suffer immense cruelty. They are kept in terrible conditions, suffer horrific racing injuries, and once underperforming, are intensively bred (thus producing more greyhounds subjected to similar suffering) or killed usually within 3 years of arrival.[10]
1.7In this inquiry, Greyhounds Australasia admitted that 464 Australian greyhounds have been exported in breach of industry rules since 2015.[11] As investigations led by animal welfare advocates have shown,[12] the true extent of greyhound export suffering is almost certainly significantly greater than numbers reported by government and industry. In addition, the export and import of greyhound semen contributes to exploitative and excessive breeding, and enables suffering and cruel greyhound racing around the world.[13]
1.8For years, media exposés have revealed hundreds of Australian greyhounds exported to countries with poor animal welfare standards, in circumvention of Greyhounds Australasia’s passport system, where they are subjected to terrible suffering, languishing in poor conditions inside prison-like cells, forced to participate in cruel animal shows, and painfully killed through poison injections.[14] Most recently, an ABC investigation uncovered a supply chain involving Australian agents procuring winning greyhounds and exporting them to China, with over 700 Australian greyhounds appearing on an online breeding website, and greyhounds being purchased for up to $220000.[15]
1.9Many submissions to this inquiry emphasised the immense suffering faced by exported greyhounds.[16] As Ms Shatha Hamade of Animals Australia said:
The exported dogs are being subjected to extreme animal cruelty, including being kept in barren, concrete, prisonlike cells, experiencing terrible conditions, suffering painful injuries, being injected with substances such as insecticides and facing death within three years of arrival[...] Does the mass killing, the drugging, the abuse, the denial of socialisation and environmental enrichment, and the wastage of thousands of healthy dogs each year in Australia so as to maximise prize pools in the gambling industry justify the means? The answer is a resounding 'no'.[17]
1.10Ms Natalie Panzarino of Greyhound Rescue said:
Many [greyhounds] endure long stressful journeys in uncomfortable conditions. Some are subjected to inhumane practices, such as doping, illegal racing or premature retirement, leading to uncertain fates and being abandoned or euthanised when they're no longer good enough[...] Spain, for instance, uses greyhounds for hunting, a truly barbaric practice that involves pursuing and capturing live prey. This frequently results in injury to the hounds, and injured hounds are then abandoned to die.[18]
1.11The industry self-regulation of greyhound exports and imports is totally failing. Greyhounds Australasia’s passport system cannot effectively prevent the suffering of greyhounds exported overseas and then on to third countries. Its penalties for non-compliance are minimal and an ineffective deterrent, and they only apply to racing participants.[19]
1.12Similarly, the arrangement being discussed by GA and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department), in which the department would not authorise export of a greyhound where an industry regulator notifies the department of non-compliance with industry rules would also fail to prevent exported greyhounds from ending up in unregulated third countries.[20]
1.13After nearly 20 years of the passport system, and an estimated 20000 greyhounds sent to their death at the Macau Canidrome,[21] any attempts to self‑regulate greyhound exports have failed, with hundreds of greyhounds remaining listed on a breeding website in China.[22] The only way to guarantee an end to the suffering of greyhounds related to their export and import for racing and breeding purposes is to ban these activities entirely.
1.14Many submissions to this inquiry emphasised the failure of industry self‑regulation of greyhound exports.[23] As Ms Shatha Hamade of Animals Australia said:
The traceability system of the regulatory bodies within the greyhound racing industry is fundamentally flawed. A person need only retire a greyhound or allege that a greyhound has been euthanised, for their animal to fall out of the system[...] So, no, the passport system does not work. It is not [enshrined] in law and is not enforceable, and it is left to Greyhounds Australasia, which is an industry body with little or no funding or resourcing, to even trace and regulate the issue.[24]
1.15Dr Di Evans of RSPCA Australia said:
In terms of the export of greyhounds, there are many associated animal welfare risks that cannot be mitigated by either the industry or the government. These include lack of government oversight and authority, once a greyhound leaves Australia, which means that the welfare and fate of any racing or breeding greyhound cannot be assured, as the opportunity to further export greyhounds to other countries with poor welfare standards remains [...] In addition, evidence shows that even countries considered to have high animal welfare standards are not providing acceptable standards of care for greyhounds.[25]
Recommendation 1
1.16The Senate should pass the bill.
1.17If the Government is unwilling to support this bill, despite the overwhelming support for it from the public and animal welfare experts, the Australian Greens urge the Government to take other meaningful steps to end this trade in misery, detailed below.
1.18Mandatory desexing of greyhounds before export would at least help prevent the export and trade of greyhounds for breeding overseas. This requirement could easily be implemented as part of the department’s existing pre-export processes where in-person appointments must be taken with the department’s certifying veterinary officer and relevant regional office to verify documentation.[26] To ensure integrity, the assessing veterinarian should be wholly independent of the greyhound racing industry (e.g. in terms of remuneration, and free of any potential conflicts of interest), be required to make a legal declaration of their assessment that would attract penalties for knowingly false declarations, and random independent checks could also be conducted.
Recommendation 2
1.19If the bill is not passed, implement a requirement that all greyhounds are desexed before export, which is independently and expertly assessed, monitored and enforced.
1.20Banning or limiting the export and import of greyhound semen would also reduce the overbreeding of greyhounds who are then subjected to cruelty or killed. There are currently no effective limits on greyhound semen exports and imports, and the industry itself reports over 600 greyhound semen unit exports and over 1200 greyhound semen imports during FY2019–22,[27] but as there is no way to verify this, the actual numbers could be much higher. Over 8000 female greyhounds were serviced and over 7000 greyhound litters were whelped in the same 4-year period.[28]
1.21Limits on semen exports and imports could easily be implemented as part of the department’s existing processes for checking that semen are from approved collection centres and in-person appointments for veterinarian inspection of reproductive material.[29] Similarly, to ensure integrity, the assessment of greyhound semen samples should be independently undertaken, monitored and legally enforced, with serious consequences for non-compliance.
Recommendation 3
1.22If the bill is not passed, impose a ban or limit on the export and import of greyhound semen, which is independently and expertly assessed, monitored and enforced.
1.23Mandatory expert behavioural assessment or training of greyhounds before their export for medical or service purposes would help ensure that greyhounds are fit for purpose, and that this rehoming pathway is not used to enable racing or breeding of greyhounds. For example, hundreds of greyhounds are currently exported through a USA rehoming program to support people with PTSD,[30] but it is unclear if there are sufficient processes to ensure exported greyhounds are behaviourally suited or trained to act as service animals. Again, this could be implemented through the department’s existing pre-export processes, and assessed by an independent veterinarian or expert with appropriate behavioural qualifications, along with monitoring and enforcement to ensure integrity.
Recommendation 4
1.24If the bill is not passed, implement a requirement that all greyhounds exported for medical or service purposes satisfy appropriate behavioural assessment or training before export, which is independently implemented, monitored and enforced.
1.25Recommendation 1: The Senate should pass the bill.
1.26Recommendation 2: If the bill is not passed, implement a requirement that all greyhounds are desexed before export, which is independently and expertly assessed, monitored, and enforced.
1.27Recommendation 3: If the bill is not passed, impose a ban or limit on the export and import of greyhound semen, which is independently and expertly assessed, monitored, and enforced.
1.28Recommendation 4: If the bill is not passed, implement a requirement that all greyhounds exported for medical or service purposes satisfy appropriate behavioural assessment or training before export, which is independently implemented, monitored, and enforced.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi
Substitute Member
Australian Greens’ Senator for New South Wales
Footnotes
[1]For example, see: Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG), The government-funded greyhound racing industry (accessed 17 October 2023).
[2]See paragraphs 1.4, 1.7 and 1.8 of Chapter 1 of the committee report.
[3]CPG, Submission 34; Animals Australia, Submission 42; Free the Hounds, Submission 46; Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia (RSPCA Australia), Submission 21; Greyhound Rescue, Submission 9; Animal Liberation, Submission 45; GREY2K USA Worldwide, Submission 7; Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Submission 41.
[4]CPG, Greyhound Racing Survey (accessed 17 October 2023); Dr Harry Rothenfluh, CPG, Committee Hansard, 15 September 2023, p. 16.
[5]Dr Di Evans, Senior Scientific Officer, RSPCA Australia, Committee Hansard, 15 September 2023, p.2.
[6]For example, see: RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, p. 5; Animal Liberation, Submission 45, p. 16; GREY2K USA Worldwide, Submission 7,p. 1.
[7]Animal Liberation, Submission 45, p. 8.
[8]Greyhounds Australasia, response to written questions taken on notice (received 09 October 2023), p. 3.
[9]For example, see: Scoop Politics, National and Labour Leaders Commit to Greyhound Racing Ban In 1News Leaders' Debate, Friday, 13 October 2023 (accessed 17 October 2023).
[10]For example, see: Animals Australia, Submission 42, pp. 1–5; RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, p. 5; Greyhound Rescue, Submission 9, pp. 3, 9–10; Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Submission 41, pp. 3–4; CPG, Submission 34, pp. 7–8.
[11]Greyhounds Australasia, Greyhounds Australasia, response to written questions taken on notice (received 9 October 2023), p. 11.
[12]For example, see: CPG, Submission 34, pp. 7–8; Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Submission 41, pp. 3–4; RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, pp. 5–6.
[13]For example, see: RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, pp. 8–9; Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Submission 41, pp. 2, 4.
[14]For example, see: Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Submission 41, pp. 3–4; CPG, Submission 34, pp. 7–8; RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, pp. 5–6; The Guardian, Australian greyhound owners fined over exports to cruel conditions in China, 10 November 2017; ABC, Greyhound racing: Pressure on Federal Government to ban exports, shut down racing, 10December 2015.
[15]ABC,Inside the international operation using Australian greyhounds to grow China's illegal racing industry, 14 September 2023.
[16]For example, see: RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, p. 5; Greyhound Rescue, Submission 9, pp. 3, 9–10; Animals Australia, Submission 42, pp. 1–5; Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Submission 41, pp. 3–4; CPG, Submission 34, pp. 7–8.
[17]Ms Shatha Hamade, Legal Counsel, Animals Australia, Committee Hansard, 15 September 2023, p.2.
[18]Ms Natalie Panzarino, President, Greyhound Rescue, Committee Hansard, 15 September 2023, p. 8.
[19]For example, see: Free the Hounds, Submission 46, pp. 12-13; RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, p. 21; Animal Liberation, Submission 45, p. 27.
[20]Mr Stuart Laing, Chief Executive Officer, Greyhound Racing Victoria, Committee Hansard, 15September, p. 21.
[21]GREY2K USA Worldwide, Submission 7, p. 2; Animal Liberation, Submission 45, p. 8; CPG, Australian Greyhound Exports, 24 October 2020.
[22]ABC, Inside the international operation using Australian greyhounds to grow China's illegal racing industry, 14 September 2023.
[23]For example, see: RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, p. 6; GREY2K USA Worldwide, Submission 7, p.2; Animals Australia, Submission 42, pp. 7–8; Animal Liberation, Submission 42, pp. 12–13; CPG, Submission 34, p. 5.
[24]Ms Shatha Hamade, Legal Counsel, Animals Australia, Committee Hansard, 15 September 2023, p.3.
[25]Dr Di Evans, Senior Scientific Officer, RSPCA Australia, Committee Hansard, 15 September 2023, p.2.
[26]Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Exporting companion animals and other live animals (accessed 17 October 2023).
[27]Greyhounds Australasia, response to written questions taken on notice, pp. 3–4.
[28]Greyhounds Australasia, response to written questions taken on notice, pp. 5–6.
[29]DAFF, Export of animal reproductive material (accessed 17 October 2023); DAFF, Importing frozen canine semen from approved countries (accessed 17 October 2023).
[30]For example, see: Animals Australia, Submission 42, p. 3; RSPCA Australia, Submission 21, p. 7.
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