BATHURST'S greyhound racing track is the second-worst in the state for deaths this year, according to an organisation that wants to see the sport banned.
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The Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission, however, which has its headquarters in Bathurst, says Bathurst is well below the NSW averages in major and catastrophic injury classes and measures have been implemented in the state to reduce injury rates.
The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG), which is lobbying for six-dog races and straight tracks to make greyhound racing safer, said there had been two deaths and 130 injuries at the Bathurst track in 2020 before the Million Dollar Chase heat was run on Monday.
The commission, however, said there had been 117 injuries at the track.
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The CPG said data publicly available from stewards' reports online showed three-year old greyhound Breakaway Bandit was euthanised on March 16 after suffering a severe elbow fracture; and three-year old greyhound Khatanga Babe was euthanised on June 8 due to a fractured humerus, the 106th death nationally at that time.
Greyhound sanctuaries could create over 7000 new jobs across rural NSW.
The CPG said both dogs' injuries were due to collisions in the catching pen, where dogs are gathered at high speed when a race ends.
The organisation also said both dogs are now listed as "retired" on the industry's Fasttrack database, which the CPG said was a common practice.
The CPG said 130 injuries in 41 race meetings at Bathurst, including 21 major injuries, made it 3.1 injuries per race meeting.
It said Bathurst's position as second-worst track in NSW for deaths was held equally with other tracks.
CPG national president Dennis Anderson said the NSW Government should not be giving taxpayers' money to an industry he says causes so much animal suffering and a much better way to use public money would be to establish greyhound sanctuaries.
"Greyhound sanctuaries could create over 7000 new jobs across rural NSW. The indirect jobs created would be about 10 times the numbers supporting the greyhound racing population now," he said.
A Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission spokesperson said Bathurst is well below the NSW averages in major and catastrophic injury classes.
"The Bathurst track has seen 3400 greyhound starts since January 1, 2020," the spokesperson said.
"Of the 117 injuries that have been reported at Bathurst during this time, 98 of these (83.7 per cent) were categorised as medium or minor injuries, requiring 21 days or less off racing.
"During the same period, there have been two catastrophic injuries (1.7pc) and three (2.6pc) serious injuries."
The spokesperson said the latest analysis of greyhound injuries in NSW for April 1 to June 30, 2020 shows the total number of greyhounds suffering a catastrophic injury resulting in euthanasia or death has halved since the previous calendar year and the catastrophic injury rate was 0.5 per 1000 starts, with 10 greyhounds suffering catastrophic injuries.
"This is the lowest catastrophic injury rate recorded in NSW since reporting began in 2016 and the lowest total injury rate (rate per 1000 starts) since 2018," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said measures including an increased focus on track safety and surface preparation and pre-race safety checks performed by commission stewards had reduced injury rates.
"The commission's Race Injury Review Panel, a first of its kind in the sport, analyses the contributing factors for all serious and catastrophic injuries and makes recommendations that focus on improving the safety and welfare of racing greyhounds," the spokesperson said.
"A report of the panel's findings is published to the commission's website every six months."
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