Strong message
It is pleasing to see that our sport is taking a stance against a constant campaign of misinformation and inaccuracies peddled by anti-racing activists who are attempting to infect some media and politicians.
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In the past week these groups have circulated media releases in relation to greyhound euthanasia which have contained inaccurate, false and misleading claims, with the only agenda being to harm the sport and its people.
The same groups orchestrated a similar misinformation campaign against greyhound racing recently when GRNSW announced it was repurposing its Wyee Greyhounds As Pets facility to be a key welfare solution as part of the US rehoming program.
Any lies will continue to be addressed, as we are well aware that these groups that proclaim to have the welfare of animals as a concern really have one agenda - and it is plastered across their website - a wish to ban greyhound racing altogether. Such extremists are against all racing - including horse racing - and will do and say anything to get what they want, and unfortunately this includes falsehoods spread to media and governments.
As a sport we need to make sure we call them out and address the inaccuracies with the facts.
Here are some actual facts: this year we will have paid more prize money and more returns to participants, more greyhounds rehomed, more racing, and less catastrophic injuries than in recorded history.
The whole sport has every right to be proud of what we have all achieved together.
Lucky 88
One of our more senior participants Eddie Foyle, celebrated his 88th birthday in style recently, with a winner at Richmond.
Eddie, who has spent more than six decades involved in greyhound racing, won with Rema's Amethyst, the latest greyhound to carry the Rema's prefix.
Happy birthday to Eddie and all those in the sport celebrating at this time of the year.
Group 1 season
They are the pinnacle of our sport and the first Group 1 events of the new season are upon us.
On July 6 at Wentworth Park the finals of the Peter Mosman Opal and the Vic Peter Classic will be run and won, and these two events both have a storied history.
The Vic Peters Classic was first run in 1951 and is the oldest feature race on the NSW calendar and has been won by champions such as Black Top (1962), Brother Fox (1984), and Worth Dog (1988), while the Peter Mosman is the second oldest event first run in 1952 at Harold Park as the Bi-Annual Classic and boasts winners such as Brother Fox (1985), How's The Fort (1992), Xylia Allen (2013), and Fernando Bale (2015).
Greyhounds as Pets events prove popular
It has been said that every home is a greyhound home, and the team at Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) continue to give people of NSW the opportunity to test the theory.
In recent weeks the members of the GAP teams have hosted adoption events and activations all around NSW, and looking at the plans for the second half of 2024, there are no signs of it slowing.
The GAP team have criss-crossed the state in the past few weeks holding hugely successful events in wineries, pet stores, and their own adoption centre in Western Sydney.
Following on from events at Rowlee Wines in Orange and the adoption day at home of big GAP supporter, Macarthur Pets, where 16 greyhounds found new homes, the GAP team held events last weekend in Canberra and Duffys Forest, with another activation at Grafton in conjunction with the Ladbrokes Thunderbolt.
On June 29 the team will host their first ever adoption day in Albury at the Petstock store, while at the opposite end of the state, there will be another Winter Adoption Day held at Pets Domain in Casino.
In coming weeks there will be events held in the Illawarra, at Wagga, Coffs Harbour, and Bathurst, as well as a big Winter Warmer Adoption Day at Western Sydney, and on July 7, the team will be at the exciting Street Paws and Pupsy Festival set to take place at Brew Dog in Eveleigh.
Greyhound Racing NSW is expected to announce in the next week excellent rehoming numbers for 2023-24.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
