{"id":950665,"date":"2026-11-03T04:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T04:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/950665\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T04:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T04:50:23","slug":"greyhound-racings-return-to-lithgow-a-disaster-animal-welfare-groups-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/950665\/","title":{"rendered":"Greyhound racing’s return to Lithgow a ‘disaster’, animal welfare groups say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greyhound racing has returned to a regional New South Wales town for the first time in four years, but animal welfare groups have been quick to label the move a “disaster”.<\/p>\n

The Lithgow Greyhound Club held 11 races on Monday afternoon, after a $3.2 million state government grant saw the facility upgraded and repaired following flood damage in 2022.<\/p>\n

The redevelopment saw the track widened, new lure rails introduced, and the site’s dog kennels and public amenities improved.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great achievement to finally be here,” Nick Santucci from Greyhound Racing New South Wales said.<\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/p>\n

Nick Stantucci says Greyhound Racing NSW is focused on growing the sport. (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)<\/p>\n

The reopening came after Sydney’s Wentworth Park held its final race on October 17<\/a>, with the site set to be converted into sports fields and parkland, while the iconic Dapto Dogs closed last year after 90 years of racing.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr Santucci said the greyhounds’ return to Lithgow was critical for the continuation of the industry.<\/p>\n

“It is on us \u2026 to make sure we have the facilities to keep a sustainable future for greyhound racing,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We have nothing but plans to grow, not tracks be closed and go by the wayside.”\"A<\/p>\n

Eleven races were held at Lithgow on Monday afternoon as part of the reopening of the town’s track.\u00a0 (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)<\/p>\n

Animal groups hit out<\/p>\n

The NSW director of the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds, Kylie Field, said racing should never have returned to Lithgow.<\/p>\n

“It is a disaster,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I could imagine in Lithgow people would be wanting services outside of the gambling and dog-killing industry.”<\/p>\n

\"Kylie<\/p>\n

Kylie Field says dogs will die at the newly reopened Lithgow Greyhound track.\u00a0 (Supplied:\u00a0The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds)<\/p>\n

A NSW government inquiry into the greyhound industry handed down 65 recommendations in December 2025, including that the industry move away from curved tracks like Lithgow’s to straight ones.<\/p>\n

“[It] is incredibly dangerous for greyhounds to race on,” Ms Field said.<\/p>\n

“We know that there will be dogs killed at this track.<\/p>\n

“This is a dark day for greyhounds in New South Wales when a track reopens and racing starts.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

More than 50 people attended the first racing event at the redeveloped Lithgow Greyhound Club circuit.\u00a0 (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)<\/p>\n

According to the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission, in the 2025\/26 financial year, more than 1,000 greyhounds died due to age, illness, injuries or on-track collisions.<\/p>\n

Safety considerations<\/p>\n

Lithgow’s oval track is Australia’s oldest greyhound circuit. It hosted its first race in 1901.<\/p>\n

\"Numerous<\/p>\n

Dozens of trainers attended the first racing event at the Lithgow Greyhound Club since 2022.\u00a0 (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)<\/p>\n

Mr Santucci said while the organisation wanted to construct straight tracks where possible, it was not an option at the Lithgow site.<\/p>\n

“A straight track takes up a long distance, so you have to find land to accommodate that,” he said.<\/p>\n

“This is a much wider, broader track \u2026 [It] is actually one of the safest you can get outside of having a straight track.”<\/p>\n

The redevelopment has also seen the mechanical lure extended to up to 2.5 metres in length, a move Mr Santucci said would allow for greater distances between the dogs while racing.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the NSW government announced a $10 million grant program to ensure race tracks across the state met minimum animal safety standards.<\/p>\n

Relief for breeders<\/p>\n

The closure of the town’s greyhound track in 2022 coincided with a shutdown at the Bathurst Greyhounds, also due to flood damage.<\/p>\n

\"Sydney<\/p>\n

Sydney Swain says breeders are relieved the track has reopened. (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)<\/p>\n

According to Lithgow Greyhound Club president Sydney Swain, this forced many central west breeders to travel hours between venues to race.<\/p>\n

“There are a hell of a lot of trainers in the Bathurst area and they’ve had to drive to either Dubbo or Richmond,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve known people that were going to get out of the game.<\/p>\n

“[Now] people are already starting to breed again because they’ve got a track where they can race.”<\/p>\n

Sydney-based teenage breeder Isabella Turner saw her dog finish second in the first race at the track.<\/p>\n

“It is great having another track here and hopefully encourages more people to come,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m lucky to come out and do my own dogs. It is good.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greyhound racing has returned to a regional New South Wales town for the first time in four years,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[23792,64,63,517461,517462,822,85],"class_list":["post-950665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-animal-welfare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-greyhounds","tag-lithgow-greyhound-racing-club","tag-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}