\u201cTwo dogs dying from broken spines on the same day is horrifying,\u201d Brodie said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis tragedy underscores why the Bill to ban greyhound racing is so vital. The Government has taken a historic step by introducing it, but dogs are still dying while the industry clings on in desperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brodie accused GRNZ of misleading the public with claims of a \u201cdramatic drop\u201d in injuries, saying such statements \u201cignore the ongoing reality of catastrophic injuries and deaths on the track\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re calling on Greyhound Racing New Zealand to accept the inevitable and begin winding down now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe industry should focus on rehoming dogs ahead of closure by August 2026 \u2013 not wasting resources on PR spin while dogs continue to be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
SAFE said it has written to Racing Minister Winston Peters to inform him of the latest deaths and to request an update on the timeline for the Racing Industry (Closure of Greyhound Racing Industry) Amendment Bill, including when public submissions will open.<\/p>\n
Greyhound at full speed during a race
<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery dog who dies between now and then is one too many,\u201d Brodie said.<\/p>\n
GRNZ CEO Edward Rennell said it was \u201cdeeply upsetting\u201d to lose the two dogs, but called SAFE\u2019s comments \u201copportunistic and insensitive\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deaths of Homebush Jelly and Queen of Shadows are deeply upsetting, as are the eight thoroughbred fatalities in horse racing over the past three months, and the many animals neglected, abused, or killed each day within New Zealand\u2019s pet industry,\u201d Rennell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put matters into perspective, the two deaths yesterday bring the total number of deaths this racing season to five from 8,312 starters. While any death is unfortunate, GRNZ\u2019s racing euthanasia rates are lower than many other racing jurisdictions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renell said GRNZ had made \u201cworld-leading\u201d safety improvements in recent years, including preferred box draw racing, a straight track, the use of Safechase battery lures, and real-time track diagnostic monitoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese two actions contributed to the second half (Feb\u2013July) of last season recording a 35% reduction in fracture injuries compared to the first half.”<\/p>\n
\u201c[Wednesday]\u2019s two neck injuries at Invercargill were extremely rare, occurring at slow speed at the finish of each race.\u201d<\/p>\n
On SAFE\u2019s call for an early wind-down, Renell said accelerating the closure timeline \u201cwould only intensify existing challenges and compromise the welfare of the greyhound population.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur foremost priorities remain the welfare of our greyhounds and the wellbeing of our people\u2014both at risk if this ban proceeds.”<\/p>\n
He also pushed back against the Government\u2019s proposed phase-out of the industry, saying if the ban were \u201cgenuinely about animal welfare,\u201d similar scrutiny should be applied to \u201cAustralian greyhound betting, fireworks, rodeos, horse racing and cruel farming practices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renell said GRNZ encourages the public to \u201cobtain information from the Minister for Racing, Winston Peters,\u201d adding, \u201cHe has never spoken to us\u201d.<\/p>\n
Renell also encouraged other animal welfare organisations to \u201cpublish their euthanasia statistics so that New Zealanders can understand the true scale of the companion animal welfare crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTwo dogs dying from broken spines on the same day is horrifying,\u201d Brodie said. \u201cThis tragedy underscores why…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,3648,79640,28246,115,74217,6179,6097,79636,71,79635,79639,79637,209,65838,1454,104,18390,111,43,139,69,90,8143,16511,79641,3512,12718,19098,41114,61,3055,1680,79638,80],"class_list":["post-111275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-animal","tag-ascot","tag-begin","tag-calls","tag-catastrophic","tag-died","tag-down","tag-fatalities","tag-from","tag-greyhound","tag-greyhounds","tag-grnz","tag-group","tag-halt","tag-immediately","tag-injuries","tag-invercargill","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-park","tag-races","tag-raceway","tag-racing","tag-rights","tag-safe","tag-spinal","tag-to","tag-urging","tag-wednesday","tag-winding","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}