The Star: February 15, 2024

THERE ARE calls for the prime
minister to put his money where
his mouth is and ban greyhound
racing for good.
It comes after two deaths during
race days in Christchurch in
recent weeks.
Since the racing season began
in August, animal organisation
SAFE said there have been
5051 injuries, 65 fractures and
six deaths.
However, the industry said
this was well down on prior
years due to it implementing an
Injury reduction strategy.
SAFE Head of investigations
Will Appelbe told Checkpoint
the recent deaths were
“horrific”.
One of the dogs was 4-yearsold
and suffered two broken
legs while racing and had to be
euthanised.
The other dog was just 2 and
had to be euthanised after suffering
from an open fracture, he
said.
Appelbe said they were just
two within a wider context,
which showed dogs experienced
“extreme suffering” in the racing
industry.
“The dogs do continue to suffer,
do experience an extreme lot
of suffering and it’s been allowed
to continue for far too long.
In the last racing season, 40
percent of greyhounds that raced
suffered an injury ... that’s a feature
of an industry that multiple
reviews have said is inherently
dangerous.”
Appelbe said it had been an issue
for far too long and three reviews
had been published since
2013, all identifying “significant
animal welfare concerns” that
continued to persist.
While campaigning for the
election in 2023, now Prime
Minister Christopher Luxon
said greyhound racing should be
banned.
But it was not good enough
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Call to ban greyhound racing
no timeline had been put on an
action that was the only way to
protect the greyhounds, Appelbe
said.
The previous Labour government
should have moved to
ban it sooner, but there was an
opportunity for Luxon to put his
words into action and “protect
these greyhounds from further
harm”.
Dogs were suffering and it was
not good enough, Appelbe said.
In a statement to Checkpoint,
Greyhound Racing New
Zealand said it was saddened
and disappointed by the euthanasia
of the two greyhounds.
It said euthanasia was considered
by an independent veterinarian
to be the most humane
option.
It said the rate of race day euthanasia
had reduced drastically,
going from 67 in the 2018/19
racing season to seven in each of
the past two seasons.
Greyhound Racing New
Zealand said this was due to
animal welfare measures it
had recently put in place.
– RNZ
SPORT/RACING 21
RECENT
DEATHS:
After two
greyhounds
died in
Christchurch,
animal
organisation
SAFE has
called for
Prime Minister
Christopher
Luxon to
honour his
pre-election
statement that
greyhound
racing should
be banned.
PHOTO: ODT
Thursday February 15 2024 The Star
Sport shorts
MILESTONE FOR NICHOLLS
Canterbury batter Henry
Nicholls passed 5000 List A runs
against Central Districts on
Wednesday. Nicholls went into
the game one run short of the
milestone and took 10 balls to get
off the mark against the Stags but
converted his milestone innings
into his eighth List A century.
MASTERS EVENT IN TOWN
Ngā Puna Wai is hosting the
New Zealand Masters track and
field championships, held in
Christchurch for the first time in
14 years. The event is expected
to attract over 220 athletes from
ages 30-95 from Friday to Sunday
and is open to all members of a
local Masters athletes centre, and
Athletics New Zealand members.
Athletics Canterbury is inviting
people to come and watch.
REGION ALONE AGAIN
Canterbury Rugby League has
returned to standalone district
status after previously being
aligned with Southern Zone. The
change means Canterbury can
field their own team at youth
tournaments – where previously
local players would represent the
South Island Scorpions. The Bulls
were aligned with Southern Zone
from 2009 onwards when NZRL
switched to a countrywide zonal
structure.
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