In a judgement released yesterday, the Judicial Control Authority for Racing fined greyhound trainer Angela Turnwald $3,500 and disqualified them for four months in a doping case. The case was bought by the Racing Integrity Unity after the greyhound Zipping Sarah tested positive for methamphetamine.

This is the third doping case in the greyhound racing industry in the last six months.

SAFE spokesperson Will Appelbe wants the Government to halt all greyhound racing until its recently announced review of the industry is complete.

"Dogs are being killed, injured and doped," said Appelbe. "That’s the state of greyhound racing in Aotearoa right now. It’s abhorrent."

Last week, the Minister for Racing, Grant Robertson, and the Minister responsible for animal welfare, Meka Whaitiri, announced a Government review of the greyhound racing industry. Robertson said he was concerned about track safety and cited "far too many incidents" recently where dogs had died or been injured and said he could not rule out shutting down the industry altogether.

Since January, eight dogs have died and more than 300 have been injured as a result of racing.

"The Government’s review is promising, but every day that dogs are raced, the risk of painful injury is high and death is never far away. To protect dogs, the Minister should immediately halt racing until the review is complete."

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- Last week the Government announced a review of the greyhound racing industry, following reports from SAFE, the Greyhound Protection League and Grey2K USA Worldwide of ongoing cruelty within the industry. In the announcement, the Minister for Racing Grant Robertson said he is not satisfied the industry is improving animal welfare, and that Greyhound Racing New Zealand had failed to provide sufficient information on changes they are making.

- The Greyhound Protection League is running a petition, which asks Parliament to pass legislation to ban greyhound racing and to require all dogs that have been bred for racing be rehomed and rehabilitated.

- Greyhound Racing New Zealand’s 2020 annual report.

- Photos of dogs rescued by the Greyhound Protection League.

- Greyhound racing is legal in only seven countries. A ban in the Australian Capital Territory came into force in April 2018, followed by a ban in Florida, USA, in November 2018. Since Florida is home to 11 of the USA’s 17 active dog tracks, this is a signal that greyhound racing is about to become a thing of the past in the United States.

- Information about greyhound racing in New Zealand.

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