Greyhound death at Whanganui ‘s Hatrick Raceway spark calls for ban

Hatrick Raceway reopened in April this year. Photo / Bevan Conley

A greyhound died after suffering injuries at Whanganui’s Hatrick Raceway.

Thrilling Herbie was euthanised after fracturing both hocks on December 1.

It is the second dog to be euthinised since the track reopened in April this year.

The Hatrick track was shut down in 2021 following a spike in injuries and deaths among racing dogs.

Nine dogs died as a result of racing at the track over the 2020/21 season - five within 18 days.

Australian track safety expert David Eager and Greyhound Racing New Zealand (GRNZ) national racing safety and infrastructure manager Bill Wilson oversaw the building of a new track, with a straight track also being constructed at the Whanganui Racecourse.

GRNZ chief executive Edward Rennel said the organisation was saddened and disappointed by the deaths.

“In these scenarios, euthanasia was considered the most humane option by an independent veterinarian,” he said.

“Every serious injury which occurs on our racetracks is reviewed by our serious injury review committee.”

Rennel said the rate of raceday euthanasias had reduced drastically in recent years.

“In the 2018/19 racing season, there were 67 raceday euthanasias. In the last two seasons, there were seven in each of the seasons. This is due to the animal welfare measures that GRNZ has put in place and continues to put in place.”

Safe (Save Animals From Exploitation) campaign manager Anna de Roo said the dog’s “brutal injury” was another sign that time is up for the industry and called for it to be banned.

“Just last month another greyhound was euthanised after breaking two leg bones so severely the bone pierced through the skin, and now Thrilling Herbie has suffered catastrophic fractures,” she said.

“The injuries won’t stop until the industry does.”

De Roo said Hatrick Raceway was a cause for concern but in reality, all greyhound racetracks were “death tracks”.

“The industry is inherently dangerous for dogs and in the latest season 40 per cent of dogs raced were injured.”

An independent poll found 74 per cent of New Zealanders would vote to ban greyhound racing in a referendum, she said.

The poll, commissioned by the SPCA and undertaken by Camorra Research, had 1327 respondents.

Rennel said in January 2021, GRNZ introduced the Rehabilitation to Rehoming (RTR) programme, with the organisation paying for the rehabilitation of greyhounds that suffer career-ending race day injuries but have a good prognosis as assessed by an independent veterinarian.

“These dogs are rehabilitated back to health and then rehomed through our Great Mates Rehoming Programme. We are the only racing code in New Zealand with a RTR Programme.”

He said in the past 12 months, GRNZ had implemented an ongoing injury reduction strategy, which included the appointment of an experienced racing safety and infrastructure manager.

New rules restricted racing frequency and prevented greyhounds from racing if their weight varied by more than 4 per cent on their previous start.

“GRNZ spends approximately $17 million annually on prizemoney and well in excess of $7m annually on animal welfare,” Rennel said.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.