The Australian Greyhound Racing Industry is cleaning up fast.

                              THE WORLD HAS ANIMALS THAT RACE GET OVER IT.
In a perfect world there would be no animal racing, this just my opinion.  This means thoroughbred racing, trots and greyhounds. All forms of racing are hard on the animals. This can be easier on the animals depending on the professionalism of the trainers and management behind the animals training and race schedules, management of injuries including management of the animal's mental/ psychological state. To have one code of racing in Australia totally banned because of a contraversy  is a joke. Horse racing being glamorous  appealing to fashion and high end society. Thoroughbred racing is still popular in Australia despite the critics. The fact is that horses and jockeys get hurt and sometimes die, horses still get doped, and race fixing can still happen means that the most popular form of racing is also with problems that need constant management and stewarding. So to review and do an royal commission then make an decision to close the least favourite of the racing industry down in just knee jerkingly stupid. I believe this because I firmly believe that the Australian Greyhound Industry can be improved and improved fast. Through educating trainers and owners and imposing tougher penalties as well as improving racing conditions, this industry can be easily cleaned up. The vets, meat industry, callers, camera operators, track and kennel staff, maintenance crews, TAB staff, bookies, caterers and gate staff and many others around the many tracks around Australia can still benefit from top up income from part time and sometimes full time positions. This is especially important in regional areas that economically benefit from greyhound racing.

                               MEDIA SCRUTINY ISN'T HAVING AN EFFECT ANY MORE
Date back to The Project 2014, a current affairs type television program with popular and emerging  media personalities. Another serious incident in a horse race that is run with the use of jumps is spoken about by the crew. The jumps industry is under speculation for cruelty because it is even more dangerous than standard racing not only to the horses but also the jockeys. Waleed Aly and other crew members that night are ready to focus some serious criticism on this racing practice, but 'no' there is a panellist (Gorgi Coglan) that knows people in this industry who breed and train jumps horses and she comes out in their defence softening any argument and the issue drifts away like a butterfly finding a window to freedom.
2016 the greyhound industry is under fire and Waleed and his mates fire a tirade of criticism based on an enquiry of allegations of live baiting and animal cruelty including the mass culling of greyhounds. Waleed interviews a trainer from Sydney who is just trying to say that the sport is being cleaned up and needs another chance as there are good people involved in it. Waleed and his panellist crush his argument with scathing attitudes and one sided commentary. This is just after the N.S.W Premier Mike Baird has announced to back down on the shutting down of the greyhound industry in N.S.W, disappointing the panel. Part time panellist and conservative radio talk host Steve Price then has another dig at the industry mouthing off that it is only a small number of people employed in the greyhound racing industry and it is outright cruel. This city slicker  has never lived in regional Australia where people have to do several jobs to survive. Racing a couple of dogs has always been a great way to keep fit, be social and earn a bit of  lucky prize money particularly for people living in regional areas. The problem I personally have with Steve Price's comments is that they are not researched, have no credibility and appeal to a popular demographic segment that love to go through life in ignorant bliss just mouthing off uneducated hypothetical statements that they can't back up with facts.
             THE BAD STUFF REALLY HAPPENED BUT THE INDUSTRY HAS RESPONDED
The reality of greyhound racing is that there has always been live baiting and culling of greyhounds that are too slow. The industry has been quick to respond though, putting life bans on trainers and delivering tougher penalties. The exposure of the industries dirty past and practices has shifted the focus on the welfare of the animal and the Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association have focused part of their mission to the practice of giving racing dogs full life cycles. Trainers would be crazy to even think about live baiting practices and this is out, long gone. Dog adoption from racing dog to pets is another propriety of the GBOTA and this is a  challenge as the dogs are large and take time to train from life as a sports dog to a normal pet. This also puts the breed as a competitive option against other breeds of dogs to adopt as pets. It has actually turned out to be a positive for the industry when the industry came into full public scrutiny exposed by the sneaky cameraman in the long grass.
                                    
 WHY IT WAS REALLY SAVED

                        
It is a fact that the saviour to greyhound racing in Australia is the gambling industry. Online gambling in particular makes gambling on the greyhounds an interesting and easy option. This powerful industry has many stakeholders that can influence political decisions. This is some of the heavy pressure that persuaded  Mike Baird to reverse his decision and this  power was underestimated by the Baird State Government. That is how things are today and have always been. Power and wealth will determine who's in power and what industries continue even after their lifecycle appears to be facing an end. Just look at fossil fuels. People power does come into it but takes great numbers, sacrifice and action for an overwhelming reaction to occur for any change. Mike Baird was thinking that the people would be behind the closure of the industry but he must've forgot that we all don't live in the city where it is easy to criticise the real world, the real country where animals are actually slaughtered for food, bred for food and materials, bred to race, race for money.
                                     GREYHOUND OWNERS LOVE THEIR DOGS
Just like any other dog owners there are those that really look after their dogs and those that don't do as much as they should. The amount of domestic dog owners that don't walk their dogs or take them to the park or beach and just leave them on a chain or in an enclosed area to be fed once a day and ignored is in high numbers. This leads to barking, escaping and at times dog attacks as bored energetic dogs are frustrated by the lack of proper attention from disinterested preoccupied owners.
I know of greyhound people that have spent thousands on sick dogs, whether it was a  retired or  racing dog, this wasn't an issue. These particular trainers are more concerned about their animal's welfare than even the scrutineers of their industry. Many trainers are completely shy of media but if the media dug deep and talked to the right people they would soon realise that there are many positives about the industry.

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                                      GREYHOUNDS LOVE TO RUN
I have worked in this industry on two tracks for some time and can tell you that most dogs love to run and run hard. Once they are trained, dogs are enthusiastic about going out to start another race. This isn't because they want to kill something, it is because that want to run hard and chase around an open track after a moving object. This is a sport, a sport where people gamble upon, and if gambling remains then the dogs are staying around.