ARMIDALE Greyhound club has reacted to the NSW Government's decision to ban greyhound racing across the state from July next year.
Premier Mike Baird announced a ban on greyhound racing yesterday after the state government considered a report by a Special Commission into “widespread cruelty” in the industry which was sparked after an ABC's Four Corners investigation.
Club secretary Barry Mitchell slammed the decision and said it was disappointing the whole industry had been affected because of the acts of a few others in the sport.
“You’re are probably blaming the whole industry for something that got out of hand on a low scale,” he said.
“Heaps of things happen in other sports, whether it is a two-legged sport or a four-legged sport, but you don’t penalise the whole sport because of a minor few and this is what I feel they have tried to do.
“A lot of people agree with it but they are people who don’t really understand the sport.
“Look at all sports.
“You could ban every sport you wanted.”
Mitchell said it was sad for people involved in the sport who rely on racing to bring in an income to support their families. “A lot of these greyhound owners and breeders would have frozen semen worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “I don’t have greyhounds anymore but people with them are going to be hit very hard.
“That’s their living.
“That’s their income.
“It is a bold move, a brave statement.”
The news sent shock waves through the local community.
Evelyn Johnstone reacted on our Facebook page and said greyhound owners care deeply for their racing dogs.
"My Uncle had Greyhounds for years," she said.
"They ate better than the family, were kept in the cleanest of kennel-yards and were part of the family.
"When he returned from war this was his life, his only life.
"Today, many owners are the same as he was.
"I hope Mike Baird can live with this decision if someone commits suicide because they no longer have something to live for that means the world to them."
