▲ 94 r/Greyhounds
If you’re in Australia, here’s what you need to know about GAP
GAP (greyhounds as pets/ greyhound adoption program) are the industry run programs which receive significant funding from state racing bodies (which in turns comes from state governments). For example, in 2023, NWS’s GAP program hit $11.1m of funding and Victoria’s GAP program received $8.2m.
For a dog to be accepted into a GAP program it needs to undergo specific assessments to determine its suitability for adoption. However, as greyhounds lack proper socialisation, they frequently fail these test leading to euthanasia or more behaviourally complex dogs sent to unfunded volunteer-run rescues
GAPs also frequently reject or euthanise fogs for poor health or physical ailments - many of which were caused by the racing industry.
FY2023 had 10,178 pups whelped and only 2,636 greyhounds rehomed by GAP
Community groups rehomed more greyhounds than GAPs in 2023 (2,741 dogs rehomed by community groups compared to 2,636 dogs rehomed by GAPs). There is over a 12-24 month waiting period at many GAPs, including GAP Vic
Greyhound racing Victoria sent 169 greyhounds overseas in the FY23 at a cost of $505,000
In NSW, half of the dogs who finish racing each year aren’t rehomed, shuttling many of these between paid commercial kennels. GRNSW inflates rehoming figures by including dogs whose owners receive payments to prepare them for future rehoming and the backlog of waiting dogs will never be rehomed and will die within industrial facilities. GWIC, the NSW regulator, reported in 2022 that there were around 4,700 greyhounds who needed homes and 1,300 homes available for them and the shortfall was increasing at around 30% per year.
GAP facilities are often in terrible conditions. Former GAP employees have reported details squalid, rodent-infested facilities, emaciated dogs and issues like rusty corrugated iron, and fences and gates that could injure dogs
GAP facilities can be closed on a whim, leaving the dogs at that facility and its staff in limbo (we still don’t know what happened to the GAP Wyee dogs)
Put simply, GAP is tax payer funded racing industry greenwashing.
And while every single greyhound deserves a loving home, due to the racing industry’s overbreeding (that GAP greenwashes), not every greyhound will find a home.
This means that it’s not a binary choice between adopting from GAP and not adopting a greyhound at all; the binary choice is between GAP and an unfunded independent rescue.
If you have a GAP greyhound, thank you for rescuing that dog. People who adopt from GAP aren’t bad people, many were drawn in by the huge tax payer funded GAP marketing budget (don’t forget they offered influencers $1,250 to take a GAP dog out of kennels for the day) which s why they’re more front of mind for the general public than independent, unfunded rescues.
This isn’t to shame, it’s to educate and to arm you with the knowledge to help educate others to make more informed choices about the rescues they support.
Source: Coalition for the Protection of Greyhound’s ‘The GAPing Hole in the Industry’ Report
u/natashagb95 — 18 days ago
▲ 83 r/Greyhounds
Excuse me sir, I think there’s something hanging out that shouldn’t be
u/natashagb95 — 21 days ago
▲ 423 r/Greyhounds
Here’s my greyhound doing a happy little recall, no e collar ever needed in his training
Don’t forget that e collars and any trainer who recommends them are a scam. E collars only ‘work’ by creating enough discomfort to stop a dog in its tracks.
Any properly qualified professional will not recommend their use.
Resources:
AVSAB statement on humane dog training (this includes over 20 peer reviewed studies)
u/natashagb95 — 25 days ago
▲ 363 r/australia
This is my rescue greyhound’s racing history
I recently went through and collated my rescue greyhound’s racing history to bring awareness to what your ‘average’ greyhound goes through in the industry. That list is below. Before you read it, a warning, it’s sad.
If you have a dog from Victoria (Australia), you can search their history via Fasttrack. Putting in my dog’s racing name pulls up the full list of races (under the Form tab) and I can click through to them to read the race report. Because it was so long ago many of the embedded race videos don’t work but you can find them via YouTube if you know what to search. For example if I want his 8 March 2020 race in Sale where he was difficult to box I would search ‘SLE R12 8 March 20’ (the ‘R12’ being the race number of the night, this is shown in fasttrack).
Please be careful if you go down this route, while the knowledge is important reading the race reports is bad enough and the footage can be extremely distressing.
My rescue greyhound was raced 55 times in a single year. His first race was before he’d even turned two.
In his 10th race he collided with another dog, the force of which sent him rolling backwards down the track. The commentary was “ah another’s down, Skittle [my greyhound’s racing name] has been totally skittled, TKO”. He was found to have a left monkey (shoulder) injury and a 10 day stand down was imposed.
He was raced in hazardous air quality due to bushfire smoke (12 January 2020).
He was also raced in 30 degree heat.
On his 23rd race (and third race in the space of eight days) he proved ‘difficult to box’. Footage shows 2-3 men lifting him completely into the air to force him into a start box. The race report said that he would be boxed first in the future.
Shortly after this he was passed from his first train to his second trainer, he’d been racing for 5 months
After his 27th race all the dogs in his race were left unattended in the kennel post race, a contravention of policy
After 9 months of racing he was passed to yet another trainer
After 11 months of racing, the frequency that he was being raced was discussed with his trainer. At this point he was being raced twice per week for two months.
Shortly after this he was forced into a start box, again.
In his last race he had another significant collision and did not finish the race. He was found to have a back muscle injury and a 28 day stand down period was applied. He was two years old.
He had collisions in 39 out of his 55 races.
When he was 7, his physio discovered a poorly healed torn hamstring that had never been discovered while he was racing
u/natashagb95 — 26 days ago
▲ 52 r/Greyhounds
This is my rescue greyhound’s racing history
I recently made a post on my social media charting my dog’s racing history to bring awareness to what your ‘average’ greyhound goes through in the industry, even one like Jayce who outwardly appeared fairly ‘okay’ from the get go. That list is replicated below. Before you read it, a warning, it’s sad.
If you have a dog from Victoria (Australia), you can search their history via Fasttrack. Putting in Jayce’s racing name pulls up the full list of races (under the Form tab) and I can click through to them to read the race report. Because it was so long ago many of the embedded race videos don’t work but you can find them via YouTube if you know what to search. For example if I want his 8 March 2020 race in Sale where he was difficult to box I would search ‘SLE R12 8 March 20’ (the ‘R12’ being the race number of the night, this is shown in fasttrack).
Please be careful if you go down this route, while the knowledge is important reading the race reports is bad enough and the footage can be extremely distressing.
My rescue greyhound was raced 55 times in a single year. His first race was before he’d even turned two.
In his 10th race he collided with another dog, the force of which sent him rolling backwards down the track. The commentary was “ah another’s down, Skittle [my greyhound’s racing name] has been totally skittled, TKO”. He was found to have a left monkey (shoulder) injury and a 10 day stand down was imposed.
He was raced in hazardous air quality due to bushfire smoke (12 January 2020).
He was also raced in 30 degree heat.
On his 23rd race (and third race in the space of eight days) he proved ‘difficult to box’. Footage shows 2-3 men lifting him completely into the air to force him into a start box. The race report said that he would be boxed first in the future.
Shortly after this he was passed from his first train to his second trainer, he’d been racing for 5 months
After his 27th race all the dogs in his race were left unattended in the kennel post race, a contravention of policy
After 9 months of racing he was passed to yet another trainer
After 11 months of racing, the frequency that he was being raced was discussed with his trainer. At this point he was being raced twice per week for two months.
Shortly after this he was forced into a start box, again.
In his last race he had another significant collision and did not finish the race. He was found to have a back muscle injury and a 28 day stand down period was applied. He was two years old.
He had collisions in 39 out of his 55 races.
When he was 7, his physio discovered a poorly healed torn hamstring that had never been discovered while he was
u/natashagb95 — 26 days ago
▲ 315 r/Greyhounds
Fun fact about Jayce: he can only catch when he’s standing up, he doesn’t even try when he’s lying down 😂
u/natashagb95 — 1 month ago
▲ 1.1k r/melbourne
Made the most of free PT to go on an adventure to pick my partner up from work
u/natashagb95 — 1 month ago
▲ 382 r/Greyhounds
Took advantage of the fog to take some atmospheric photos 😍
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 270 r/Greyhounds
It’s national rescue dog day in Australia
So here’s why greyhounds are rescued and not retired and why these terms matter.
“Retired” greyhound is the racing’s industry’s word. It implies that there is a choice, people choose to retire, thus softening and painting the industry in a better light. Greyhounds don’t have a choice.
They don’t have the ability to say no and even if they did, they would still be forced into start boxes or be ‘initial wastage’ (that’s a less glamorous industry term). Anyone who can appreciate risk and consequence would not choose a career in which 128 professionals were killed and 11,400 were injured in a single country in a single year and where there is a study (that literally comes from the racing industry) demonstrating the inherent danger of racing comes from dogs grouping together.
Dogs cannot appreciate risk and consequence, therefore arguments such as ‘they love to run’ don’t hold any weight. As their guardians it’s up to us to keep them safe and racing them is incompatible with this.
That’s why ‘rescued not retired’ matters. Retired is an industry attempt to greenwash and sanction the abuse, injury and killing of thousands of greyhounds.
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 199 r/Greyhounds
Trains are fun but we need muzzles!
Just a PSA that on trains in Melbourne, dogs need to be muzzled. I won’t get into whether or not it’s a SMART rule, but let’s follow the rules so we don’t risk big dogs being banned from the only form of transport they’re allowed on (which would really affect some people’s accessibility)
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
What do you do when a babushka pokes out their tongue at you?
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 494 r/Greyhounds
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 223 r/Greyhounds
It was pouring and when I went to get Jayce out of the car to go to the start line he tried to lie back down 🤣 Together we navigated knee deep puddles and came out running 2.24km in 10min 42 sec, a 12 second course PB for us and average pace of 4.46/km! We also ran our fastest ever kilometre as a team, going out in 4 min 4 seconds for the first kilometre. I was DEFINITELY the weak link so I’ve got some training to do so I can keep up better for the next race in July/ August. I am so, so, so proud of Jayce - he is incredible.
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 273 r/Greyhounds
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 324 r/Greyhounds
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago
▲ 118 r/Greyhounds
u/natashagb95 — 2 months ago