Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) has released the Greyhound Racing Injury Report for the 2016 January to March quarter, which shows a slight decrease in the number of injuries and fatalities that occurred at NSW race meetings.
The primary purpose of the Greyhound Racing Injury Report is to ensure accurate and complete monitoring and reporting to support evidence based decision making around substantially decreasing and preventing greyhound injuries and associated euthanasia.
The report found the total number of reported greyhound racing injury incidents during the first quarter of 2016 represented an injury rate of 27.1 injury incidents per 1000 race starts, a drop from 32.9 per 1000 race starts that was recorded in the previous injury report.
The reduction was also seen in the major and catastrophic injury types with almost 80% of injuries incurring stand down periods consistent with a classification of ‘Minor’ (eg abrasions or mild lacerations) or ‘Medium’ (eg ligament sprains, skin lacerations) in severity.
While the reduction in injuries is welcome, GRNSW acknowledges that much work remains to prevent injuries associated with greyhound racing competition and trials.
“GRNSW recognises that the racing industry needs to do more to reduce the occurrence and seriousness of injuries and associated euthanasia that can occur as a result of racing and trialling activity,” GRNSW Chief Executive Paul Newson said.
“The Greyhound Racing Injury Report demonstrates national leadership in the racing space, and will enable GRNSW to analyse injury data and better target its interventions to enhance track safety and reduce the risk and seriousness of greyhound injuries.”
“GRNSW recognises that injuries will occur, however, we are determined to improve overall animal welfare outcomes in NSW greyhound racing, investing in independent research to enable informed decision making and introduce contemporary practices is an important part of our strategy going forward.”
As part of the work currently underway to reduce racing injuries, GRNSW in conjunction with Greyhound Racing South Australia, recently commissioned the University of Technology Sydney to undertake a vital piece of research on identifying optimal greyhound race track design for canine safety and welfare.
The research project, which is expected to take up to 12 months to complete, will use an evidence-based approach and aims to prevent injuries during greyhound training and racing by establishing guidance around an optimal model for track design and surface to inform fit out of race track infrastructure moving forward .
In addition, GRNSW has recently appointed a second Track Maintenance Manager to assist with the upgrade and maintenance of NSW greyhound racing tracks and associated infrastructure to continuously improve track consistency, presentation and safety across the state.
Click here to view the second Greyhound Racing Injury Report.
This report and all subsequent reports is also available in the 'Welfare' section of this website.
