Image: A greyhound at Wentworth Park. Danny Casey, AAP Image
Ladbrokes ‘Greyhound of the Year’ event is set to take place on Wednesday evening, with Australia’s longest serving animal rights organisation, Animal Liberation, citing it as proof of the industry’s refusal to adhere to its own “zero tolerance” to animal cruelty and industry wrongdoing.
The event, which has been running since 2002, describes itself as “the ultimate achievement in individual greyhound racing success.”
As well as crowning the Greyhound of the Year, other award categories include “Stud Dog” and “Brood Bitch” of the year.
“Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW), and their gambling mates at Ladbrokes, have no comprehension of public views about how compassionate people regard and treat animals,” said Animal Liberation’s Regional Campaigns Manager, Lisa Ryan.
“The industry’s media spin about this fanciful event continues to gloss over and ignore the systemic and inherent dog abuse, suffering, injuries, deaths and exploitation.”
Frank Hurst and Jason Magri, both owners of dogs in the four final Greyhound of the Year contenders, have previously been found guilty for greyhounds testing positive for prohibited substances, only receiving paltry penalties.
Magri has also previously been charged with possession of a number of prohibited or banned substances, including cocaine, and four shock collars.
“How does this type of behaviour and weak penalties equate to ‘zero tolerance’ for wrongdoing?” asks Ryan.
“What we have here is an event, which is promoted as ‘honouring outstanding contributors to the sport’, but what other sport is engaged with the ongoing drugging, abuse and the killing of dogs, and then hands out awards to those involved with such disgraceful behaviour?”
Thousands of dogs injured last year
On average, a greyhound is killed every three days on Australian tracks, with 31.3 injuries occurring every single day.
During 2024, the greyhound racing industry totalled 17 deaths and 4,223 injuries. The year also saw 116 Greyhound Racing NSW participants investigated, charged and penalised, totalling 226 separate charges.
In the first month of 2025, four greyhounds have been killed on NSW’s race tracks and 322 injuries have been recorded. The NSW January 2025 injury tally includes 87 major injuries, 30 serious injuries 23 leg fractures, a twisted bowel and a degloving of the head and neck.
“The NSW industry wants to celebrate its own contribution, but how can anyone celebrate animal deaths, injuries and abuse, and all the while they have continued to race dogs on these killer tracks.” says Ryan.
“This is not something that should be celebrated – the industry including the regulator GWIC, Ladbrokes, Premier Chris Minns and Minister David Harris should all hang their heads in shame for allowing this abhorrent, gambling fuelled dog killing industry to continue, along with the shocking waste of public money to prop up this government sanctioned animal cruelty.
“Rather than spending money on an event to pat themselves on the back, they should be donating the money to the independent volunteer greyhound rescue groups who are being crippled cleaning up the industry’s carnage.”
Speaking at a protest against greyhound racing in November last year, Greens MP Abigail Boyd said the parliament is ignoring “government-sanctioned animal cruelty.”
“We’ve put forward a bill that essentially outlaws greyhound racing in New South Wales. It brings back the ban that we originally had here. We have tabled a long title of that bill and we’ll bring it on for second reading early next year, and bring it up for debate.
“It’s really time that we bring back the ban on greyhound racing in New South Wales, because we’ve seen so many greyhounds killed since that ban was reversed.”
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