Michelle Slater
A fourth greyhound has died at the Traralgon dog racing track since the new $5 million “j-curve” course was opened in January, designed to improve animal safety standards.
A rising three-year old bitch named Deslea was euthanised after she broke her neck in the fourth race at Traralgon on Wednesday last week.
According to the stewards’ report, Desley was severely checked at the 250-metre mark and fell. A post–race veterinary examination found she had a cervical fracture injury.
Three other greyhounds have died at Traralgon this year with leg fractures in separate incidents, including Gnarley Big Head, Bull Montana, and Starship Venus.
The Traralgon “j-curve” track was developed following University of Technology Sydney research to reduce physical stress on greyhounds during racing.
It features one turn and a 300-metre straight and was the first single-turn greyhound race track in Australia.
It was funded with $3 million from the state government and $2 million from Greyhound Racing Victoria.
However, the latest incident has sparked a call from animal welfare groups to halt all greyhound racing at Traralgon while an independent review takes place to assess the track’s safety.
The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds has stated that last week’s death has made Traralgon the third deadliest greyhound track in Victoria.
CPG director Kylie Fields said the new “j-curve” track was still resulting in catastrophic injuries, despite claims that it was state of the art.
“This track opened in January with a lot of fanfare, the state government likes to say that it puts animal welfare at the forefront of greyhound racing, but it’s just smoke and mirrors,” Ms Fields said.
“Curved tracks are clearly not safe. For the time being, racing at Traralgon must stop to investigate why these injuries keep happening on this brand-new track.
“They can’t just continue to race there and keep turning a blind eye like nothing is happening. For Desley, it was the nightmare of lying with a broken neck until the vet could put an end to her agony.”
A spokesperson for Greyhound Racing Victoria said the racing integrity unit investigated last week’s fatality at Traralgon but found Deslea’s death was not related to the condition of the track.
“GRV will continue to monitor the safety performance of the new Traralgon track, as it does with all of its tracks,” the spokesperson said.
“The loss of a greyhound is tragic and felt by all in our sport, in particular the owners, breeders and trainers who love their dogs.”
Greyhound Racing Victoria has been working with experts to make tracks safer, with the number of fall-related fatalities dropping by 55 per cent in the past four years to 48 dog deaths in 2020-21.
The peak racing body has also introduced the Greyhound Recovery Initiative, which provides financial assistance for the owners of injured dogs to get them treated by a vet.
A state government spokesperson said there had been significant improvements in safety and welfare standards, but acknowledged that “GRV accepts there is more work to be done”.
“The government takes animal welfare seriously and the loss of any greyhound is distressing for all concerned,” the spokesperson said.
