The greyhound industry, lockout laws and Mike Baird's cowardice. My...

19/10/2016

The greyhound racing industry!

About three months ago, New South Wales premier Mike Baird implemented a ban on Greyhound racing in state of New South Wales.

They greyhound industry came under investigation after it was revealed that some owners were participating in a practice called "live baiting" where live animals such as rabbits, cats and other small marsupials were used as bait for the dogs to catch and kill to improve their performance on the track. The next stain on the industry came after a large mass grave of greyhounds was discovered as part of an investigation. The dogs in the graves were the unlucky ones that were not fast enough to make the "cut" and were therefore put down as they cannot make their owners money.

The story was picked up several current affairs programs and as some will say "was blown way out of proportion". As a result of these revelations Mr Baird implemented the ban in NSW and soon after many other states followed suit.

Than came the sob stories about families having to give up their beloved pets that they have grown up with, which is weird to me because only the racing of greyhounds was banned not the greyhounds themselves, they could have kept them as pets, but they didn't love the dog, they loved the money they made. Butchers having to close down as feeding greyhounds horse meat was their primary source of income. Other people who lost their jobs also complained, i have a suggestion for you why don't you get a job that doesn't exploit helpless animals and making a living off of the backs of dogs who are made to race and race and race until they can't race no more or they are too slow and have to be put down.

The ban!

After the ban was introduced the RSPCA and vets around the country had record numbers of greyhounds given up to be adopted or euthanized, because if the dogs cannot be raced and make their owners money, they don't want them even as pets. Politicians who supported the ban were threatened with physical harm, threatening violence when they can't get their way, that just shows the kinds of people we are dealing with here.

On the night before Mr Baird overturned the ban he had a conversation with Mr Alan Jones, a shock jock who gave him a sermon about how the ban was affecting people in the bush/country. My problem with this is how he met Mr Jones at his Sydney mansion and Mr Jones doesn't know shit about the needs of people in the bush. The people in the bush need more jobs, better health care and help with agriculture not fucking greyhound racing. Mr Jones is a radio host who lives in a multi-million dollar mansion in the concrete jungle know as Sydney, does he really know what is best for the people in the bush. I cant comprehend why Mr Baird thought Mr Jones could be the voice of reason in this situation. Politicians should not be allowed to meet privately with members of the public to discuss politics.

Mr Baird once said something along the lines of

"What i do, i do not for political points, i do it because its the right thing to do"

or some shit like that. You are a hypocrite Mr Baird who just like all the others will back flip when your popularity suffers.

Mr Baird's big solution for the problems that still plague the greyhound industry is accepting a pinkie promise from industry leaders that they will clean up their act and of course bigger fines for those actually caught doing the wrong thing. Instead of actually protecting the animals they allow people to exploit the government should profit from the fines of those that do wrong. I'm not entirely sure how they plan to enforce the new animal cruelty laws there implementing, its not like anyone cares when an owner shows up to a race with a new dog or when a couple of smaller animals go missing for live bait.

Sydney's lockout laws!

The greyhound racing ban has been officially overturned and he is now considering overturning the Sydney lockout laws. The Sydney lockout laws forbid establishments who serve alcohol to sell it after 3.00am. These laws were implemented to try and curb the increasing levels of alcohol fueled violence spilling out onto the streets and in response to a couple of people being coward punched (punched from behind) and killed like Thomas Kelly. Since the law was implemented alcohol fueled violence in the city has dramatically decreased and their have been fewer coward punch deaths as a result. The political pressure applied to him from so called celebrities like Sam Neill and Jimmy Barns have Mike Baird pissing his pants as it is in the words of Sam Neill

"the lockout laws are killing off Sydney's nightlife".

I wonder if one of their relatives were killed by a coward punch caused by alcohol if they would feel the same way. Since when did being classed as a celebrity mean they could try their hand at politics and influence policy that they don't fully understand is for the greater good. Sam Neill should act and Jimmy Barnes should sing (i personally think he sucks), not stick their nose where it does not belong. If depressed violent alcoholics want to drink after 3.00am let them do it at home away from a civilized society.

The fucked up thing about all this is i really liked Mike Baird and he could have made a good politician, his major accomplishments in the year since he has been in office have been:

Banning greyhound racing.
Implementing the lockout laws.
Making the state of NSW debt free with a surplus for the first time in a long time.

Now he has already undone the first one and will most likely undo the second one, if that happens he would have undone 2/3rds of his best accomplishments and that will leave us to see how long NSW stays out of debt. Hopefully he can keep at least that in check, if the damage done from the first two is any indication he wont be around for another term and to tell you the truth i really don't care anymore.

My solution!

My solution to the problem is to re-implement the ban, but that is never going to happen. So my next solution for the problem should be to keep detailed records of the owners and the dogs they own. If dogs should happen to disappear before their average life expectancy and a vet has no records of medical visits or records of euthanasia, the owner should be banned from racing for life or until they produce the dog. The dogs should also have regular medical visits from a vet as well as be micro chipped, so they can be identified and documented before each race.

In conclusion!

So summing up, Mr Baird has reversed the greyhound racing ban which promotes animal cruelty and gambling. He maybe about to also reverse the Sydney lockout laws which will in turn lead to more violence and deaths and they will be on his hands.

I understand that the actions of the few shouldn't dictate the future of the many but that logic shouldn't apply when the lives and welfare of animals is at stake.

Anyway that is my rant for today. If you are still here thanks for reading, if you have a different opinion leave a comment, if you agree with me leave a comment. You don't have to if you don't want to. Don't leave a comment if you are not willing to have a conversation about the issue.

Thanks.