Greyhounds Australasia (GA) acknowledges that the greyhound racing industry is responsible for the welfare of all racing greyhounds in Australasia.

GA and its Members are committed to improving the welfare of greyhounds and reducing the incidence of euthanasia by building on the significant advancements that all parties have already made. These include:

• The introduction of mandatory micro-chipping that improves industry integrity, and facilitates more accurate tracking of individual greyhounds throughout their lifecycle;
• The strengthening of Greyhound Racing Rules to ensure owners are required to notify their Controlling Body when a greyhound has been retired from racing;
• The establishment of a dedicated GA Welfare committee which is tasked with the development, implementation and monitoring of national welfare initiatives and setting of industry benchmarks;
• The introduction of export guidelines that ensures Australasian greyhounds can only be exported to countries that have a standard of care and accountability comparable to that here in Australia;
• Reducing injury risks for racing greyhounds by prioritising capital works at racetracks;
• Increasing the number of kennel inspections and penalising participants for non-compliance; and
• The development in each state of a dedicated and industry resourced re-homing program for greyhounds that are no longer suited to racing.

GA and its Members are now working together to holistically ensure the welfare of greyhounds meets best practice and to reduce the incidence of euthanasia. All parties are committed to:

• Reducing the number of greyhounds bred through the expansion of responsible breeding strategies and education initiatives;
• Improved tracking mechanisms and data collection throughout the life of a greyhound to enable monitoring of both participants and greyhounds;
• Continued development of mandatory education and licensing across the racing sector;
• Mandatory education competencies linked to licensing for greyhound breeders including hobby and commercial operations;
• Licensing of participants involved in the rearing, educating and pre training of greyhounds;
• A consistent approach to the provision of veterinary services and injury reporting at race meetings to assist in development of minimum standards for track preparation and the monitoring of injury trends; and
• Increased investment in greyhound adoption or re-homing programmes and the promotion of the breed outside of racing.

Through a combined, dedicated and coordinated approach, GA and its Members are committed to constant improvement in regards to the welfare outcomes for all racing greyhounds.