The thing that did surprise is the attempted lifetime tracking of horses in nsw. Like greyhounds the industry has no obligation or right to know what happens to animals once they leave the industry and imo any attempt to do so will fail.

To clarify my previous post I'm not in the thoroughbred racing industry , I'm is a typo (mistake) in my previous post.

It makes some our politicians look inept, unable to make proper and reasonable decisions based on a few dereks who tarnished the industry a few years ago. It is fact there is political influence on a few politicians from some down at TBred Racing HQ and other places.

Thats what we are faced with as we try and survive because it is ALL about politics. As soon as you work that out the quicker we can function effectively and efficiently.

Get on board and make some noise. Your Political Voice !

The way the show was presented was to positively showcase the Thoroughbreds efforts as opposed to asking the real questions about horse wastage

IMHO the show was very heavily vetted prior to going to air and what was presented got the seal of approval

F@ck the horse industry they didnt help us. The horsey people dont give a f@ck about us they dont want us around as we are taking a share of the gambling pot of gold.

Yeah none of them care hey lets cut their throats hey Darren.

You see the Program last night Johnathon Now do you get the Greyhound participants drift look how soft that was & you know why Political clout, Rich owners Clout and they have the $$$ to sue.

Cut there throats your words well thats what the head of horse industry wanted to do to us & they almost exceeded.

Vote Or Join Shooters Fishers Party Greyhound Branch & have that Political Voice. KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE GREYHOUND RACING Australia

Exactly Sandro did you really think it would be any different. Thats Rich owners Clout & Political Clout. Soft as a Babys Bum

The thoroughbred industry is too big, too financially strong, too connected with prominent public figures (most financially strong and/or connected to government), and too high in public prominence even for 4 Corners to seriously take on.

Greyhound racing on the other hand ...

As for 4 Corners, I spoke to a 4 Corners reporter after observing a hearing for someone who had trialled their dog as a normal customer, yet were charged with live baiting (the rabbit provided by the track operator was alleged to be still alive). Offered to explain how the rules framework applied to trialling a dog, particularly as compliance with the rules was not even brought up at the hearing.

Not an ounce of interest. The response was along the lines of - It is irrelevant. I have seen all the footage and they are all guilty.

It is hard to conclude other than these guys are just capitalising of the years of credibility built up by the ABC to sensationally present their own agendas.

Through their misrepresentations they adversely affect public opinion, and probably are a bigger threat to the industry than the antis. And no one is making them accountable.

Shooting, also in their sights, does it far better. SSAA, the biggest industry body, promotes responsibility and compliance. It makes press statements and is available to the media. Unbalanced reporting gets escalated to the Press Council, and has been successful. The problem is that retractions get a low profile, and don't offset the initial (adverse) impact. There is also a lobby group and connections with sympathetic politicians.

Greyhound racing lacks such media management capabilities and effective political input. The regulators, being government authorities that also promote & operate the industry, not only wash their hands of protecting participants, they are more interested in acting against them.

Action has to come from participants.

One thing that was lacking from the 4 Corners program was full disclosure of conflicts of interest. The current Chair of RacingNSW was the former Managing Director of the ABC between 2002-2006. They were literally doing an "investigative program" on their former boss.

In those circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the RacingNSW were featured in a very sympathetic light, rather than the sensationalist way they present any story on greyhound racing.

The Boy's Club and the Establishment always seem to win because they pull the strings

V'Landy's no comment, Giles Thompson, no comment

Bush trainer participants shafted. Authorities beware, it takes all levels of an industry to be successful, not just a race framed for the elite or to challenge another racing jurisdictions.

Now I would like some answers from RVL. Tell us in more detail the in's and out's of how this happened under your noses and how you have conducted the inquiry and seemed to have ignored feedback from different parts of the industry prior.

Explain how a bicarb paste, oral delivery hours before a race is not returning a positive swab for bicarb(36)threshold and remember bicarb is not a drug, but an alkalising agent purported to help with endurance only in staying horses. What were the distances these Aquanita horses that won running over. My research suggests 1600 and beyond is where you may get some benefit.

We know where the horse end up, plenty of positives in the greyhound world to substances given to race horses!

It is not over, I look forward to the VCAT case as I firmly believe in innocent until proven guilty and I have no confidence in any of the RADB's in any of the codes having experienced them first hand. This is one area that is not a level playing field.

I did.

Not one mention of the show, not one...strange, hey.

But on twitter they retweeted ABC stuff to get people to watch the greyhound story on 730.

Yep, stranger than strange, Carly.

Most of that is fair enough. But I suggest you overrate the influence of the big end of town in this context.

First, the ABC program was weak, stale news and unconvincingly presented by Brissenden, who usually does other stuff. There is a group within the ABC, mostly female, as there is in Fairfax, which is anti-anything going if there is a greenish tinge to it. Both groups came out with bells on in the live baiting saga, although using material from Animals Australia. Reporting of the Parliamentary Inquiry was similar. This time, I suspect they had nothing much else to run with so they gave this a go.

With these people, it is normal to use quotes selectively and only when it supports their theme. They get away with that because it is classed as opinion or comment rather than news. The Press Council therefore is not in play.

Your comparison with the Shooters is useful but they are subject only to the laws of the land, not the political whims and concocted rules of a government-appointed regulatory body. Lucky them!

But the antidote is the same as always. The real greyhound story has to be put out to all and sundry and it has to be done routinely, not just when something hits the fan. Long years watching GRCB, GRA and GRNSW shows they have not the slightest will or ability to do this.

It's not just a shortage of PR but a failure in every aspect of the code - the most prominent of which would be badly designed and built tracks. Instead, all we get are weekly tips from Collerson who would be the most unreliable tipster in the business - including when he worked for The Tele or when he sent the Punters Club broke at Wenty. But I digress.

The point is that the system is broken in every which way. There is no suggestion of competence in any aspect of the regulator's operation. Not one.

The horses are far from perfect but at least they are trying. The dogs are not.

Back to the big end of town. Of course, they are dominant and of course the pollies take note, partly due to the personnel and partly due to the amount of cash involved. But they don't poke their fingers into the actual running of the code to anywhere near the same degree as in greyhounds. RNSW and GRNSW are like chalk and cheese.

Having said that, the horses are bound to get hit with the "wastage" problem sooner or later. When AA and others get up a head of steam they will be pinged as well. Even V'Landys effectively admitted that.

It appears animal lovers and animal activists are quite often mutually exclusive terms. Most make the mistake they are one in the same.

The vast majority of greyhound people are more animal lovers than some of these activists.

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