aquaman

Yes, the ODT is by far and away the best newspaper in NZ. All Fairfax papers are shit. The ODT is one of the last independent papers left in NZ.

No a better idea would be for the useless NZGRA to do what they were supposed to do, that is monitor all dogs from the cradle to the grave. The useless tossers at the overstaffed, job creating under performing NZGRA touted this was going to happen years ago. I remember the last time the shit hit the fan when the code faced a crisis much the same as the present one. That was about 6 yrs ago, and the then CEO Jim Leach being interviewed by Channel 1 news sitting in the stand at Wanganui stating all that was going to be done in regards to welfare and looking after the Greyhound. He even created new rules where it was a serious offense to put a Greyhound down without a Vet Certificate, and they were going to track all dogs. They even created a new position at the NZGRA. A Welfare Officer to oversee all this. Fast forward 6 yrs, and what do we have. I will tell you, sweet fcuk all, no tracking from cradle to the grave, Stipes reports that eliminate any mention of dead dogs, just changed because they were forced to. I have brought up the subject of tracking dogs or lack of over the last few yrs. How hard was it for the newly created position of Welfare Officer to check the computer records of all dogs whelped or imported to certain propertys, and then target some of them by arming the equally useless RIU with a list of all these dogs along with their micro chip earbrand ID's, and go and do an audit. Any missing dogs would need to be identified as to where they are, and any dogs that have been put down a Vets Cert, or the name of the Vet so as records could be checked. If there was no satisfactory explanation for a missing dog, then charges should have been laid. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a prosecution of a dog been put down without a Vets Cert. This tells me they have sat on their arses and done nothing in regards to tracking. There is no excuse, they have all the computer records of all dogs whelped and imported into NZ, and they had a Welfare Officer to oversee this. They have an RIU that is grossly overstaffed, so why didn't it happen. Now we have the present CEO telling us that we all have to change. I think a better idea would be to look at his own backyard, and review just how badly they have performed from the Chairman down in serving the code, and not carrying out what Jim Leach said was going to happen sitting there in the stand at Wanganui not that long ago.

There has to be a better way, quote. Well the good news is, there is a better way, 2 dog fields. You can then have all the seeding you desire, mind you the stake money may take a dive, but that shouldn't deter all these feel good want to change everything people. Seeding cannot work in NZ or Australia, it can work in America, UK, or Macau because all the dogs are kenneled at the tracks and are trained by contract trainers so seeding is easy. Under the system used in NZ and Aust it cannot work, unless we are prepared to give away the right to train your own dogs, and seed all responsibility to Clubs to manage all aspects of training and keeping the Greyhounds.

The mindset in NZ in regards to racing has always been, more is better, I don't believe it is driven by the TAB, but more from the codes. Our code is a prime example. We have grabbed every date the TAB has given us with no thought to quality, or the type of racing that we put before the punter/funder. Now we find ourselves in the situation of having endless poor quality sprint racing with huge dog numbers involved. Remember, your wish list is reliant on funding, and all focus needs to go into this area before improvements can be made.

There is ultimately no future for dog racing, and for that matter horse racing. Horses may last longer but will eventually die, as will the dogs, the dogs just quicker and first. What can be done is allowing it to last as long as possible. To do this you need punters, and lots of them, so all focus should be on them, and out of this comes all funding. So the 3 codes need to develop strategies working together to try and build the punting base. The first thing that needs to happen is downsizing racing in NZ, there is far to much for the punting base. All 3 codes need to amalgamate, and get rid of most venues, and concentrate on strategic locations. Build from the bottom up.

You really have no idea do you. The racing Industry is in decline, punters are becoming a dying breed across all codes, the only growth being sports betting. Punters pay for everything, the RIU, Infrastructure, the NZGRA, NZTR, HNZ, RIB. They also pay the stake money. Your wish list needs to be practicable. I would start with downsizing, and reducing the racing population.

And who's going to pay for your wish list?, you and all the other trainers and owners.

You are talking to dorks here, most cannot train let alone breed. They have no idea how to rear or educate. A good portion of NZ trainers are not trainers at all, they are just caretakers of ready made products from Australia. There are very few knowledgeable Trainers and Breeders in NZ. Most of whats bred in NZ is shit, incapable of running further than 300 mtrs, and the dogs they produce are weak physically resulting in lots of breakdowns. Gone are the days of astute breeders that matched their Sire to compliment their Bitches weakness, now they just line up for a bottle of semen without even a thought about whether the mating will help eliminate the weakness's in the Dam line. Now its all about factory farming and a numbers game with the bigger breeders, and as for the backyard ones, they just mate up any old thing because its their favourite dog.

The answer is quite simple, stop imports, and only breed whats required for a NZ racing population. I mean this could be instituted now. The selfish importers will howl this down, but rest assured, it would not matter one iota on turnovers, and in fact would increase them over time as more people get involved in breeding.

Yes, you are right Gary, NZ turnovers were far stronger before co mingling. A typical Greyhound meeting back in the 80"s and 90's would do up to $500,000, and that on a 10 race card.

Couldn't agree more pilli, and good to see you back. This had to be the most dangerous decision ever made by the NZGRA, it defied belief that they could be so stupid in light of the Australian example. The RIU must bear equal responsibility for carrying out this order when they tout themselves as independent. Fortunately they have seen the light, whether its in time is a moot point.

NZ got on very nicely without imported semen, it also got on very nicely without imported dogs. What happens is NZ breeders meet the slack. And before imports and semen, NZ greyhounds had far greater turnover and participation than what we have today, so in answer to your question Gary, NZ Greyhound racing would be far stronger and more profitable if both were done away with.

Wrong again bloke, you just never get it right. Not fake news at all, but rather a George Sorros fix. $70,000,000 to be exact.

The missing trainers may be owner trainers which only train for themselves.

Mike I respect what you are saying, but I feel that now that these matters concerning live baiting are now out in the public domain, it is a good time to get to the bottom of it once and for all. As for being unfounded, I tend to disagree. Both you know and I know it go's on in some kennels, and has for as long as I can remember. I hate the thought of it, and I find it sickening that people could do such things, but this is the world we live in, and greed knows no bounds. There are certain kennels that straighten out non chasers, These kennels and their clients know who they are, and the clients are just as guilty as the perpetrators. I saw the first witness on Channel 3 the other night whom was most creditable. He fronted up without being blanked out, and spoke in his own voice, his evidence was compelling. I believed him. Now if there are other eye witness accounts out there that are prepared to step up, and give statements without hiding their identity, then the industry came come to grips with it and move on. But first the code need to get their house in order to be able to do so. I like yourself believe the photo's prove nothing in isolation, but when you add good solid witnesses to it, that are prepared to step up without hiding their identity, then this adds more strands in the rope. In my opinion, more witnesses need to come forward and put this to rest, otherwise it will just fester.