GOM

Sorry I know I see what you are getting at now. Your original post on this bit said the owners are going to suffer. If they are still getting 20 for 5th and 6th and the rest is being put into increasing stakes how are the owners going to lose out. Another point on us poor old owners. If as you say the owners are going to miss out with the reduction of petrol vouchers how does that stack up with Corey's statement that his boss is not going to be able to pay him? if the owners get the petrol vouchers what is the trainer doing paying his staff's wages with them .

The part about 4th to start with so I 'll type this slowly . you get $80 for running 4th why should you get a voucher as well. You'll have to get even slower with the rest, what do you mean 5th and 6th are now stakes?

What are you on about, you should be called don't know not I know, what does '4th.5th and 6th is now stakes' mean?

What a load of old cobblers , 4th placing to $80 and 7th and 8th nothing and the world is coming to an end. Gary is going to be without a job and Corey without a house! Get a grip everyone and think of the bigger picture, as McMissile said if your wellbeing and participation depends on getting a voucher for running last it is time to find another vocation. The only ones who really benefitted from the vouchers were the biggest players and if they cannot pay your wages without vouchers they are doing something very wrong . If the sport is going down the gurgler it is more likely because of the pitiful attitudes displayed here not by the association. No matter who has been running it for since day one the "experts" reckon they are plotting our downfall. Can things be improved, yes. Are we getting there yes

Come on ref get your eyepatch off, what is the 8 months for people to get in? how will it mean more dead dogs what's it got to do with the office restructure? Modest mousy was almost correct when she said all or nothing, they should have included the other 2 in the race

Good

That sounds more likely than the figures I read

Question for Midget. I have been trying to find out the percentage of TB and Harness horses bred in NZ that actually make it to the racetrack. On another site I see it is estimated that in NSW that percentage is 10% which to me appears unbelievably low. Would this be in the same ballpark as NZ?

Not much market for Midgets I believe, no values for money, bloody stringy and acerbic taste

Mr Bidlake makes a good point. It is common for people to eat horses around the world do the general populous get angry about that. I read an article about an American woman who decided to get her own horse butchered when it had to be put down and she ate it (not at one sitting). I believe that horse meat (including from racing animals) has been exported from NZ for human consumption (correct me if I am wrong) so why not dog?

Just shows the depths the nutters will go to. Typically gutless

Because what you are basing your argument on is not correct. Even the simplest research shows that the basis for the shut down is a beat up. The silence you talk of from the hard working dog lovers is a genuine indication that is all is well here. Wait till they get around to the same sort of enquiry into the "wastage" in the horse codes and see how they compare.

Also that trainers treat the dogs injuries themselves rather than send them to the vet. This is an indication of the skill of greyhound trainers not a negative.

As sad as it all is the saddest part is for the owners, look after them and things will flourish, think of the owners before the trainers and the whole shebang will come right. I was determined to have a good horse not that long ago but soon learned the realities of thoroughbred racing. What really woke me up was when our horse ran third in a 15 horse maiden at Te Rapa and the next day we had a not very good greyhound win a midweek maiden race and the greyhound earned more than the horse.

Dodger, "appears" to have been on a plane and for what purpose is far from factual and your following comment was out of line

Too many

Get up to date mate most of what you want is already in place

As for the kennel checks we have had more kennel checks in the last three years than ever in fact I was beginning to wonder if we were being picked on. The hidden camera's are illegal but I do not know of any trainer that would be worried to have them at their property. Do I think we are well ahead of NSW , blind Freddy could see that is true, do I think more could be done, that is a loaded question as some may think more to be done means banning the sport. It is a continuous improvement system and of course more will be done as necessary. Say all you like about the governing body, anyone who knows me knows that I am often their harshest critic yet they every right to feel satisfied with the progress they have made in animal welfare. In fact it has been their actions that have put us in a comfortable position at an uncomfortable time. I agree that administators was a poor choice of word they are far more than that and at is ironic that the leader of the change was the much maligned previous CEO.

I think that a lot of people in this thread have misunderstood John's original post. It seems to me that he argues that a sudden influx of imports is going to destabilise the NZ system in that there will be a bigger sudden surplus of dogs and thus redundancies. Who copes with these or how do we cope with those. Someone said we need another 5 GAP farms in one area. If John is not heeded that could very well be 10 and just ain't going to happen.

They have already had the scrutiny and had to deal with lies and deliberately twisted "statistics" and have put a huge amount into strategies and systems. The whole thing is a continuous improvement model that the NZGRA have every reason to be satisfied with.

Exactly Craig, I remember when I was a wee fella (now that's a while ago) and learning about the terrible suffering in the Roman coliseums, I used to shudder at it and wonder how human beings could do that, but all this time later with all our education and luxury it is almost back to that. When Mark Hunt got knocked into cookooland by a brutal knee to his face a while back our 6 o'clock news showed about 5 different slow motion angles of the blow. Cage fighting being called a sport is a disgrace yet constantly makes the highlights in the media. We are strange animals alright.

What NZ doesn't need is a knee jerk reaction. We were well ahead already probably because of our size but also to a great degree by the actions of our administrators.

No to what poppa,

Ma I do agree with you about the future of racing, I don't agree that is right but am pretty sure that will be the outcome. One day in the not too distant future all we will have is virtual racing where we participate on our computers then someone with nothing better to do will start a petition to say virtual racing is glorifying a horrific past. That will be the end of virtual racing as well after a number of petitions and all we will be able to do is sit and watch the Simpson's

The percentage of thoroughbred and harness horses that actually get to the races out of the total born?