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MELBOURNE, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) announced on Friday the controversial sport has a "sustainable future" in Victoria, despite the news that two Australian states would be shutting down dog racing from 2017.
GRV Chairperson, Bernie Carolan, said Thursday's decision by the New South Wales (NSW) Government to close down greyhound racing was based on very different circumstances to those in Victoria.
"The sport operates on a smaller scale in Victoria and GRV is well advanced on fundamental and unprecedented cultural and operational reform to ensure it has a sustainable future as a fair and accountable code with greyhound welfare as its overriding priority," Carolan said in a media release on Friday.
Victoria's Minister for Racing, Martin Pakula, said the government had no plans to ban greyhound racing in the state, but admitted that the industry was under pressure following the Australian Broadcast Corporation's (ABC) investigation into live baiting practices in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
"None of the Perna, Milne or Bittar reports recommended the shut down of Victorian greyhound racing," Pakula said on his social media account on Thursday.
"It is an industry that employs thousands ... Every participant should know its future depends on ongoing commitment to reform."
NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) committed to banning greyhound racing after a NSW special commission of inquiry found extensive evidence of animal cruelty, including mass killings and live baiting. The inquiry was prompted by ABC's 'Four Corners' program last year.
The report found that 68,000 greyhounds or at least half of those bred to race in NSW were killed in the last 12 years because they were deemed uncompetitive.
The inquiry exposed Victoria's own controversial greyhound racing industry, with 15 people facing a combined 125 mistreatment and cruelty charges.
GRV, in conjunction with the Victorian Government, has implemented many of the 68 recommendations made by the two separate inquiries to improve the future of sport in the state.
Animal welfare groups around the country have called for a national ban of the sport, however, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australian authorities, along with Victoria, have publicly backed their industries.
