The sport is greyhound racing. A select committee is now considering a bill that proposes to shut it down in a few months.
It will be New Zealand’s first complete ban of a sport, and of any organised civic pastime. It will be the first closure of an incorporated society that has broken no law.
For an alternative view, click here: Emily Robertson: How Greyhound racing lost its social licence
The bill ends the working lives of 2500 greyhounds and 1000 people employed to work for them and their owners.
It ends the ownership and the pastime enjoyed by 5000 family owners and trainers.
It stops dead in its tracks the $159 million generated annually at a time when the country most needs to say yes to economic activity.
There is no apology, no time to prepare new jobs, new homes for dogs, and no compensation for the estimated $40m in lost assets such as event facilities, training properties and kennels.
It turns out to be remarkably easy to shut down a sport.
Cabinet only made an in-principle decision, without evidence that dog welfare was inadequate.
Internal Affairs did not balance that decision with the evidence it has collected that shows the sport performs very well in terms of dog welfare – and much better than animals used in other sports, and much better than many thousands of pets.
Everyone ignored an independent Government report in 2021 that said a ban should never be considered without a “full-scale inquiry”.
Most people would expect a full-scale inquiry before any other sport was closed down – such as rugby, because of all the head injuries.
But it turns out not to be necessary. The sport doesn’t even need to be invited to defend its record.
The High Court and Crown Law said it didn’t matter that Greyhound Racing New Zealand (GRNZ) was never asked about the ban, because there would be some consultation at the select committee. GRNZ has been given 10 minutes to counter 18 months of Government planning and misinformation.
You might think greyhounds are an exception – a fair target. But we’ve been unfairly demonised over our working relationship with the dogs. The sport has had issues in the past, no doubt about that – but even then, to a far lesser extent than animals in other sports, in work and as pets.
Our people are good people. The dogs love to run, and the owners and trainers love to look after them. Over 75 years, they’ve built and committed to communities, careers, practices and assets.
We thought that if we kept improving and meeting welfare expectations, we could continue.
This shoddy shutdown matters because the Ministerial Advisory Committee behind all this was asked to report what it learns for the shutting-down of other sports and community organisations in the future.
We have not made that up. Greyhound racing is a test case.
It is deeply unsettling that the Government could end our sport without compensation, without time to adjust, and without consideration for the relationship and skills we have with our animals.
If our sport is closed, the right to a fair go is closed for your sport or community group.
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