Under the Greenhounds program, greyhound owners can apply to have their pets exempt from the muzzling laws stated in the NSW Companion Animals Act. This comes in line with the 'green collar' programs currently run in other states.
Friends of the Hound have been pushing for many years to have pet greyhounds freed from this archaic and discriminatory requirement in which the onus had been completely removed from 'responsible ownership'.
Friends of the Hound were involved in the consultative process for this muzzling exemption program in NSW and believe that it seems to be a more positive, broader-based system than that of the other states, allowing rehoming groups to apply to become an official greyhound retraining program, and suitably qualified people to apply to become authorised greyhound assessors. However Friends of the Hound stil have major concerns about the testing protocol to be used for these assessments (GAPNTT) as this rather limiting, shelter-based test has apparently created significantly high 'failure' rates and increased mortality rates in other states over the past few years.
We shall see how this new program rolls out and hope that it provides a positive impact on adoption rates and a reduction in the amount of Greyhounds destroyed when no longer required by the racing industry.
Friends of the Hound will be applying to become an approved greyhound retraining program, and will provide updates about Greenhounds and how our adoptees can arrange for their hounds to enjoy a muzzle-free existence. Meanwhile for more information...
go to http://www.greenhounds.com.au/ |
