Greyhound Racing NSW rejects claims of welfare failures
Greyhound Racing NSW has disputed a series of allegations made by former chief veterinary officer Dr Alex Brittan.
Australia.- Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) has published a formal response to allegations made by former chief veterinary officer Dr Alex Brittan. It rejects key findings in a handover report he submitted following his departure from the organisation in early 2024.
The response states that many of Brittan’s claims regarding animal welfare, injury rates and industry practices were unsupported by evidence, relied on incomplete information, or fell outside his area of expertise.
“Independent specialist veterinary counsel was sought in the review of the Brittan allegations, and as a result, they have been unsubstantiated,” acting chief executive officer Brian Charman said.
“GRNSW has taken its time and been prudent and diligent in putting together the response to Dr Brittan’s report and it will paint a very different picture to the one which has been portrayed,” he added .
Brittan served as GRNSW’s Chief Veterinary Officer for approximately eight months before leaving the organisation and issuing his handover report. GRNSW said its review found the document reflected “a misunderstanding of industry operations, misinterpretation of data, and conclusions drawn from insufficient scope of direct observation.”
Among the issues addressed in the response are recommendations concerning travel subsidies and racing frequency. GRNSW said independent veterinary experts found no evidence linking travel subsidies to racing injuries and concluded that the subsidies provided animal welfare benefits.
The organisation also disputed Brittan’s claims that between 11,000 and 14,000 greyhounds were awaiting rehoming, citing population modelling by the Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission (GWIC) that estimated the figure at approximately 4,100. GRNSW further noted that more greyhounds were rehomed than born during the 2024-25 period.
GRNSW also challenged Brittan’s assessment of track surfaces and facilities, stating that his conclusions were based on visits to only a small number of racetracks in New South Wales and that comparisons with UK injury statistics did not adequately account for differences in racing conditions.
The response also rejected allegations that GWIC had underreported industry death rates or that large numbers of greyhounds had gone missing, attributing those claims to what it described as a misreading of data from the ETrac and Ozchase systems.
