End of greyhound racing leaves ‘a big hole’ in Southland community

A greyhound trainer is taking her talents to Australia as the death rattle sounds on the greyhound industry in New Zealand. The Southland Greyhound Racing Club had its final race day at Ascot Park on Monday as the industry goes out of business on Friday as a government-led ban on the industry comes into force. Southland Greyhound Racing Club president Axel Lee Umuhuri said the ban would leave “a big hole in the community.”. Mr Umuhuri said he got into the industry when he met his wife 14 years ago, helping her train a greyhound which they now have as a pet. “We’ve been a club for 52 years. It’s a sad moment but we’re getting there.” He has been the club president for two seasons with his mother-in-law, Bronwyn Eade, the club’s secretary for 17 years. She has been working behind the scenes for 30 years as her late husband was the previous secretary. “I don’t actually believe that it’s the end because I’ve done this for so long. It’s going to hit me in the next day or two that this isn’t what I’m doing any more,” Mrs Eade said. They were planning a function after the last race with 100 people coming to “reminisce all the memories”. About 10 jobs would go in Invercargill and nationally about 1000 people would lose roles. Mrs Eade said she feared for the future of the greyhounds that needed to be re-homed. “You’ve actually got to know a greyhound. You could put a greyhound into someone’s home and it could end up killing half the neighbourhood cats, then they’ll get another bad name.” Arlica Lange has been training for six months and said the ban made her feel sick. “It’s a terrible feeling to watch everyone else in so much pain and struggling. It’s not nice,” she said. Ms Lange said they had become a big family over the years and it was “all just being ripped away”. “Most people have built their lives around doing this industry and this sport, the dogs and the families.” She considered herself luckier than most as she had been given the opportunity to head to Australia and train greyhounds there. The ban was announced by Racing Minister Winston Peters in December 2024, citing years of concern around racing accidents resulting in dog fatalities or injuries and the failure of the code to improve key performance indicators outlined in three separate reports. Longtime trainer John McInerney, of Darfield, said younger trainers such as Ms Lange were the ones who were suffering the most. He felt frustrated with how the closure had been handled. “Why would you close an industry that’s making the country money? “Why would you take all these young people’s jobs?’’ Mr McInerney said in the past three years, Mr Peters had refused to talk to them “and just closed us down. All our assets are worthless”. “I don’t recall any other sport in New Zealand or Australia ever being closed down by the government,” he said. He said the ban could also have a knock-on effect for harness racing clubs. “Everybody’s struggling, it’s not just people that are employed directly in the industry. “Staff that work for me, people down the line like food suppliers, vets, mechanics, everyone’s going to suffer.” Nationwide, it is expected that about 1300-1400 greyhounds will begin new lives as pets as a result of the ban. The Greyhound Rehoming Project, led by the Greyhound Transition Agency, had been launched to find homes for the dogs through adoption and fostering. tayler.mutton@odt.co.nz

End of greyhound racing leaves ‘a big hole’ in Southland community

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