John Allen owns six dogs at his Kakanui property.
Three of those would need to be rehomed due to the government’s ban on the greyhound racing industry announced in late 2024, Mr Allen said.
He said he was worried about the welfare of his dogs through this process.
‘‘These ones were born on the property.
‘‘I’ve had them right from day one and to hand them over to someone and not knowing that they’re going to be looked after ... that worries me.
‘‘They’re a working dog, but people love their dogs. It’s a bond.’’
He was also concerned about dogs going to the wrong sorts of homes.
‘‘The public don’t get regulated like we do.
‘‘We can’t put a dog down, you cannot put a healthy dog down. Joe Bloggs, who gets a greyhound and decides after three months, ... he can just say it wasn’t a good idea and put it down.
‘‘When they’re young and in their prime, they’re not really suitable for sitting on the couch because they just want to run. They’re bred for speed.
Mr Allen said he would love to rehome his dogs locally if possible so he could continue to visit them.
‘‘Anyone looking for a greyhound, I’m your man in Oamaru.
A parliamentary select committee released its report last week on the Bill before its second reading.
Waitaki MP Miles Anderson, who took over as committee chairman last week, said the rehoming process would take a further two or three years after the ban came into effect on August 1.
‘‘It’s thought there will be somewhere around 1700 to 2000 dogs to be rehomed.
‘‘There has been a programme in operation for four years rehoming those greyhounds through a number of agencies and it’s been very successful actually. I think they rehomed something like 700 dogs last year.’’
The committee recommended the amendment Bill be passed. However, it also recommended a change to allow the TAB to still take bets on overseas greyhound races.
Mr Anderson said that money would go towards funding the rehoming process.
