Southland Racing Club president Sean Bellew said the course was New Zealand’s second-busiest track which hosted up to 40 greyhound meetings annually alongside harness and thoroughbred racing.
The racing club owns the track and leases it to a consortium of the three racing bodies which hire it out to racing clubs.
The "one-of-a-kind" facility would not be the only financial losers, as he expected there would be a "knock-on effect" to the Invercargill economy through fewer people staying in the city.
He envisaged the issue ending up with lawyers.
"I’d imagine the future of the greyhound fraternity will be in the hands of the court before not too long, because they won’t take it lying down."
He believed the Southland club would also support any submission from the greyhound clubs.
He was surprised by Mr Peters’ decision to shut the sport down.
"He sort of threw them under the bus really ... it’s looking pretty woke to me.
"I’m just bewildered because I would see far worse-treated dogs through my daily working life, far worse off animals than greyhounds.
"Most sporting animals are treated with a great deal of love and respect — you treat things kindly. If you treat it badly, it’s not going to perform well for you."
He believed shutting the racing side of the industry down would create a new industry selling New Zealand-bred greyhounds offshore.
"The greyhound fraternity are a smart bunch of people and they’ll look for alternative routes and a better solution.
"It’s going to push dogs offshore. It’s going to create a new pathway in terms of bringing dogs into New Zealand and selling them to Australia.
"I personally believe the ruling’s far too woke."
He wondered if the decision to end greyhound racing would eventually impact the equine racing sector and how it operated.
"We’re going to get thrown under the bus eventually and they’re going to look at us."
By Toni McDonald
