Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Craig Roberts: Greyhound trainer on Greyhound Racing NZ calling for a judicial review of the ban

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Craig Roberts: Greyhound trainer on Greyhound Racing NZ calling for a judicial review of the ban · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now greyhound Racing New Zealand is started the proceedings for
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: a judicial review into this ban on the sector. Industry
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: leaders say Winston Peters has not once consulted on them
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: about the policy they announced in December. They say a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: thousand people's livelihoods will be affected. Nearly three thousand dogs
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: need to be rehomed by twenty twenty six. Craig Roberts
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: is a greyhound trainer with us this morning.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Craig, good morning, Yeah, good morning, Ryan, Good morning listeners.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: How long have you been doing this?
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: A very long time? Ran over forty years.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: And is this your livelihood?
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, it is that. Obviously it's started off as a
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: hobby because when I started in greyhound racing, you'd win
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: a ribbon in about twenty five dollars. So over the years,
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: as the sport's growing and become part of the tab,
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: I've been lucky enough to be able to in a
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: living and it's been my lifestyle and my whole family's
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: lifestyle ever since.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: How many dogs you got, Craig, I sort of I.
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: Sort of hover around thirty five to forty race dogs
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: and try to have about twenty five to thirty racing.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: And what are you going to do with them all?
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Well, we're going to well, of course, this is all.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: If the band comes into force on the first of
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: August twenty twenty six, it will be about two and
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: a half thousand to three thousand dogs three home. We
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: will we will be making sure that they do fine
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: homes and it will be a long, long process of
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: possibly up to three to four years. But if the
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: band does go ahead, those greyhounds will be well looked
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: after and they will be here with us until they
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: find homes.
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: You've got your your judicial review underway.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Can you understand why pub maybe people who are n't
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: involved in greyhound racing, why people don't like it?
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: Yes, well I can. My opinion on that is that
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: they have been fed a lot of misinformation and exaggeration
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: of statistics from a small group of people that are
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: very vigilant and very aggressive in their deliverance of their
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: hatred of greyhound racing.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: How many dogs have died under your watch in your
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: forty years or you know, injured.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: Of my own?
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, probably through through racing injuries over forty years.
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't even I'd have to have an add up,
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: but it wouldn't be it would be single figures, put
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: it that way, but there have been dogs that have
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: suffered injuries. Obviously. I've got a beautiful ten year old, beautiful,
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: big white and brindle male. He hit his leg when
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: he was about three years old. He's lived a fantastic life.
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: He was us, he got operated on, he recovered, happy
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: as there, he's now, he's there or I think he's
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: about eleven years old now. And there's hundreds of those
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: sort of tastes, thousands probably over that many years. But
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: you know, most, probably ninety five percent of the injuries
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: that are recorded for greyhounds are not serious injuries. They
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: are just injuries that prevent them from racing for a
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: short period of time and then they then they recovered
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: from that and they get back into the race.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Greig Guy Shure, you're coming on the program. That's Craig Roberts,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: greyhound trainer and a board member with Greyhound Racing New Zealand.
• 4:07
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• 4:10
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• 4:13
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