ORANGE owner-trainer Greg Board is in limbo after three of his top dogs were pulled from racing by Greyhound Racing Victoria because they were trained by suspended trainer Darren McDonald.
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On Thursday Board’s solicitor Tim Dalla was pursuing legal action to have the dogs released to their owner, saying Board is a third party in the issue who is being penalised because of alleged illegal activity by another trainer.
“It was something he was not aware of,” Mr Dalla said.
He said the three dogs, which were being trained by McDonald in a 50-50 prizemoney arrangement, not being able to race would impact heavily on Board.
Board told the Central Western Daily he had three dogs - Armed and Ready, Spring Missile and Kevlar - being trained in Victoria by McDonald, who was suspended for allegedly using live animals to train greyhounds.
“They’ve taken me out of the derby at Ballarat and out of the races at The Meadows - I want them to lift the ban,” Board said.
Board said he was confident the crisis in the industry would “blow over”.
“I certainly don’t condone this behaviour in any way,” he said.
“I have been in the industry for 40 years and when I started live baiting was the norm - but all that’s changed now, there are different standards.”
Both Board and Ginn were critical of the RSPCA’s response to the live baiting issue, saying the animal welfare agency had not acted quickly enough when they became aware of the improper training practices in the greyhound racing industry.
RSPCA New South Wales media liaison spokeswoman Jessica Conway said in this state the animal welfare body was notified on February 2 of potential live baiting, with the first inspection carried out on February 11.
“There are no trainers currently under investigation in your area,” Ms Conway said.
Board said while he believed changes needed to be made at board level of Greyhound Racing NSW, he was surprised the whole board had been dismissed.
“What we do need though is strong representation on the board from people involved in the industry - not accountants and lawyers,” he said.
