The Greens NSW MLC and animal welfare spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has dubbed premier Mike Baird ‘a political coward’ for ‘caving in to the National Party and back-flipping on his proposed greyhound racing ban.
Nor has she spared her contempt for NSW Labor, who she said ‘can never be trusted again’ for its role in overturning the ban.
‘It is no wonder that people have no faith in politicians when we have a political coward in Premier Baird and a craven opportunist in Luke Foley and the Labor Party. It is clear that vested interests in the gambling industry control this state,’ Dr Faruqi said.
‘Just a few months ago, Mike Baird said he had “no option but to ban” the cruel greyhound racing industry after the horrific revelations of animal cruelty.
‘We should have known better than to trust that he would put animal welfare above his own political interests,’ Dr Faruqi said.
She also described NSW Labor’s role in overturning ‘what was one of the greatest animal welfare advances in this state’ as ‘incredibly shameful’ adding it ‘will not be forgotten’.
‘Labor cannot be trusted on any animal welfare issue ever again. They have blood on their hands.
‘Animal cruelty and live baiting is already a crime. We know operators in the industry use every trick in the book to get around these laws. Why do they expect anything to change?
‘The greyhound racing industry hasn’t and won’t meet even basic animal welfare requirements. They will promise the world and continue to fail to deliver, just like they have for decades.
‘We await details of the proposed safeguards on the industry but one thing is for sure, the only way to stop the cruelty was to keep the ban – everything else is just tinkering around the edges.
‘It is clear that society will not tolerate continued animal abuse. It is only a matter of time before the next mass grave or live baiting scandal. The collapse of greyhound racing is a question of when, not if. We will continue to expose animal cruelty in the industry’ she Ms Faruqi said.
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