'A shocking day': Six greyhounds injured during one race meet at Whanganui's Hatrick Raceway

Six dogs were injured during a single race meet at Whanganui's Hatrick Raceway last week. Photo / NZME

Concerns about the state of Whanganui's Hatrick Raceway have again been raised after six dogs were injured during a single race meeting last week.

The six animals all suffered racing injuries last Wednesday, three with broken bones, while two others had suspected fractures.

The dogs injured included With Batter, which had a fractured left radius. Greyhound Pliskova had a fractured left hock, while Super Gold had a torn longhead tricep.

Greyhounds Big Time Fairy and Flip It both had suspected fractures, and were stood down pending an X-ray.

A sixth dog, Porcelain Panda, had bruising to a back leg muscle.

The injuries come after a number of deaths at the Whanganui track over the last season.

Nine dogs were euthanised as a result of racing at the track during a nine-month period over the 2020/21 season - five of which died within one eighteen-day period.

That led to animal rights organisation SAFE labelling Hatrick Raceway a "death track", and calling for its closure.

SAFE spokesman Will Applebe said the Whanganui track had a terrible record.

"It was another shocking day on a dangerous track," Applebe said. "It's appalling that dogs are still suffering from serious injuries and broken bones, essentially for gambling purposes."

Applebe said greyhound racing was only legal in seven countries around the world - suggesting New Zealand should also move to ban the sport.

Racing Minister Grant Robertson said that the greyhound racing industry is "on notice" after a report into the sport was released earlier this month. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Recently, a report into the sport was completed, with Racing Minister Grant Robertson saying that the industry was "on notice".

"[The report] makes it clear the social licence to operate the sport of greyhound racing is under challenge," Robertson said earlier this month.

That report found that 923 dogs had been euthanised since 2017, with reasons ranging from aggression to injury and illness.

'Our priority is improving safety'

A spokesperson for Greyhound Racing New Zealand (GRNZ) said the organisation's priority over recent months had been improving safety at tracks around the country.

"The number of deaths from racing is down from 30 per six months, to six over the past eight months, with one of those being at Whanganui.

"No deaths are acceptable to GRNZ and we keep striving to reduce this number to zero, as is the goal of all organisations focused on the safety of their participants."

On last weeks' injuries, the organisation said the likely causes of the injuries were poor track conditions as a result of weather, as well as poor fitness of the dogs due to Covid-19 restrictions.

"We have followed up by getting veterinary advice to all of our trainers as to the training programme required to ensure greyhounds are ready to return after an enforced break such as level 4 lockdown."

The group said that one of the dogs that had a suspected fracture was later cleared of the injury.

"We can confirm that all of the dogs have received treatment and are recovering.

"In relation to SAFE, we accept that anti-racing groups will always take a position such as theirs, and GRNZ will continue to invest heavily in the care of our dogs and be transparent in the publication of our data."