A number of greyhound trainers in Victoria, NSW and Queensland have been implicated in live baiting, which the RSPCA believes is entrenched and systemic in the industry.
Greyhound Racing Victoria chairman Peter Caillard said the allegations will tarnish the sport's image, despite industry figures believing the illegal practice is isolated to a minority of trainers.
"This is devastating for the greyhound racing industry because it's simply disgusting conduct," Mr Caillard told reporters.
"Here you have a small number that have done something abhorrent, not just the wrong thing, something absolutely abhorrent. Of course it's going to have a bad effect on greyhound racing."
Twenty-four trainers and staff have been suspended in Victoria, NSW and Queensland but Animals Australia says 70 people have been implicated including high-profile trainers.
Peak body Greyhounds Australasia's CEO Scott Parker said the industry's 30,000 participants who play by the rules have had their reputations severely and unfairly damaged by the conduct, shown on the ABC's Four Corners program.
"This is conduct that is being undertaken by a very small minority of people, that's illegal and abhorrent," Mr Parker told AAP.
"It shocks us that it isn't seemingly just one person who is ignorant of the rules and has been led astray.
"The footage did allegedly show people that know the rules, they know the law and they've risked not only their own reputation, their own livelihood, but the reputation and livelihoods of 30,000 others and that's completely unacceptable.
"If found guilty, they don't deserve the right to belong to this industry."
Greyhound Racing NSW chief executive Brent Hogan said his organisation needs greater powers to stamp out animal cruelty.
"What we need to look at is the powers around surveillance and inspections - and we need to make sure those powers are sufficient to allow us to weed out activities of the type we saw last night," he told ABC Radio.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie wants greyhound racing suspended nationally but Mr Parker said that was not necessary.
"The vast majority of people in the industry are law abiding and do the right thing not only by themselves and the greyhounds that they own and train but by each other."
Mr Caillard said there was no evidence to suggest live baiting was being used in Victoria beyond a privately-owned training facility at Tooradin, which has been suspended pending an investigation.
Victorian Racing Integrity Commissioner Sal Perna said reform was needed to stop trainers getting around sanctions by transferring ownership of dogs to relatives.
"If it doesn't have any effect because they can move a dog over to someone else and continue to be doing what they did. They're not working and they need to be addressed," he said of sanctions.
Investigations are underway in the three states.
- AAP
