You have Australians who speak to their pet animals as if they were human and let them sleep in their beds. And then you have the likes of former greyhound trainer Leslie Bates.
The greyhound racing business in Australia, as elsewhere in the world where it survives in the face of growing opprobrium, is increasingly getting exposed for what it is in reality: a cruel human attempt to find enjoyment in and profit from animal suffering.
This reality was exposed a little more last month when Bates, a South Australia greyhound trainer, pleaded guilty to five counts of animal ill-treatment in the Kadina Magistrates Court, according to the group Stop Dog Racing Australia.
The charges against Bates, from Paskeville, related to four dogs found with serious medical problems: two six-year-old greyhounds named Emerley Senor and Kick Up, a 12-year-old greyhound named Don’t Point, and a 15-year-old Labrador named Gabby.
According to the anti-racing group’s report, Greyhound Racing South Australia first became aware of welfare concerns for Emerley Senor on May 11, 2022, when staff noted the dog was ‘significantly underweight’ when presented for possible re-homing. On May 16, 2022, inspectors of Greyhound Racing South Australia checked on Emerley Senor at Bates’s kennels. But despite finding the dog riddled with fleas, having worms, underweight, with extensive hair loss, with severely rotten teeth, and with a yet-to-be-diagnosed compound tail fracture, the inspectors left it to suffer in Bates’s kennels for 14 more days before taking it into custody.
Sixteen days later, the inspectors visited Bates’s kennels again for a follow-up and to finally suspend him from greyhound racing in South Australia. During this visit, Kick Up was noted to have a swollen front left leg. The dog had fractured the leg while racing and suffered an entire year with painful complications before this inspection. The leg was later amputated by a veterinarian.
According to the report, the South Australia chapter of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was unaware of these problems until December 20, 2023, when the inspectorate received a cruelty report in relation to Emerley Senor and Kick Up. The report was made only after the South Australian government set up an independent Inquiry into the functioning of the greyhound racing business.
A subsequent visit by inspectors of the RSPCA South Australia to Bates’s property on May 6 found the two older dogs, Ella and Gabby. Asked about Gabby, who was blind and struggling to walk, Bates reportedly told the inspector he was “waiting for the dog to die”.
The greyhound trainer agreed to surrender both dogs, and they were taken to the RSPCA South Australia’s veterinary clinic at the now closed Lonsdale shelter. Gabby was suffering chronic eye infections, chronic dental disease, a flea infestation, and claws so overgrown they were impeding her ability to walk.
The vet who examined her determined that Gabby’s multiple medical issues resulted from months, if not years, of neglect. Due to her shocking condition, severe pain, and poor prognosis, Gabby had to be put down.
Ella the greyhound was also found to have endured months of neglect, with an ulcerated, painful mammary tumour estimated to have existed for up to two months. Like Gabby, Ella also had chronic dental disease and a flea infestation. The only humane option for Ella, too, was euthanasia.
Despite all this, Magistrate Rodney Oates sentenced Bates to just an 18-month good behaviour bond and allowed him to keep one Jack Russell terrier, on the condition that he will take the dog to the vet a minimum of once every six months and comply with any treatment prescribed. He is otherwise prohibited from owning any animal.
