Highgate Greyhound Stadium Regulations of Greyhound Racing 2010

 

On February 24^th 2010 The `Regulations Of Greyhound Racing’ were passed. These regulations will be effective on 6^th April 2010 and take the form of a New Track Licence. These will be issued to ALL Greyhound racing tracks in England, unless they are exempt due to being regulated by a regulatory body that is accredited by UKAS.

LICENCE CONDITIONS

• Veterinary Attendance

• Veterinary Facilities

• Kennels

• Identification of Greyhounds taking part in races and/or grading trials

• Record of Greyhounds taking part in races and/or grading trials.

• Injury Records.

 

CONDITION 1- VETERINARY ATTENDANCE

A vet is required at all sales trials, grading trials and race meetings. This does not apply to schooling trials.

IMPACT ON RACING AT HIGHGATE

We have already supplied veterinary care to racing greyhounds which took effect shortly after our management, several years ago. We feel this is in the best interest of all Greyhounds racing, it also benefits the owners and trainers by providing piece of mind knowing that veterinary care is available if needed.

We now need to make changes to ensure suitable contracts are drawn up, so that in an emergency one of the vets could supply cover. In the event that a trackside vet not to turn up, or be called away in emergency for a personal reason, then the race meeting, grading trials or sales trials would have to be delayed or even cancelled if cover is not available.

 

The current ruling that 4 races constitute a race meeting will stand. Should this happen before race 4 then entrance moneys would be redeemable on a future attendance. (Keep the race program and show it the next visit you attend and you will have free entry)

 

IMPACT ON TRIALS

 

Grading trials will now only take place after racing when a vet is already on duty. We cannot incur the charge of additional vet cover on Sunday mornings, we have no way of calculating how many trials would take place and do not want to pass on costs has costs would dramatically increase.

Sunday mornings will now only hold schooling trials.

 

STORAGE OF RECORDS

The track operator must keep a register at the track for at least 3 years of –

The date of the race, grading trial or sales trial.

The name of the attending veterinary surgeon

The R.C.V.S. membership of the attending veterinary surgeon

A signed confirmation by the attending vet ( by way of statement ) that they inspected every greyhound before it took part in a race, grading trial or sales trial.

 

IMPACT ON HIGHGATE

These records are already kept at Highgate therefore the only changes will be to grading and sales trials.

Condition 2 ; facilities for the attending veterinary surgeon.

The attending veterinary surgeon must have access to appropriate facilities. These facilities include;

Is clean and have walls and floors that are easily cleanable.

Is lockable

Is well lit

Has heating and ventilation

Has hot and cold running water

Has an examination table for the examination of greyhounds.

Has a lockable cupboard for medicines

Is located close enough to the track for access in emergency.

 

Impact on Highgate

Highgate already have these facilities and so no impact on costs to us would apply. Although recommendations from the trackside vets have been made to have our facilities registered so that even more trackside care is available.

Condition 3 - Kennels

From the 6^th April 2013 there should be enough kennels provided to ensure that 1 in 5 Greyhounds have the facility to kennel when at the track.

 

Kennel standards include-

 

• Be internally at least 136cm long – 87cm wide – 110cm high.(although any kennels installed before 6^th April 2010 will not have to meet this size requirement)

• Be occupied by no more than one greyhound at a time

• Have floors and walls with a cleanable surface

• Be cleaned between individual greyhounds (i.e. any waste removed)

• Be disinfected and dried between race meetings

• Have a comfortable area for a greyhound to lie

• Have adequate lighting

• Allow greyhounds to be observed when inside

• Be constructed to minimise risk of injury

• Have a regular flow of clean air for ventilation

• Have a temperature suitable for a greyhound that has just raced

Impact on Highgate

The regulations do not require that all greyhounds be kennelled during a race meeting, trials or sales trials. Owners should consider whether a greyhound is suitable for kennelling before doing so. Some greyhounds simply will not kennel

Anyone leaving a greyhound in a vehicle should use common sense and ensure that the dog is comfortable and has ventilation also is being observed for signs of distress.

We currently have a small kennel block, although these kennels are not used. We will be looking at future proofing our kennels by way of size that is more than the specified arrangement and also having more kennels available should owners require them. Our kennels will not be available immediately. We will be extending our existing block and renovating them and should be available before 2013.

 

Condition 4 - Identification of greyhounds taking part in races or grading trials

 

This condition is applicable to race meetings and grading trials. It is not applicable to sales trials.

Only micro-chipped greyhounds can run in a race or trial (sales trials are excluded from this requirement). The details of the greyhound and its owner should be held on a microchip database. Tracks must scan each greyhound before it runs to check for the chip. However, it is the responsibility of the owner or trainer to chip the greyhound.

The microchips must be registered on a database that the track operator reasonably believes meets the standards laid down in the Regulations – the two public databases that at the time of publishing this guidance meet these standards are Anibase & Petlog. Other databases may become available for use.

The standards for databases in the Regulations mirror those contained in the Microchip Advisory Group Code of Practice. The secretariat for the Microchip Advisory Group is provided by the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) and further information on those databases that are signed up to the Dog Identification Group Code of Practice is available on the BSAVA website at –

http://www.bsava.com/Advice/MicrochipAdvice/tabid/154/Default.aspx

All racing greyhounds born after 6 April 2010 must also be tattooed with a unique number placed on the inside of the ear pinnae. Defra would anticipate that, as most greyhounds will not begin racing until between 15 to 18 months of age, by April 2012 all greyhounds entering a race for the first time should be earmarked.

 

The tattoo must be registered on a database that meets the standards laid down in the Regulations – the only public database that at the time of publishing this guidance meets these standards is the National Dog Tattoo Register. As with microchips, details of this database (and any other databases that may become available) can be found on the BSAVA Microchip Advisory Group Website.

Impact on Highgate

This requirement is NOT applicable to sales trials although sales trials will no longer be accepted has grading until sales dogs have been micro-chipped..

 

We are aware of owners concerns around micro-chipping and we have raised the issues in Defra meetings. Defra and animal welfare groups have been outspoken in trying to reassure owners that risks are extremely minimal. We have also tried to point out that earmarks alone should be sufficient, but Defra and welfare groups feel this does not go far enough.

 

Greyhounds have been the centre of a lot of bad publicity on the news and in papers and although they know that independents alone are not to blame, steps need to be taken to gain public confidence in the sport or the sport will simply vanish. A majority of tracks will see some people leaving the sport. We are trying along with the support of the trackside vets to make this transition as easy and as cost effective as possible.

 

We have been able to find a company that has a chip that they say is already used in greyhounds with an anti-migration coating called parylene c. They say as long as owners follow the guide lines and rest greyhounds after chipping any migration risk is extremely low.

 

Highgate prices for dogs already registered at Highgate is £6 per dog

 

Concerns over chipping

 

Some people are worried about what data is stored and kept about there greyhounds and how much is made public. We must stress that the information held on the databases is the owners name and address with contact number, should a greyhound be found or abandoned. This data can only be retrieved can only be retrieved by persons working within the police force or welfare organisations. Whenever a dog is scanned it does not show up on a national database. These chips are not tracking devices. Neither does anyone have access to breeding information or any other data. These chips are just another form of identification.

 

Condition 5 - Record of greyhounds taking part in races or trials

This condition is applicable to race meetings and grading trials. It is not applicable to sales trials.

 

For every greyhound that runs in a race or trial, the track operator must record for each greyhound:

The name and address of the greyhound’s owner;

The name and address of the greyhound’s trainer (if applicable);

The microchip number;

The tattoo number (unless the greyhound was born before 6 April 2010  and  does not already have a tattoo); and

The database (or databases) these details are recorded on.

Impact on Highgate

 

These records must be kept for 10 years (10 years being the typical lifespan of a greyhound after it has finished racing, and therefore keeping records for this length will assist in tracing a greyhound’s history should any welfare problems occur after it has left racing).

 The greyhound owner must also provide proof that the greyhound is registered on an appropriate database. Databases will provide owners of greyhounds with a letter of confirmation that the greyhound is registered on the database and this can be used to demonstrate to the track that a) the greyhound is on the database; and b) the details of the owner recorded on the database are the same as the details provided for the name and address of the owner. If this information is not provided, or the address of the owner as registered by the database is different from the address recorded by the track, then it will be a breach of the licensing conditions to allow the greyhound to run in a race or trial, unless there is relevant evidence to justify the difference (e.g. the owner is able to prove that details of the change of address have been posted to the database for the records to be updated).

Many track operators will already keep some records of greyhounds that race at their track, as well as details of the owners of these greyhounds and any injuries sustained (see condition 6 below). If a track operator already keeps such records, and maintains clear procedures for maintaining these records, it will be helpful to both them and to the local authority to provide evidence of this when first applying for a license under these regulations. Even where the details recorded previously by a track do not fully meet the requirements set out in these regulations; they can still be used to demonstrate that the track has a proven culture of record keeping.

Condition 6: Injury Records

 

The attending veterinary surgeon must complete a record, which must be kept by the track operator, of any time a greyhound is injured during a race, trial or sales trial.

 

The record must include:

 

Nature of injury;

Either the microchip or tattoo number where they are present;

Details of the treatment (including euthanasia);

The distance of the race, trial or sales trial

The date of injury.

This record must be kept for 10 years (this will allow injury rates to be    monitored over time)

Impact on Highgate

Highgate already store all this information

The regulations are in place to provide better welfare for racing greyhounds. Above all common sense and good practice in welfare is paramount. Please feel free to speak to us or ask any questions regarding the new regulations. If we don’t know the answer we will speak to defra on your behalf.

 

If you pass on a greyhound the best method would be for you to change the details on the database of the new owners. Should the new owner not update the record then any responsibility would fall onto you.

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