WELFARE AND RE-HOMING REPORT

GREYHOUND WELFARE AND RE-HOMING REPORT

BY DR GAVIN GOBLE BVSC, GENERAL MANAGER, GREYHOUND WELFARE AND RE-HOMING

VACCINATIONS FOR GREYHOUNDS The Code of Practice requires all greyhounds to have a current C5 vaccination. Please speak to your veterinarian about when your greyhounds are next due for a vaccination. Just a reminder that the vaccination requirements for acceptance into GAP are more specific, so please check with GRV if you are planning to get a vaccination for this purpose. These requirements are also on the GAP page of this magazine. In addition to recording your greyhound’s vaccinations in its Greyhound Record, please also provide GRV with copies of your vaccination certificates for GRV to upload into FastTrack so there is a permanent record. This is particularly important if you are considering, or are already, breeding from your greyhound. These vaccination certificates are required to keep the Pink Card active.

Vaccinations

August has seen a potential Kennel Cough outbreak with multiple reports of coughing dogs, but with quite mild symptoms, low numbers of affected dogs and quick recovery. Several coughing dogs at GAP were tested and found to be free of Kennel Cough. The 2017 outbreak had devastating effects on race fields, GAP intakes and on greyhound welfare, so it is critical that we limit any Kennel Cough infections now to prevent this occurring again. Can you please be vigilant, get veterinary advice if you get any coughing dogs and contact GRV so we are aware of what is happening in the industry. Good hygiene and biosecurity practices are vital to limiting spread and impact of any infectious disease. Any greyhound that has Kennel Cough or has been exposed to Kennel Cough, MUST be scratched from any races it is nominated for, and not trialled or taken to other communal training facilities or GAP.

have a current C5 vaccine, which means a yearly Kennel Cough vaccination (with a C3 every 1-3 years), in line with Establishment Health and Management Plan requirements and veterinary advice, preferably with an intra-nasal or oral vaccine, which are faster acting and

more likely to be effective than injectable vaccines. GRV recommends vaccinating all your dogs for Kennel Cough at the same time of the year to keep it easy to remember, preferably in the autumn before the Kennel Cough season. If they are normally vaccinated later in the year, you could synchronise them next autumn by vaccinating some slightly early. For more kennel Cough information including clinical signs, biosecurity information, vaccination considerations and avoiding a positive swab to cough medicines, please visit https://greyhoundcare.grv.org.au/wp-content/

uploads/2019/04/Welfare_Fact_Sheets_2019_Kennel_

Cough.pdf.

GAP update and COVID-19 restrictions

Under stage 4 restrictions in metro Melbourne, GAP preentry assessment sessions are continuing as normal at clubs that offer facilities that allow the very strict COVID-19 safety restrictions to be properly implemented. All new GAP bookings are accepted through Racing Services as normal. If you are considering GAP for a greyhound, or you envisage a requirement in the future, please book in early to avoid the waiting time when you need it. Booking in early doesn’t commit you but it does give you an option if you need it at short notice. In terms of adoptions, GAP has decided to deliver greyhounds to adopters in metro Melbourne (stage 4), while adoptions for people living in regional (stage 3) areas still occur at Seymour. The ability to carry on adopting is critical to our ability to keep accepting greyhounds from participants.

Most importantly, under the Code all greyhounds must

Timber chewing in greyhounds

Recent positive swabs to arsenic have again highlighted the issues with greyhounds chewing CCA-treated (tanalised) timber, due to the arsenic in the timber treatment. Chewing behaviours can also damage greyhounds’ teeth and mouth from biting on metal in runs and pens. Often, boredom is the reason a greyhound displays behaviours such as chewing and excessive barking. Boredom is the result of a greyhound not having enough physical or mental stimulation. Greyhounds suffering from boredom are stressed and use valuable energy when they should be resting. Stress produces stress hormones that slow injuries from healing, muscles from repairing and adapting to training, and impede growth. Boredom is relatively easy to resolve. The key to reducing boredom is to give the greyhound something quiet and stimulating to do - to enrich the kennel environment. Abnormal behaviours in general, often also called stereotypies, are behaviours that are not normally seen in behaviourally healthy greyhounds; or normal behaviours repeated excessively; and/or normal behaviours that are being performed when they normally would not be. Other common examples include pacing, excessive barking, bopping, licking and panting. Abnormal behaviours

indicate that there is, or was, a problem with a greyhound’s environment at some time and is a coping mechanism. They allow the greyhound some relief from how it is feeling, and to adapt and cope with their environment. It is important not to suppress these coping behaviours as this will make the stress worse. GRV has a number of resources at https://greyhoundcare.grv.org.au/health

and-well-being/managing-other-problem-behaviours-in

greyhounds/#stress_and_boredom to help you manage stress and abnormal behaviours in the kennel environment to improve greyhound welfare and racing success. These resources include: 1. ‘Abnormal behaviours in greyhounds’ (fact sheet) has some valuable information on identifying and managing abnormal behaviours. Once you understand why a greyhound has developed or is developing an abnormal behaviour, you can consider appropriate training, exercise and environmental enrichment strategies, as well as possible infrastructure or husbandry solutions. 2. ‘Barking in the racing greyhound kennel environment’ (fact sheet) discusses excessive barking and presents different options for managing and retraining excessive barkers. With persistence and patience, they should provide good results that are enduring through to retirement and re-homing. 3. ‘Greyhound stress and boredom’ provides information on environmental enrichment for reducing boredominduced abnormal behaviours in greyhounds.