![Greyhounds racing at Maitland earlier in 2016. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers Greyhounds racing at Maitland earlier in 2016. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tmUaC97GWTfBTvbgiBtbEs/29e9add9-a866-4410-bac3-e9565a791133.jpg/r0_479_4689_3126_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Hope, sadness and “white hot anger” are among reactions in the Hunter to the state government’s decision to reverse its ban on dog racing across the state.
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Four months after he pledged to outlaw the sport by mid-2017, Premier Mike Baird and his deputy Troy Grant overturned the decision on Tuesday amid increasing public pressure.
Instead, the industry will be pushed to reform and will be subject to measures such as capping breeding at 2000, enforcing whole-of-life management for dogs and reducing the number of racing tracks and events.
Maitland Greyhound Club manager Tony Edmunds said he was unsure whether Maitland would be affected by the government’s pledge to allow fewer race tracks to operate. But he said the reversal offered hope to people involved in the industry.
Mr Edmunds said the ban had had a significant impact on the mental health of some industry participants in Maitland.
“I’ve seen the angst that the ban has caused here week in and week out with trainers who have been racing their dogs,” he said.
“The grief that it’s caused their families in that time – I’m hopeful now that these people can move forward.
“There were a number of trainers who expressed concern that if [the government] shut the dogs down, they are not trained to do anything else – it’s all they’ve ever done.”
The decision to ban the sport came after a report by former High Court judge Justice Micheal McHugh found widespread cases of animal cruelty in the greyhound racing industry.
But the backflip has angered animal welfare organisations such as People for the ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“Today is a sad day not only for the thousands of dogs who will now continue to suffer in this cruel and unjustifiable industry, but also for democracy,” PETA Australia Campaign Co-ordinator Claire Fryer said.
“The government has acted on speculation about their polling numbers and pressure from individuals who gain financially from this abusive industry, and ignored the vast majority of NSW constituents who abhor the inherent brutality of greyhound racing.”
Maree Callaghan, a greyhound industry participant and former Cessnock mayor, said many in the industry were still “deeply distressed”, despite the backflip.
She said she felt “white hot anger” that the industry had been threatened.