Question: Why was this not done before the announcement to cease total greyhound racing in NSW by June 30 next year?

Straight away this affects clubs like Cowra, Young, Temora in an area where most trainers would travel to with dogs probably not capable of winning at TAB meetings.

It means club secretaries on a salary will probably have to cease work and most certainly those who have derived income of any sort from helping out at meetings will now have nowhere to go….let alone the countless trainers who would rarely get a look in at a TAB meeting.

All this is doing is making more and more people angry, particularly in those towns I have mentioned and they are only in this immediate area.

And just to prove how nonsensical things are becoming, the RSPCA have for some time been on the backs of horse racing officialdom over jumps racing and the whipping of horses.

Well the racing industry took note and brought in a rule that a horse could only be struck five times in the straight before the 100m mark of the finish of a race.

In recent weeks this has happened; a horse won in NSW hit six times…but won by a nose, the shortest margin in horse racing.

In another instance jockey struck a horse too many times and the horse won and in Brisbane a horse won but a protest was lodged because it had been hit too many times.

The point is jockeys are trying to win and do not carry calculators in one hand or in their head to work out under pressure how many times they have hit a horse; quite simply the ruling has to be changed!

Dennis Booth,

Former secretary Forbes Greyhound Racing Club

I fear that NSW is fast becoming a ‘nanny state’ where people in Sydney decide what is best for us without consultation.

A new low is abolishing greyhound racing in NSW and the ACT.

I know of no other country or state that has gone so far as to dictate to its citizens.

Every industry has a few bad apples.

In saying that, it is absolutely draconian to place such a ban on greyhound racing.

Similarly, Mr Baird’s actions would have all industry and business worried that a few people can bring down a whole industry by their actions.

The tone of being politically correct is starting to restrict the personal freedoms of everyone in Australia.

The results of the recent federal election should, however, have made it clear to those in elected power that people in the mainstream community are not being listened to.

When governments ask for a ‘mandate’, they now seem to be asking instead for a ‘politically-correct’ date.

It is the height of arrogance is for the state government to now be telling us that greyhound racing is no good.

This decision needs to be re-addressed with great caution, as the political backlash will be significant and not easily forgotten.

Grahame Danaher, co-owner of the 2009 Golden Muzzle-winning greyhound Silent Hill

Learning to manage the chronic pain - and the cost

OVER three million Australians are living with chronic pain every day, an often overwhelming condition. 

Chronic pain is arguably the fastest growing medical condition in Australia and affects people of all ages, a fact our ambassador, cricketing legend Michael Clarke, knows all too well. July 25-31 is National Pain Week. 

Dr Coralie Wales, Chronic Pain Australia president