On Tuesday 12 May 2015, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) convicted Mr Tony Vass of two breaches of the Greyhound Australasia Rules (GAR) following a review application – or appeal – of the independent Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board’s (RADB) original guilty verdict.

On 25 November 2014, the RADB found Mr Vass guilty of two charges and disqualified him for a total of six years with two years suspended and imposed fines amounting to $3000. Mr Vass was found guilty of a breach of GAR 83(1) in that he administered a prohibited substance to his greyhound ‘Sick Money’ for the purpose of affecting its condition, behaviour or performance in an event. He was also found guilty of a breach of GAR 83 (2)(3)(6), in that he failed to present his greyhound ‘Sick Money’ free of any prohibited substance at an event.

On review, VCAT confirmed the RADB’s decision to convict Mr Vass for breaches of both GAR83(1) and GAR83 (2)(3)(6), and disqualified him for a total of three years and fined him $1000. The penalty commenced on Tuesday 12 May 2015.

VCAT’s judgment confirms that the evidence presented by and on behalf of GRV Stewards was thorough and reliable, as were the techniques and methods used by Racing and Analytical Services Limited to provide a basis for the finding that testosterone had been administered to the greyhound. The scientifically proven level of 10ng/ml, as reflecting an unacceptable level of testosterone in a female greyhound, was also vindicated by VCAT.

GRV Chairman, Ray Gunston, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to detecting and punishing anybody found to have breached the rules of racing.

“There is categorically no place for anyone in our industry that tries to gain an unfair advantage.

“GRV Stewards will continue to bring cases forward against anybody within the industry that is found to have breached the rules of racing and the investigations into such matters will be thorough and robust.

“Our testing methods are now more sophisticated and we are taking more samples than ever before.

“The use of prohibited substances is utterly unacceptable and we have a zero tolerance approach,” Mr Gunston said.

The full judgement of VCAT will be published on the GRV website when available.