GRV welcomes the State Government’s commitment to implement, in partnership with GRV, digital ‘tracking and tracing’ technology to better monitor the location and welfare of all Victorian registered greyhounds.

As the industry regulator, GRV is committed to protecting and ensuring all aspects of greyhound welfare, from birth through to retirement.

Whole-of-life tracking is something already undertaken by GRV – we monitor dogs from when they are born, are microchipped and vaccinated, when they move to training properties and between trainers, when they race, retire and are rehomed via a participant or through a rehoming program.

GRV also operates a Greyhound Microchip Registry licensed under the Domestic Animals Act 1994. All Victorian born greyhounds are microchipped and registered on the Greyhound Microchip Registry as puppies. This includes both racing greyhounds in the care of GRV registered participants and retired greyhounds that have been re-homed into the community.

We welcome this opportunity to update and enhance our existing systems. A fully integrated digital solution will further enhance our ability to ensure every greyhound registered in Victoria is monitored and its location recorded and registered in real time, at every stage of the greyhound’s life.

Our comprehensive greyhound welfare strategy covers all aspects of greyhound care and welfare. The strategy includes a series of regulations, policies and programs such as breeding controls, injury prevention, rehoming and adoption, and regulatory oversight to ensure greyhound welfare standards are being met.

We have adopted major reforms to make sure greyhound welfare and integrity are at the heart of the industry. These reforms have led to significant increases in rehoming and reductions in racing injuries, fatalities and euthanasia. GRV has also invested heavily to achieve substantial improvements in our integrity, investigations and prosecutions capabilities.

Last year, new homes were found for nearly 3000 retired greyhounds in Victoria. GRV is the leading proponent of rehoming in Australia, placing close to 1100 greyhounds through our Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP). Another nearly 1900 retired greyhounds found homes via GRV registered participants and through other third-party rehoming organisations.

More information on our approach to greyhound welfare is available at greyhoundcare.grv.org.au.