The McGrath Foundation is an organisation that raises money to place Breast Care Nurses in communities across Australia,
as well as increasing breast awareness in young Australian women. They also fund "research".

The McGrath Foundation ran into controversy this year during the one month long "Go The Pink Dog" campaign. The organisation faced public criticism from animal lovers across Australia, for their sponsorship association with the greyhound racing industry-
an industry with a less-than-stellar reputation for their treatment of these elegant and trusting animals.

We believe this was in response to public pressure from animal lovers across the country fed up with the way greyhounds are treated in the racing industry, and were disturbed by what many called an unethical partnership.

The greyhound racing industry is facing criticism for a range of reasons. There's no money in dogs that are slow or disinterested in chasing the mechanical lure. There's a strong incentive to breed an excessive amount of dogs,
in the gamble of obtaining that winning greyhound.

But what happens to those dogs that are too slow, disinterested in running around in circles chasing the mechanical lure, too injured with too long a recovery period required, who grow too old to race?

What really happens when over 18,000 greyhounds are introduced to a "no room for losers" industry? Adoption numbers pale drastically in comparison to the number of dogs introduced annually, for the purposes of gambling.

The sad reality is that many are "disposed of" for simply being useless to the gambling industry.

A lucky few are adopted, many of whom have race related injuries. Many more are "disposed of" euthanased and die on the tracks, from broken bones or a range of other horrific injuries, like torn muscles, exploded hearts, and sheer over-exertion. Many injuries surface in the days after racing, where there are no public records kept.
Some unwanted greyhounds are donated to universities and research institutions for ethically dubious purposes.

While greyhounds are bred and trained to and do run fast,
their bodies are just too fragile to endure the inevitable accidents.

There are also widespread problems of prohibited substance use (to make it harder for vets to detect injuries - resulting in standing dogs down for recovery instead of racing them for cash,
and also drugs and steroids are used to enhance their metabolism to push the dogs harder).

Please google search for "Australian Greyhound Drug Positive",
in order to return around 810,000 results.

There is an acute lack of proper veterinary care at non-TAB races, resulting in situations like this:

There are also welfare concerns with excessive transport, particularly after races with injuries, as well as housing and prolonged kenneling issues. At time of writing the author is investigating an allegation into the cruel practice of "live baiting"- using live animals (such as chickens) to train greyhounds to chase harder. If you imagined your household dog living the life that many greyhounds do, you would likely be appalled that these gentle giants draw such a short straw. After all this the few greyhounds palmed off to adoption agencies are expected to behaviorally adjust into suburban living, with cats and toy dogs, pet rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs, and other animals, while the greyhound racing enthusiast is off buying and training more greyhounds.

Most greyhounds don't even know their own name.

Worst of all at the highest levels of racing, as well as thousands being killed off for not being profitable, greyhounds are being injured and killed unnecessarily every day due to the unfixable flawed mechanic of this cruel and exploitive "sport".

For gambling, profit, and entertainment.

Dogs play an important role in our lives, and deserve to be protected from individuals and industries that would do them harm. This is a mainstream value that is shared by Australians, and people throughout the developed world, from all walks of life. Greyhound racing goes against our humane values, and should end.

While a groundswell of opposition is building right across Australia to oppose what many Australians consider barbaric treatment of mans best friend, there has been some nasty behind-the-scenes backlash and criticism against the McGrath Foundation, from racing enthusiasts who believe the McGrath Foundation are undeserving of the funds raised due to their symbolic "No-Show". The McGrath Foundation appears to have sided with public opinion and have wisely avoided the dubious spectacle of publicly accepting money from this industry. Extreme reactions from the racing community came shortly after, and through these public messages we can gain a glimpse into the world of the greyhound racing enthusiast. These messages were directed at the McGrath Foundation:

As well as industry enthusiasts claims that the RSPCA endorsed greyhound racing:

Tracy Bevan of the McGrath Foundation claims to have consulted the RSPCA regarding the ethics of partnering with the racing industry:
This passage sampled from the facebook note at:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=492912181383

A community group started on Facebook.com, by people who had been involved with greyhound rescue,
and had seen the way that greyhounds had suffered in the gambling industry.
Its focus was to bring awareness to the McGrath foundation about the flawed ethics and unnecessary cruelty inflicted upon greyhounds.

When it was brought to the McGrath Foundations attention that the method of fundraising was morally unsound,
the McGrath Foundation, instead of listening to public concerns, sought to have the group censored:

Dear Sir/Madam My apologies for the delay in getting back to you about this issue.

We contend that the McGrath Foundation Ltd (which is a registered charity in Australia raising money to fund nurses to assist breast cancer sufferers and their families) has been defamed as follows:

1. The existence of a Facebook page titled "The McGrath Foundation - promoting the cruel Greyhound industry";

2. the background information of that page which states the Foundation is "promoting cruelty and suffering";

3. Posts as follows on that page:

a. Feb 22 at 12.14 posted by the site administrators "... We've brought to the charities attention the cruel side of racing, but they are happy to keep their hand out for greyhound blood money. Its a shame because they are totally giving their charity a blackened name and are rendering their reputation as an unethical organisation";

b. Feb 16 at 1.02pm posted by the site administrators the McGrath Foundation is "...pro animal cruelty"; and

c. Feb 20 at 11.29am posted by the site administrators "Its pretty much official that the McGrath foundation is an unethical charity. They've hung themselves with their own rope. The fact that they can close their eyes to the massive carnage left by the racing industry and put their hand out for... blood money completely undermines their integrity, especially when they have indicated they are aware of the ethical flaws in their decisions... Whats most disappointing of all is that the McGrath foundation are too selfish and greedy to think of anyone else other than their single issue victims and employees."

This material is defamatory as it has the tendency to lower the reputation of the Foundation in the estimation of others, and would tend to result in the Foundation being shunned or avoided by donors. It also exposes the Foundation to hatred, contempt or ridicule. The Foundation being a charity relies upon its good name which is being constantly eroded by this site on a daily basis. We ask that Facebook remove this page.

Clearly the relationship between the McGrath Foundation and the greyhound racing industry is a public relations disaster, and disgruntled racing enthusiasts went on in other public forums, complaining about their industry being exposed, and having second thoughts about their generosity, or rather, misusing their greyhounds for someone else's benefit rather than their own. Their dissatisfaction grew into distasteful humor, which climaxed when the participants, on a public forum, suggested that Tracy Bevan's head might make a good racing lure. The idea was popular.

These are the mentalities that are in charge of these gentle, loving, vulnerable animals:

So the unanswered questions for many are:
Did they take the money, and why didn't they turn up?

Speculation is that the money was indeed transferred, and the McGrath Foundation claim that the reason why no representatives turned up is because of some mysterious "Threat" made to their staff:

In the authors opinion, the likelihood is that this is another untruth, that there were no such threats, but that there was a moral dilemma and public relations disaster unfolding for McGrath Foundation, and the best way to appease the greyhound racing industry was to lie to them about some fictional threat that prevented the McGrath Foundation from attending the transfer of cheque ceremony.

Of all the networked activists working to expose greyhound racing in Australia, not one has been contacted by the police in relation to this or any greyhound racing campaign issue. Its a dirty ruse and a lie that serves only to brand concerned members of the community with valid objections to using greyhounds in a cruel and barbaric manner, as extremists. Note: The only ever perceived threat of violence is from racing industry enthusiasts against animal lovers concerned about greyhound cruelty:

The greyhound racing industry has vowed to continue channeling their dirty blood money into legitimate charities, in a vulgar attempt to legitimise their industrialised animal cruelty, and the greyhound advocacy movement will dog them at every step,
reminding charities that they owe it to the victims of greyhound racing, the greyhounds who give their very lives on a daily basis,
to not entertain this unethical industry, nor accept its dirty cash.

The McGrath Foundation has indicated at this point that it is undecided whether to take money from the greyhound racing industry next year, and is actually asking for public feedback. Please take a moment to stop by their facebook page and politely ask them to not sacrifice the good name of their charity for a fistful of dirty cash,
and please also drop them an email or even call them directly to express your concerns.

http://www.facebook.com/McGrathFoundation

http://mcgrathfoundation.com.au/contact-us

Phone: (02) 8962 6100 

There is also evidence that McGrath donations are directly funding animal based research,
known as vivisection, and that further raises ethical debate.

In conclusion its important for the public to be aware of the issues facing the gentle loving greyhounds that are suffering at the hands of this industry. Anyone who knows greyhounds and has not used them purely as money making machines will tell you they make fine pets.
Until the public reject betting on dogs and hold the race sponsors accountable for their unethical associations, boycotting them,
and ultimately this barbaric sport is banned, then mans best friend will suffer and die daily
for the noble purposes of gambling, profit and entertainment.