An industry report released on Thursday showed over 3000 greyhounds registered in Victoria were put down in the past year – nearly as many as the number of dogs raced across the state in 2015. 

So far this year the Dandenong-based rescue has saved four greyhounds whose trainers sought to have them euthanised, all of them between 18 and 20 months old.

Martina Best saves dogs from clinics, overflowing regional pounds and directly from trainers – one in the Ballarat area will send Ms Best a list of dogs too old or too slow for the track and hold them until a new home can be found.

That trainer, who never puts their dogs down, is “the exception”, Ms Best says. 

“I never have the background of a dog, it’s just a call from a nurse informing me of a greyhound brought in to be put to sleep and whether I can take the dog or not,” Ms Best said.

“When a dog is at risk of being put down immediately then I pull some strings and ask a huge favour of the network that I have.”

Greyhound Racing Victoria’s annual report revealed 3012 dogs were put down in 2015-2016.

Greyhounds Australiasia statistics show 3691 raced in the state in 2015.

This is the first time the industry’s annual report included the number of dogs put down and injured, and comes off the back of mounting pressure on the industry Australia-wide.

The report also revealed one dog died or had to be immediately put down for every 1000 starters in 2015-2016 and 3.6 suffered a major injury requiring a “veterinary stand down period” of over 21 days. 

In the same period, GRV’s Greyhound Adoption Program rehomed 809 dogs.

GRV chief executive Alan Clayton said the industry had “come a long way” in a “challenging year for the sport”. 

“GRV has now fully implemented many key recommendations including appointing an experienced veterinarian as a board member, stronger penalties for unlawful activities, strengthening integrity and compliance capabilities and new case management systems,” Mr Clayton said.

“We are now making strong progress in implementing the reforms and putting new regulations in place.”

RSPCA Victoria has welcomes the transparency of the GRV annual report but has cautioned the industry needs to be realistic about how many greyhounds can be rehomed. 

“The single best thing GRV can do for greyhound welfare is to reduce breeding levels and the oversupply of greyhounds. We strongly encourage GRV to continue to reduce the number of greyhounds which are bred each year, so there are fewer animals leaving the industry,” chief executive Dr Liz Walker said.

“Last year, RSPCA Victoria rehomed 4200 dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes from our 11 animal care centres across Victoria, and GRV needs to be realistic about the market for rehoming greyhounds in Victoria.”