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Wenty Dogs: Greyhound Racing
Modern greyhound racing features circular or oval tracks and mechanical hares. Urban sites and evening meetings made it particularly attractive to working-class men, often contrasting the sport with upper-class horse racing. Prompted by its adoption in England, greyhound racing began at Wentworth Park in 1932, leading to the building of an oval track. By the 1970s this drew such large crowds that a large grandstand was built for them, and “Wenty Dogs” entered the vernacular.
The sport was especially popular in Glebe and other Inner West suburbs, where many cottages had kennels in their back gardens. In 2015, however, gathering criticism of the sport led the State government to conduct a Special Commission of Inquiry, whose findings were so damning that the government decided in August 2016 to ban greyhound racing.
However by October 2016 the public backlash was so strong that the government reversed the ban, opting instead to establish a Greyhound Industry Reform Panel including the RSPCA, the greyhound industry and government representatives, and chaired by former NSW Premier Morris Iemma. It will determine new rules for the industry.
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