Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) has continued its aspiration to be a world leader in animal welfare by securing the services of a leading expert in Veterinary Anatomy who has specialised in athletic injuries in dogs and horses.
GRNSW can announce today that research specialist, Associate Professor Helen Davies has been engaged to assist and guide GRNSW in a number of future projects to ensure best practice welfare.
Having been an Associate Professor in Veterinary Anatomy and taught anatomy at the University of Melbourne for more than 30 years, Associate Professor Davies has, since retiring from the University, pursued her research interests in the functional anatomy of athletic animals, especially horses and dogs.
She continues to publish papers from her work under the banner of the University of Melbourne as an honorary appointment.
"The reduction of athletic injuries in dogs and horses has been a primary interest of all my research and especially ways to measure responses to exercise so that injury risk can be understood in time to prevent accumulating damage and breakdown," Associate Professor Davies said.
The first GRNSW project Associate Professor Davies will be involved with is the hock strap.
Earlier this year, GRNSW announced it was investigating the benefits of greyhounds wearing the hock support brace to potentially protect and strengthen an area of a greyhound's leg, where many injuries occur. Hock injuries represent the leading cause of injury among racing greyhounds.
After significant studies, GRNSW has now progressed the project and Associate Professor Davies will become involved in developing our knowledge through these observations.
"The hock strap development with GRNSW is of great interest to me and I am looking forward to assisting where I can," she said.
"The development and testing of practical ways to identify dogs at risk and possible effects of any interventions (like the hock strap) are essential in understanding what factors drive the accumulation of injury."
The observations will be conducted over an eight to 12 week period, as part of routine random checks following dogs trialling. GRNSW will look to gather meaningful observational data on the potential effects of the hock strap on dogs, without altering their routine or introducing experimental conditions, with the goal to obtain observations and see if the hock strap can assist in the reduction of injuries.
Data will be collected in relation to the dog's age, sex, weight, running distances, known musculoskeletal history, and their history in using the hock strap.
The gait, behaviour, hock appearance and hock laxity of the greyhound will be observed pre-run. The greyhound's performance during the run, such as how it handles turns, its stride consistency, and any visible gait irregularities will be assessed.
Observations to be looked at post run, include the greyhound's gait, hock condition, and any feedback from handlers.
All observations are passive and non-invasive.
"We are delighted to be able to have Associate Professor Helen Davies work with us on some important upcoming projects including the hock strap," GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Steve Griffin said.
"We are continually striving to be a world leader in animal welfare and to have someone with the knowledge, expertise, and experience of Associate Professor Helen Davies, is pivotal for our pursuit of injury reduction and safe racing.
"I know that the hock strap was spoken about at length during the Industry Future Summit in May and there was great interest from participants.
"While we have steadily continued to progress our investigation and observation of the hock strap since the Summit, the engagement of the Associate Professor is a significant step.
"We cannot thrust something onto the industry and our participants and say: "see if this works." As with all things, we must conduct diligent investigations to ensure best practice welfare, and we have done that with the introduction of a specialist in this field in the Associate Professor.
"We will eagerly await the outcome of the analysis of these observations and if successful and applicable, look at the process of introducing the hock straps into the industry."
