Media release – Animal Liberation Tasmania, 12 August 2023

Statement re. Animal Welfare Drone Claims

Claims have been made via the media, and in an email sent to Tasracing members by CEO Andrew Jenkins, that the drone used to capture the footage anonymously provided to and then published by Animal Liberation Tasmania represents an ‘animal welfare concern’ due to alleged anxiety exhibited by Mr Johnson’s dogs that he attributes to the high pitched noise of a drone.

We can’t believe we even have to respond to this attempt by the industry to claim a moral high ground, given the systemic issues of animal welfare within the industry that are repeatedly reported on across the entire country.

Anyone with an understanding of the advances in drone technology would be aware that drones have come a long way in recent years in their filming capacity, especially from a distance via zoom. The quality of the footage anonymously provided to us, both of the long-shot videos and the zoomed in close-ups, indicate that the drone in question is one of a more advanced nature. Nor are drones particularly loud or high pitched, with advanced models operating at between 43 to 56 decibels.

That’s somewhere between the quiet of a library and the hum of the average refrigerator.

However, it is well documented that slaughterhouses are typically noisy places, where terrified animals are taken to be killed. Horses, cows, sheep, they do not go to their deaths quietly. Therefore, it is something of a contradiction for Mr Johnson and Mr Jenkins to claim that a low-humming drone would cause significant emotional distress to dogs, when those very dogs are caged directly abutting a slaughterhouse. One has to wonder why Mr Jenkins is planning to request that RSPCA Tasmania condemns the use of a drone on such spurious animal welfare grounds.

Nor are racetracks typically the quietest places on Earth, with calls over loud-speakers, dogs barking, the sounds of machinery and vehicles, and the shouts of the spectators standing trackside.

Are the dogs made anxious by their exposure to these stimuli?

One would assume so, given the numerous dogs who having been sent from racing to rescue require extensive rehabilitation for both psychological and physical issues caused by being exploited by the racing industry. Those who have rescued, fostered, or adopted dogs discarded by the racing industry attest to the anxieties and triggers to specific stimuli the dogs in their care exhibit, such as loud noises, being enclosed in small spaces, and often men.

It is laughable that TasRacing CEO Andrew Jenkins and Mr Johnson have attempted to claim some sort of moral high-ground, given their public silence on the footage released just seven days prior from Mr Anthony Bullock’s property that has led to that trainer’s suspension, and their ongoing tolerance of that notorious individual within their own community.

Perhaps it would be advisable that the industry focused on addressing its own myriad animal welfare issues, rather than engaging in ridiculous attempts to claim the moral high ground by laying spurious animal welfare concerns at the feet of those people who critique and oppose the industry.

ANIMAL LIBERATION TASMANIA: More Greyhound Footage Released by Animal Liberation.