The Victorian parliament will be asked to consider the introduction of a compulsory digital system to track illegally exported greyhounds.
The plight of missing and abused greyhounds will be raised in parliament on Wednesday by the Animal Justice party.
A comparison of export data, registration with Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV), and information from China, collected by not-for-profit Free the Hounds, shows the industry does not know where dogs end up as they routinely go missing and are being illegally exported and killed.
The MP Georgie Purcell will on Wednesday call on the Victorian government to bring in a “digital system to improve greyhound traceability through an automated whole of life tracking system”.
Every greyhound – even puppies never registered to race – should be tracked, she said. Accurate euthanasia data should be kept, and scanning technology used to track “every registered greyhound in Victoria, in real time, at every stage of their life, including when retired”, she said.
The party gave notice on Tuesday in the Victorian parliament that it would move the motion on Wednesday.
The greyhound industry has been under pressure to improve its animal welfare practices for years. In 2017 owners were fined for exporting 166 dogs to live under cruel conditions overseas – including being raced against cheetahs in China.
This year a report found the number of greyhounds injured or dying on New South Wales racetracks had hit a new high.
A “horrific” breeding technique has also come under fire.
Last moth the Victorian racing tribunal found dogs whose ownership was transferred within Australia ended up in China, “leaving GRV guessing as to the whereabouts of the greyhounds”.
The tribunal said trainer Damien Senn had tried to “get around the requirements of GRV”, and refused to be subject to an investigation, which were “egregious and appalling breaches” of the greyhound racing rules. Senn was disqualified from racing for 18 months.
Purcell said in parliament at the time that the dogs were sent, undesexed, from Melbourne to China “for the purpose of racing and breeding in an illegal greyhound racing ring”. She said since then, two more cases of dogs sent for breeding purposes had been found.
Under Greyhounds Australasia rules, anyone exporting a greyhound has to obtain a “greyhound passport” and certified pedigree, declare whether the dog is being exported for racing, for breeding, or as a pet.
Purcell said nothing shocked her about the “cruel industry”, which is self-regulated. “Greyhounds are viewed as livestock by the industry, not companion animals,” she said.
“Greyhound exports from Australia need to be banned completely. There is no way for us to regulate the industry within Australia itself, so it goes without saying that there is no chance fort the animals that are sent offshore, regardless of where they are sent.”
Guardian Australia has contacted GRV and the government for a response.
