GAWLER’s greyhound racing will be back in full flight this Friday after a wave of canine-gastro forced scheduled events to be relocated to neighbouring tracks in Angle Park and Murray Bridge over the past few weeks.
The illness, which is not life-threatening, causes significant vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs, and was originally spotted in mid-January at a Perth kennel.
It has since spread through all mainland states within the greyhound racing industry, wreaking havoc and forcing serious restrictions into place, similar to COVID-19 precautions.
Greyhound Racing SA CEO Matt Corby said it had made a difficult situation even tougher, with rules in place that dictates an 18-day quarantine for any kennels with a dog that tests positive.
“Dealing with both COVID-19 and canine-gastro has been testing,” he said.
“But I cannot speak highly enough of the greyhound industry and the way they have conducted themselves to ensure we continue racing.
“Gawler is one of our premier tracks with excellent facilities, and in addition, the Gawler and Two Wells/Lewiston region is a hub for our greyhound community.
“We are looking forward to returning to racing at Gawler Greyhound Club.”
Gawler Greyhound Racing Club manager Shawn Noack said, for the time being, he is happy to be back and running, but is looking forward to being able to have fans in the seats.
“It is great to be back racing at Gawler this week after being out of action for a number of weeks due to the canine virus,” he said.
“Hopefully over the coming months we will be able to have general public return once COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed.
“Australians have done a great job of following instructions and this is particularly evident in SA with the number of reported cases reducing every week.”