The Queensland Racing Integrity Commission reminds all racing participants there are new national and local greyhound racing rules that change vaccination and desexing requirements.

These changes follow a comprehensive review of the rules by Greyhounds Australasia, receiving endorsement in all states and territories.

Under the new National Racing Rules, a greyhound that is being retired as a pet must be desexed prior to leaving the care of an owner or registered person responsible – unless being accepted into the Greyhound Adoption Program.

Industry participants who desex their greyhound prior to entry to GAP will be given priority placement into the program.

Racing Queensland has introduced a subsidy payment to support participants with the cost of desexing, dental treatment and vaccination of retiring greyhounds; known as the Greyhound Retirement Readiness Scheme (GRRS).

To give industry participants time to adjust to the new rules, the Commission is providing a transition period of 30 days until June 1, by which time participants should be familiar with the scheme and its process.

The new National Racing Rules also require greyhounds to be fully vaccinated (C5) throughout its racing life and prohibit the nomination of a greyhound who is not fully vaccinated to a C5 level.

The Commission has decided to provide a 12-month transitional period until 1 May 2023 for participants to adapt to the new C5 vaccination requirements.

If your greyhound is not up to date with its C5 vaccinations by 1 May 2023, they will be ineligible to be nominated for events. It’s important to remember, your greyhounds will be unable to race or trial in the seven days post vaccination.

The updated rules can be found on Racing Queensland’s website.