The Busselton Greyhound Awareness group have rehomed their 80th dog and are using the milestone to urge residents to reconsider supporting the racing industry.
Every weekend, the group are at Fig Tree Lane introducing the greyhounds to the community and promoting their anti-racing message.
The group was founded four years ago by Jacky Kemp and Lesley Rouvray.
They, along with a group of volunteers, foster and rehome dogs from Rockingham’s Greyhound Adoption WA.
The not-for-profit group receives retired greyhounds which have been surrendered by their owners or trainers.
Ms Kemp said she believed many injured greyhounds could be rehabilitated and rehomed, rather than euthanised.
“Cost wise, they are not worth saving,” she said.
“Animals dying in the name of sport is not acceptable in the 21st century, and we as a group spend our time letting people know this.”
She said she hoped their efforts would inform the community about the plight of greyhounds.
“We want people to understand what happens when you do bet on them,” she said.
“Greyhounds are fantastic pets, they are very clean and actually very lazy.
“What you see at the track is not what they are.
“They love running, but they are stimulated in a number of ways, kept in kennels and trained to race like that.”
A Racing and Wagering WA spokesperson said there had been a decrease in greyhound deaths in recent years.
“For the period July 31 2015 to July 28 2016, there were 211 greyhounds euthanised due to racing related injuries,” they said.
“In the July 29 2016 to July 27 2017 period, this number dropped to 83 greyhounds owing to the continued implementation of welfare strategies designed to minimize the rate of racing related injuries.
“In the same period, there were more than 3,600 greyhound races and more than 27,400 individual race starters. The percentage of starters affected by either a major or catastrophic injury was 0.5 per cent.”
They said Racing and Wagering WA was working proactively with the various WA rehoming agencies to establish new procedures to decrease this number further.
“Racing and Wagering WA continues to improve its engagement with industry, evolve its relationships with stakeholders including rehoming agencies and increase investment in various programs and partnerships to improve welfare outcomes for all racing animals,” they said.
Anyone interested in supporting Busselton Greyhound Awareness, can visit facebook.com/bgagreys.