By Victoria Stone-Meadows
MP for Monbulk and Deputy Premier James Merlino has adopted an ex-racing greyhound, but says having the new dog in his life doesn’t change his opinion of the dog racing industry.
Mr Merlino and his family drove all the way from their home in Montrose to Ballarat where they met two-year-old blue greyhound Sara.
“The Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) had an adoption day at Ballarat, so Megs and I put the kids in the car; we drove to Ballarat and we met Sara as well as a whole bunch of other dogs,” he said.
Mr Merlino adopted one of 35 dogs that were part of the Ballarat adoption day, but he says Sara was the one that chose them.
“The kids loved her and they are such beautiful, gentle animals,” he said.
Having both grown up around dogs, Mr Merlino and wife Meagan have always had dogs as part of their family.
“We had a beautiful labrador retriever, but he passed away of old age about six months ago,” he said.
“A good friend of mine is evangelical about greyhounds, so she was talking to me constantly about how my next dog has to be greyhound, and we never thought of it before.
“We went and did a bit of research and went onto the GAP website and they tell the stories about each of the dogs.”
Now having seen the adoption program and met a number of ex-racing greyhounds, Mr Merlino said he was confident the greyhound racing industry in Victoria was safe for the hounds.
“Greyhound racing is an important industry and through the work that Martin Foley is doing as minister for racing, it’s all about making sure the animals are cared for and there are no practices that hurt the animals at all,” he said.
“I am confident Victoria is a leader in terms of ensuring animals are well cared for and there is a lot of regulation.
“This is an industry that employs almost 4000 people across the state in terms of direct employment, and I’m passionate about animal welfare and I wouldn’t say this if I wasn’t confident that we have the best animal welfare standards in the county.”
While Mr Merlino is a strong supporter of the greyhound racing industry, he says the adoption program is just as important.
“I am a supporter of the industry but more importantly a supporter of the Greyhound Adoption Program,” he said.
“I’d recommend it to anyone, they are fantastic animals.
“Whether it’s a companion animal for older people or for a young family like mine, they are just fantastic; easy to take care of with just 20 minutes of exercise a day then just relax for rest of day.”
GAP aims to match the right greyhounds to the right homes and adoption days are held almost every six weeks.
Every day adoption is available at GAP headquarters in Seymour and the Mornington Peninsula, and appointments can be made to meet the dogs before adoption.
