The animal cruelty scandal enveloping greyhound racing has led the Queensland government to announce a wave of sackings of administrators responsible for overseeing the sport.

The government has stood down the chief executive of Racing Queensland, who a commission of inquiry found had “routinely ignored” requests by Animal Liberation Queensland to act on evidence of widespread live baiting and inhumane killings of thousands of unwanted dogs.

However, ALQ questioned a recent key government appointment of a prominent lawyer who chaired Queensland Greyhound racing board when the scandal broke.

It also claimed the commission report did not go far enough in halting the systematic killing of unwanted greyhounds amid public support for banning the industry altogether.

A day after the release of damning findings by commissioner Alan MacSporran, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament that all boards overseeing the racing industry shared responsibility in Racing Queensland’s failure and would be abolished.

She repeated MacSporran’s observation that the industry “may have been dealt a terminal blow” and that its gross systemic failure in safeguarding animal welfare “starts with the boards”.

That includes the Queensland Greyhound racing board, whose chairman when the live baiting revelations unfolded was Michael Byrne QC, the prominent lawyer separately appointed to run the current state commission of inquiry into organised crime.

ALQ president Chay Neal said there were questions around the appointment of Byrne to a key role in light of his leadership of the greyhound board on whose watch the scandal developed.

“There are certainly questions around how Michael Byrne managed that board and managed greyhound racing in Queensland,” Neal said.

“I think the premier has certainly done the right thing in forcing the board to take responsibility and step down. But it’s interesting that Michael Byrne has been given this other quite prominent and important role in Queensland with no regard to any failures he might have had in greyhound racing.”

Neal also said the recommendations of the MacSporran report, even if adopted wholesale, did not sufficiently address “our biggest concern with the industry, and that’s the killing of healthy dogs by the thousands every year”.



“The estimate is that some 18,000 dogs are killed around Australia every year because of greyhound racing.”

“There has been too much focus on restoring public confidence (in the industry) and not enough focus on stopping these serious animal welfare issues,” Neal said, adding there was widespread support for banning the industry altogether.



Byrne, who fronted a greyhound industry forum alongside embattled Racing Queensland chief Darren Condon in a bid to deal with fallout from the scandal shortly before his appointment to run the organised crime inquiry in March, reportedly quit the greyhound board last month.



He declined to comment to Guardian Australia on Tuesday.

MacSporran’s is the first of three inquiries across Australia into greyhound racing to deliver findings following revelations of live baiting on the ABC’s Four Corners program in February.



The premier said the “vile allegations” raised by the inquiry “in many ways … taints this industry not only for alleged past practices but into the future”.

“They are among the most upsetting we’ve ever witnessed against innocent animals and – damningly – against those people charged with the responsibility of caring for the animals at the centre of their industry,” she said.

Palaszczuk said the government was “actively considering” MacSporran’s call for a new watchdog in the form of the Queensland racing integrity commission, which would take charge of animal cruelty oversight and call on the investigative, intelligence and surveillance powers of a police task force.



Condon has been stood down on full pay and given five days to show why he should not be sacked, she said.

The government was also considering recommendations for a stronger tracking program for greyhounds bred for racing, including a public database and more rigorous reporting and licensing requirements for owners and trainers.



The MacSporran inquiry reported evidence that more than 7,200 greyhounds bred for racing between 2003 and 2013 – as well as another 7,000 retired dogs – were likely killed after being deemed unsuitable for racing.

It also found the “archaic and barbaric practice” of live baiting – training dogs by having them chase and kill small animals including possums, pigs and rabbits – was likely to be widespread.

“All Queenslanders want a racing industry that is based on integrity and proper animal welfare – not one that is characterised by cruelty, dishonesty and at best dubious regulation and an environment in which there is a failure of simple compliance measures,” Palaszczuk said.

“My government will deliver that. Anyone who has taken part in acts of animal cruelty will be investigated thoroughly by police and will be brought to justice.”

Palaszczuk also paid tribute to Animal Liberation Queensland and Animals Australia, whose investigations and secret footage triggered the inquiry and parallel police investigations that have led to 23 people being charged with animal cruelty offences.

She said the MacSporran report showed the industry had “dismally failed those animals it relies on for considerable profit” with the ruling body incapable of dealing with animal welfare risks.

She said the abolition of the Queensland all-codes racing industry board, the Queensland greyhound racing board, the Queensland harness racing board and the Queensland thoroughbred racing board would mean the industry would “start with a clean slate”.