The remains of greyhounds were found in groups of two, three and four dogs.

Photographs from an investigation into the mass killing of "underperforming" greyhounds at an Australian property reveal how groups of two, three and four dogs were killed and buried together, at least 11 times.

The grisly images, the first to be released from an investigation report handed to Greyhound Racing NSW on Monday, show skeletons buried side by side in the grave discovered at the Keinbah Trial Track, near Cessnock in New South Wales.

The report by leading barrister Clive Steirn, SC, found it was probable that at least 99 greyhounds were killed and buried in a mass grave because they were "underperforming" and "therefore on no further use".

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It found it was "highly probable" that most of the dogs were killed between 2009 and 2013 with a blow to the head, from either a gunshot or a blunt instrument.



The full report has yet to be released.

But according to a Greyhound Racing NSW statement, it "identified that burial patterns indicated that 60 per cent of the dogs were buried in groups of two, three or four dogs all with major skull trauma and this occurred on a minimum of 11 occasions."

"Logically, the only probable motive for culling greyhounds in these circumstances leads to a conclusion the animals were being killed for no other reason than that they were found to be underperforming after being trialled, and therefore of no further use," Steirn said in the report.



But on Wednesday, the current owner of the property, Robert Howard, took aim at Greyhound Racing NSW's handling of the situation, claiming he and his wife Natina were "gagged" from raising allegations of a mass grave on the property and threatened with being shut down.

The Howards, who bought Keinbah in December 2013, discovered the first evidence of a mass grave in mid-2015, sparking the Steirn inquiry, after having previously called on the regulator to investigate persistent rumours.



In the statement Howard said he and his wife, who are not implicated in the Steirn report, were relieved at the findings.

"It has been over two years since Greyhound Racing NSW, the government regulator, was made aware of the potential [of] finding of a grave on our property," he said.

"The stress over the past two years has been horrendous and when GRNSW, the government regulator, was contacted, it went unanswered."

"When they did answer we were advised not to speak out or we would be suspended or shut down," he said. "We feel we were gagged."

Howard said the government was "blaming the participants for their failings in regulating the industry".

"Over the last year the industry has embraced change," he said. "Nothing matters more to us than the welfare of our dogs and the integrity of our industry."

"We have not been issued with the final investigation report so therefore we can't comment any further on the matter.

"But, we will say, stop blaming the 95 per cent of good participants in our industry for the government's failings."

Greyhound Racing NSW interim chief executive Paul Newson said it is understandable that the Howards are frustrated at the time taken to fully investigate.

This was "especially in light of the findings announced today, and following a number of earlier inquiries conducted by GRNSW which did not result in the excavation of the alleged mass graves identified on their property."

"The very purpose of the Steirn investigation that I put in place after credible evidence was identified that there may have been a significant number of skeletal remains at the property was to find out if we should excavate the Howards' property and whether or not evidence provided to the earlier inquiries was false or misleading," Newson said.

"The Howards should be commended for their persistence and diligence in making sure the mass graves now identified by the Steirn investigation have been made public. This supports the view that the vast majority of greyhound racing participants have integrity and care deeply about their dogs."



Greyhound Racing NSW has also revealed that the Steirn report recommends it consider taking action against witnesses at an earlier inquiry for "allegedly providing false or misleading evidence".

In its statement, GRNSW notes that the report states it is "probable" that most of the dogs were killed for reasons other than emergency euthanasia and that this was "the reason advanced by material witnesses" at an earlier inquiry.

The man who managed or assisted in the day-to-day running of the Keinbah track for the period in which the Steirn report found the dogs were killed and buried, Tom Pullman, conceded to an earlier inquiry that he had shot dogs because they were injured.

He also said that he buried no more than 16 dogs on the property.

The inquiry by investigator William Beekman heard Pullman's evidence in February 2014 and it was published the next month as part of his report.

The Beekman report - which did not find evidence of a mass grave of greyhounds at Keinbah - said that in his evidence Pullman was "at best ... vague in his responses and had to be prompted and reminded of his previous answers".

One year later, in January 2015, Pullman and his wife Helen were announced as the male and female trainer of the year by the Singleton Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association.

The following April, Michael Wayne Brown, the owner of Keinbah from 2008 to 2010, a former Greyhound Racing NSW board member and s Pullman's brother, told the Newcastle Herald allegations of a mass grave on the site were a "beat up".

Brown sold the track to his daughter, Kayla Spliet - a former employee of Greyhound Racing NSW - and her husband Cory Spliet, in 2010. They onsold the property in December 2013 to the Howards.

Spliet told the Beekman inquiry that she had no knowledge of any dogs dying on the property apart from her pet dog. The Beekman report found her evidence was "barely credible".

Pullman and Spliet have been contacted for comment.

The chief executive of NSW Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association, Brenton Scott, said the findings "are a great disappointment and confirm that the greyhound industry has issues that must be and are being confronted".

"The deaths of any greyhound, without proper reason, is unacceptable and we the industry must maintain a position of zero tolerance. Any position less than this is part of our past, it is not part of our future," he said.

Scott said the "unacceptable behaviour" happened before the industry began its reform program.

"Although disappointing, this investigation and the report is one step on our pathway to change and we must confront these issues of the past as the industry moves forward," he said.

The report comes two weeks after the release of the Special Commission of Inquiry into NSW Greyhound Racing by former High Court judge Michael McHugh, which was sparked by an expose of live baiting in the industry on ABC's Four Corners program.

It found as many as 68,000 greyhounds were slaughtered as "wastage" in the past 12 years "because they were considered too slow to pay their way or were unsuitable for racing", leading to the government decision to close the industry from July 1 next year.