Gareth Miggins, the trainer who allegedly ripped off his greyhound's dog tail Credit:Darbs Darby (Andrew Darby) But Mr Miggins has vigorously denied pulling off the tail, describing such an act as "barbaric". Greyhound Wilby Mighty broke his tail after he collided with the running rail at Richmond on December 17, 2014 and was referred after the race to on-track veterinarian Greg Bryant. Dr Bryant told the inquiry that the tail was badly broken about nine centimetres from the tip and bones and ligaments were exposed. He gave the dog painkillers and bandaged the tail, telling Mr Miggins he would need to visit a vet clinic and have it amputated that day. According to evidence given by Dr Bryant and steward Norm Becroft, Mr Miggins seemed concerned about the cost of the operation and asked whether GRNSW would cover it.

Greyhound trainer Gareth Miggins. Credit:Andrew Darby He then said that he did not know any local vets, so Dr Bryant wrote down the name of a nearby clinic before Mr Miggins took the dog to the kennels. However, a few races later a steward found a nine-centimetre portion of a dog's tail near the 400 metre box on the track. A tangle of nerves and tendons streamed from the open end. Veterinarian Greg Bryant, shown here with his labrador Mya, attended greyhound Mighty Wilby after he broke his tail on the track at Richmond. Credit:John Veage "We both knew what had happened," Dr Bryant told Fairfax Media.

"There had only been one broken tail that day and it had been attached after I'd bandaged it." Mighty Wilby, racing at number three, appears to have bent his tail after colliding with the running rail. Mr Becroft said in his statement to the inquiry that his 16-year career as a police officer informed his opinion that the found piece of tail was "extremely fresh". "The sinews and nerves were still moist and remained extended when laid down, they didn't recoil or shrivel to indicate that the moisture/fluids had evaporated or dried out at this time," the statement said. Gareth Miggins walking off the track after the race with his dog Mighty Wilby, number three.

GRNSW charged Mr Miggins with removing a portion of the tail, failing to seek veterinary attention, not exercising reasonable care of a greyhound and making an improper statement, but two years after the event a steward's panel upheld only the second charge regarding veterinary attention and fined him $2000. The stewards panel found that Mr Miggins would have had only eight minutes between the time that CCTV footage showed him emerging from the kennels with Mighty Wilby's tail bandaged and the time that the tail was discovered on the track. Dr Bryant examines the tail after the race. Gareth Miggins says this photo shows the tip is already missing, while Dr Bryant says it shows it is attached. This would not have given him enough time to remove the bandage, remove the tail and dispose of it, especially since the race track was busy at the time and no witnesses placed him at the track. "As a result, the stewards find that the section of the greyhound's tail found near the 400 metre box was severed at the time that the greyhound collided with the running rail during the event," the decision said.

A spokesman said: "The stewards panel who issued the decision against Gareth Miggins considered ALL relevant information and issue before the inquiry. The information before the inquiry was conflicting and required the stewards panel to balance that conflicting evidence." But Ms Faruqi said the decision was "absurd". "Two witnesses gave evidence that the greyhound's tail was intact following the race – one claiming that there was overwhelming evidence that the tail had been torn off – and yet Greyhound Racing NSW claims it just fell off during the race," Ms Faruqi said. "That the trainer was given such an insignificant fine – a slap on the wrist – shows that the industry is incapable of regulating itself, and still doesn't treat animal cruelty or neglect seriously." A spokesman for Premier Mike Baird said a Greyhound Industry Reform Panel appointed in October would develop recommendations to hold the industry to "the highest possible standards" and the government looked forward to receiving them.

Mr Miggins told Fairfax Media he did not pull off the tail and it must have come off during the race, which was evidenced by a photograph he took in the veterinary tent showing that the tip was already missing. The tail was the same colour as the sand and it was not surprising that nobody had seen it on the track until some hours later, he said. "Who would be disturbed enough to do that, and then walk out on the track without anyone seeing me?" he said. "It's physically impossible for not one person in the place, including CCTV, to have witnessed me. "I've had problems with the stewards because they think I'm a big, scary looking person and, 'If we can control him we can control anyone'.

"I'm a gentle giant." Dr Bryant resigned from GRNSW in mid-2015 when an email from the chief steward convinced him that the investigation would not lead to any adverse findings against Mr Miggins. "Off the record, the panel shares your view that Mr Miggins is responsible for this heinous act and should be punished accordingly," Clint Bentley said in the email. "We just need to ensure we can satisfy ourselves and any further jurisdiction that will ultimately review our decision that somehow, somewhere Miggins did lop the greyhound's tail." GRNSW said these comments were a "preliminary opinion based on the particular information before the inquiry at that point in time".

But Dr Bryant said he had known from that moment that the inquiry would exonerate Mr Miggins. Loading "They just didn't want to find that he pulled the tail off," Dr Bryant said. "We had so much evidence and yet they still came out with a finding like that. I've been a vet for a long time and I've seen a lot of things and I've seen some really horrible things, but this would probably be the most corrupt thing I've ever seen."