Breeding success

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG’S Jan Wilson is set to revolutionise international greyhound racing.
The 67-year-old is the first woman to have been appointed chairman of the World Greyhound Racing Federation (WGRF) – and she already has big ideas for the sport’s future.
Ms Wilson is already chairman of a number of bodies, including the Dandenong and District Benevolent Society, Greyhound Racing Victoria, and Greyhounds Australasia.
But her new role, effective from 1 January and lasting for two years, will see her push for a global database tracking greyhound semen, and increase the WGRF’s efforts to rid the sport of animal cruelty.
“The WGRF is a group of 20-odd countries throughout the world who race greyhounds,” she said.
“Each country sends delegates to a biannual conference where we try to look globally rather than just from each country’s point of view. But I must say, I think the organisation could be much more effective than it is.
“There are quite a number of issues that need addressing over the next couple of years.”
Ms Wilson wants to establish an international database to track the origins of vials of greyhound semen.
She said it was now common practice for greyhound breeders to artificially inseminate dogs to produce the best racers possible without relying on natural mating processes.
But without a database similar to that of horse racing, there is no way to track the genetic lineage of the dogs.
“Victoria is the only state in Australia that has established a database,” she said.
“We want to track the genetics because the stud book is of prime importance, and the references are very valuable to the industry.
“But no one (globally) has any way of tracking it.”
Her second goal is to strengthen the global community’s position on banning cruelty to greyhounds.
To ensure they are treated humanely, Ms Wilson said she would introduce protocols that each country on the WGRF would have to agree to, or face expulsion.
“It will be another big step,” she said.
“The major players in greyhound racing are Australia, the United States of America, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
“The other countries, in a very small way, are just starting to emerge as players in greyhound racing.”
Emerging markets include Vietnam and Cambodia.
“It’s my view that before (all countries’) memberships are ratified on a biannual basis, they need to be signatories to a number of protocols,” Ms Wilson said.
“If they can’t observe the rules of animal welfare that we think are appropriate, then the board would rather they not be involved.”
Ms Wilson has lived in Dandenong for more than 40 years.
She was a councillor with the City of Dandenong between 1977 and 1986, and was the ALP member of Parliament for the former seat of Dandenong North (now Mulgrave) between 1985 and 1999.