Perth Voice Interactive

WARNING: The following story contains information some readers might find distressing

UPPER house Greens MP Alison Xamon has welcomed the muzzle change but wants dog racing banned, saying fatal injuries are too common.

“Fantastic news… they are beautiful, gentle, gorgeous dogs that just want to have a cuddle,” Ms Xamon responded to the announcement.

“But this is just the beginning of many reforms which still need to happen; ultimately we need to ban greyhound racing. We abhor dog fighting, and dog racing is also very dangerous for dogs with fatal injuries far too common.”

The latest Racing and Wagering WA annual report says last year 31 greyhounds were reported to have suffered “catastrophic” injuries and were either “deceased or euthanised immediately”. It covers 26,560 ‘starters’ (dogs starting a race) in the period August 1 2018 to til July 31 2019.

The report breaks down injuries into five categories:

• Minor class 1 injuries like mild skin abrasions, which don’t result in an incapacitation period (suffered by 36 dogs in 2018-19);

• Minor class 1 injuries like mild skin laceration or a small amount of muscle tissue being damaged, requiring up to 10 days off (suffered by 366 dogs);

• Medium injuries requiring up to three weeks off, such as worse skin laceration, joint/ligament strain, more severe muscle tissue damage (221 dogs);

• Major injuries which either end a racing career or require more than three weeks off, including broken legs or a muscle tearing completely in two, or the tendon separating from the muscle entirely (113 dogs);

• Catastrophic injuries, including severe skull or spinal trauma, or complex bone breaks, or bones sticking through the skin, which either kill the dog or require immediate euthanasia (31 dogs).

Thirty four racing greyhounds were also euthanised as “not suitable for rehoming”.

Total deaths from all causes were 145, down from 225 in 2017 when the McGowan government introduced a “Track Injury Rebate Scheme” where the state would pay for surgery to encourage owners and trainers not to kill injured dogs.

By David Bell

A LAW condemning greyhounds to a muzzle while out in public is to be scrapped.

The McGowan government is currently reviewing both the cat and dog acts, and after receiving thousands of submissions calling for the muzzle law to be revoked, has announced it’ll go in 2020.

Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker says it’s a big win after a long, personal fight to get the law changed.

“Over the last three years since we’ve been in government we’ve been working with the rescue groups to improve the lives of greyhounds,” Ms Baker said.

“While I personally might prefer they’re not raced, there is an industry in WA and we need to look after dogs who are not able to race and dogs who’ve retired.”

Andrea Pollard from Free the Hounds is currently in Ireland at a conference on muzzling greyhounds (Ireland is the only other country with a similar law).

Writing from Dublin she says it was a small step forward towards “a world without greyhound racing”.

“A world where dogs can just be dogs… many happy tears were shed by rescue greyhound owners all over WA and party plans made for when the legislation passes!

“Greyhounds are gentle, loving dogs and muzzles give completely the wrong impression of them.

“People assume they’re aggressive when most greyhounds are the exact opposite! With so many greyhounds needing homes this change will really help more greyhounds become the loving family members they were always meant to be.

“I’ve had my greyhound Misty for seven years now and this change means so much to me. Misty is the most gentle-natured, chilled out dog I’ve ever met and to see people at the dog park pull their dogs away from her when they see her muzzle has been really disheartening.

“This change gives her the same standing as other dogs — just like all her other friends at the park.”

Under the new rules registered racing greyhounds will still need to be muzzled.

Under the old regime greyhounds could only become muzzle-free after a daunting four-day behaviour test.

It cost $175 and took them out of their home environment, making then automatically more nervous.

by DAVID BELL

A CHUNK of West Perth has been excised from the state seat of Perth and handed back to Nedlands.

The Distribution Commission reviews boundaries every four years to keep electorate numbers even; legally they can’t be more than 10 per cent above the 27,573 average.

A lot of people have moved into Perth since the last boundary redraw, it’s about 30,454 electors, pushing that margin by 10.45 per cent.

Both Labor and the Liberals suggested Kings Park and a patch of West Perth to the south-west of Mitchell Freeway go to Nedlands, restoring the 2007 boundary.

The Liberal submission said the new boundary marks a “community of interest”, and the party was not happy when the commission left Kings Park in Perth.

Splitting

“[It] has the effect of splitting the southern section of West Perth along Malcolm Street,” the Libs said in a submission.

“This leaves a significant residential component of the suburb around Mount Street within the district of Perth,” making up 400 electors who usually vote at the Constitutional Centre in Havelock Street.

They’ll either have to vote elsewhere, lodge an absentee vote at CC, or the Electoral Commission can run the CC as a “joint polling booth” for both Perth and Nedlands, a “less than ideal expedient” according to the Liberals’ objection.

The move slightly benefits both Perth Labor MP John Carey and Nedlands’ Liberal MP Bill Marmion, as the only polling booth in the affected area leans Liberal.

In 2017 Mr Carey picked up 269 votes there while Liberal candidate Eleni Evangel got 367, and it was even more blue in the previous election.

The new patch sees Mr Marmion served up with the ready-made residents and business group, West Perth Local, which Mr Carey helped found after his 2017 election.

The Distribution Commission is made up of retired supreme court judge Eric Heenan, government statistician Tom Joseph and electoral commissioner David Kerslake (retired mid-review and replaced by assistant electoral commissioner Chris Avent).

When drawing up the boundaries they consider communities of interest, means of travel, physical features, but their final report states “legislated numerical requirements [not going above 10 per cent of the average] must prevail over other considerations… commissioners have no regard for the potential political ramifications of the boundaries they propose, thus the boundaries have been formulated entirely on a non-partisan basis”.

No changes were needed to Maylands or Mt Lawley.

by DAVID BELL

A PUBLIC forum about the diabolical Green Street/Scarborough Beach Road pentagram intersection has drawn a bigger crowd than some test cricket matches, with a roundabout the most popular solution.

Changes to the crossing have been in the pipeline for a while and there’s $3 million of government funding ready to go once a plan’s sorted.

Perth state Labor MP John Carey co-hosted the forum with Balcatta Labor MP David Michael and says from the 70-odd turnout there was “clear community concern about the intersection”.

Two early designs, a roundabout and a simplified t-junction, were presented to fix the tangled mess where Brady, Main and Green Streets collide with Scarborough Beach Road. Both options move the spot where Scarborough Beach Road hits Green a bit to the east to give the main intersection some breathing space.

“The overwhelming response from the community was for the roundabout option,” Mr Carey says.

Rejigged

The early designs will now be rejigged and presented to a working party with reps from all relevant groups.

“The key problem we have is this: We have to get the City of Stirling and the City of Vincent to agree to the same proposal, and then get Main Roads to agree to it as well. That seems easier said than done,” Mr Carey says.

“We’ve got concrete funding there, we’ve got a renewed energy and focus, but it’s still a long road ahead.”

by DAVID BELL

“DEATH surrounded me and I was in a very dark place.”

Those are the chilling words of Belinda Day, one of the many victims of domestic violence who found refuge at the Stirling Women’s Centre.

For the last 40 years the centre has provided accommodation and support to women and children escaping domestic or family violence.

Last week Stirling council held an event to mark the milestone, coinciding with the anti-DV campaign 16 Days in WA.

Ms Day attended and spoke movingly about her experiences.

“I arrived at the Stirling Women’s Centre with absolutely nothing except the clothes I was wearing, extremely thin, with a huge pregnant stomach expecting a child, shortly,” she said.

“Death surrounded me and I was in a very dark place. I didn’t feel worthy to be loved nor believed in, I was a lost soul, extremely vulnerable and reckless.

“I remember thinking and feeling, ‘Why does this always happen to me? I’m so messed up’. I had strong anxiety and was thinking, ‘Now I have curfews, rules to follow, like I’m a little child. I must get out of here asap because I don’t want to be in another jail.’

Protect

“I had this expectation and view on refuges in Perth because I have been to more refuges than you can count on both hands. Little did I know that the workers at the SWC wanted to protect, love and support me through this long journey.

“The SWC believed in me, when every other refuge gave up on me. They knew I was head strong and had a dream which has the white picket fence.

“They helped me gain confidence and the tools to know that I deserved to be loved and acknowledged for who I am and where I’ve come from.

“They stood by me through thick and thin, gave me love, helped me form and experience what true, healthy and loving relationships are and what they look like, by their example. They gave me the skills needed for me to be the best parent I could possibly be.”

Stirling mayor Mark Irwin says he is very proud of the centre’s work.

“In 1976 the city began supporting women and children escaping family and domestic violence from a small house in Morley, and in 1979 the City of Stirling started the first purpose-built refuge in WA, which we now know as the Stirling Women’s Centre,” he said.

“The centre continues to be the only local government-managed refuge in the state and its success is due to the tireless work of staff and volunteers over the last 40 years who have helped thousands of families in need.”

The Stirling Women’s Centre also runs the successful North East Metro safe at home program, deals with family and domestic incident reports, looks after the Serene Centre, which offers free workshops to empower women and children.

In addition it provides advice to male victims of domestic violence.

The centre is holding a Christmas appeal to help 50 families in crisis.

Gifts can be put in red donation bins at Stirling council’s administration centre, libraries and leisure centres.

RETIRED fisherman Don Heather launched an autobiography this month that’s packed to the gunwales with fishy tales.

Of Fisheries and Islands is a rollicking read about his early seafaring days, from his appointment as a fisheries inspector in Geraldton through to his time as a canny captain outwitting the increasingly bureaucratic authorities.

Pioneer

Mr Heather was a pioneer across many facets of the industry throughout his 60-year career; two years ago he made the news over his attempts to create a lucrative bottarga industry from fish normally written off as “bait” (“Mullets stun fishers,” Fremantle Herald, August 12, 2017).

After the book launch he said it was still a work in progress, as he’s struggled to convince local skippers to keep aside their mullet roe, even though he cures it into a $240 a kilo delicacy that’s got eastern states chefs begging for more.

Mr Heather’s ability to sail his own course towards success is a recurrent theme throughout the book.

His first foray into cray fishing, in a borrowed boat, should have been a disaster when he inadvertently set his pots over seaweed.

Other fishermen were convinced he was working “dead ground”, but after a few days of healthy hauls Mr Heather found himself increasingly surrounded by other hopefuls.

“This accidental start to my fishing career saved me from the failure I think I would have been without it,” he says.

“I’d learnt a lesson that I would remember for the rest of my 50 years in the fishing industry – never take conventional wisdom for granted without testing it.”

A healthy distrust of authority is also a common thread, and his crossing swords with missionaries while trying to help the indigenous Yolngu people of the Wessel Islands establish a fishing industry is laugh-out-loud funny.

“It wasn’t funny at the time, it was frustration,” Mr Heather recalled.

The missionaries were merciless in their profiteering from the Yolngu and clearly discriminatory, but when he tried to redress the situation they made it their mission to make his life hell.

Cheeky

True to his cheeky reputation, Mr Heather got his own back in the best possible way; while back on the mainland for some time off, he read the New Testament from back to front, then liberally used its quotes to confound his religious antagonists.

“I could reduce them to a rage in a second,” he giggles.

Mr Heather said on Sunday that he’s already got plans for a follow-up volume.

“Oh yeah, we were the first to go fishing on Ningaloo Reef, but of course it wasn’t called Ningaloo back then,” he says enthusiastically.

Of Fisheries and Islands is available from Mr Heather and his wife Jean’s stall at the Palmyra Western Farmers Market every second Sunday or from carlavanraay.com

by STEVE GRANT