Rotary Goes To The Dogs
It was a great fun night on Tuesday 19th when forty four members and partners of Drouin Club attended the Cluster gathering at the Warragul Greyhounds.
Guest speaker was local greyhound trainer Gerard O’Keefe. Gerry retired after some 35 years with The Department of Agriculture and was looking for “a hobby”, so he converted a shed to 5 kennels and started training dogs.
In the three years that he has been training, Gerry has been exceptionally successful.
He said that the furore over live bating and poor governance in the sport that erupted about two years ago was warranted and that the total ban in NSW (later reversed) was a major wakeup call.
He believes that the changes that this provoked had made the sport one of the best run in the world and he considers that compliance with rules and regulations for the conduct of racing and the welfare of dogs is approaching 100%.
He encouraged his audience to consider adopting a greyhound if they were looking for a pet. According to Gerry they are quiet, docile loving animals. They only need to be walked regularly which is also beneficial both physically and mentally to their owners.
A large crowd of Rotarians from across the West Gippsland Cluster of clubs, Partners and Guest enjoyed the evening.
