The Canberra Greyhound Racing Club has warned Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury to put up or shut up, after Mr Rattenbury told a radio station he'd seen reports of cruelty within the ACT industry.
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The club says it has reported Mr Rattenbury to ACT Policing for failing to pass on information he claimed to have about allegations of cruelty within the ACT greyhound racing industry on 2CC on Thursday afternoon.
Radio announcer Chris Coleman pressed Mr Rattenbury about why he was "more gung-ho" on greyhound owners than outlaw motorcycle gangs.
"Shutting down greyhound racing when there hasn't been in at least 25 years a proven case of cruelty by any greyhound trainer or owner or breeder in the ACT, so you're going after them, some people perceive that as a soft target while the harder target of the bikie gangs aren't getting sorted out," Mr Coleman said.
Mr Rattenbury said, "Well, you know, when it comes to the record of the greyhound industry in the ACT we have had reports of issues here in the ACT and I think we've seen..."
Mr Coleman: "When Shane when? When were these reports? When were they confirmed because I can't find them, the greyhound club can't find them, Mary Durkin can't find them. Where are these confirmed reports?"
Mr Rattenbury: "I've had them put to me Chris and I haven't actually got the dates on me at the moment, but I'm happy to check up and follow that up with you later on."
That exchange prompted the club to refer his comments to police, for allegedly "failing" in his "legal and moral responsibility" to pass information onto authorities, including the RSPCA, ACT Policing, the club or the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission.
In a statement, the club said if the police and the commission found he had "lied", it would sue him for defamation.
An ACT Policing spokeswoman confirmed they had received the club's report via the Crime Stoppers website and police were evaluating it.
But Mr Rattenbury said the club's attempts to "suggest that there aren't serious concerns associated with this exploitative industry is at best, naive - at worst, outright deceptive."
He pointed to the findings of the McHugh and Durkin reports as proof of problems within the industry, as well as records of seven trainers linked to live baiting who've raced in Canberra and historical evidence of the use of banned substances in greyhound racing in the ACT.
Mr Rattenbury said all reports regarding animal welfare issues had been handed to the relevant minister or the commission for further investigation.
The club has previously flagged plans to fight in court an ACT government ban on the sport in Canberra from June 2018.
Lawyers for the club will claim that by funnelling money for the greyhound industry into an assistance fund for people forced to leave, the government would deny it 'just terms' for funding it used to receive from ACTTAB before the agency's 2014 sale to Tabcorp.
Transitioning away from greyhound racing was a key plank in ACT Labor's parliamentary agreement with the Greens, who hold the balance of power in the ACT Legislative Assembly.
However Chief Minister Andrew Barr said there was no future for the industry in the ACT as far back as July last year.
