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Tasmania's leading greyhound trainer has won his appeal against a lifetime ban, placed on him following animal welfare activist vision which sparked an investigation at his property.
Anthony Bullock, who last year was charged by racing authorities with possessing an animal part capable of being used as bait, quarry or a lure, has today had his ban overturned, after an appeals board found it unproven he was aware the tail of a marsupial was on his property.
The board also said it could not rule out someone "motivated by their strongly held animal welfare concerns" planted the tail of a pademelon on Bullock's property to "ensure that the operator of a large training facility be removed from the industry entirely".
Video footage, purportedly shot in July and anonymously provided to activist group Animal Liberation Tasmania (ALT), showed greyhounds at Bullock's Exeter property, in Tasmania's north, in conditions which prompted a visit to the facility by racing officials and the RSPCA.
The tail of a pademelon, a small native marsupial, was found attached to a lure arm in an area of the property, resulting in Bullock being charged and, in October, found guilty of "possessing an animal part capable of being used as bait, quarry or lure".
Bullock was disqualified from greyhound racing "for the term of his natural life".
Tasmania's Office Of Racing Integrity said that as part of the disqualification, Bullock was "no longer able to own, train or nominate racing greyhounds and was "no longer able to attend race meets".
In late 2023, Bullock appealed against the decision, with his counsel arguing the tail was likely planted by animal welfare activists in a no-longer used "bullring" area.
On Tuesday, in a 16-page decision, the Tasmanian Racing Appeal Board said it could "not rule out someone else is responsible for placing the pademelon tail on the lure arm".
"It is not possible to discount the possibility that the unknown person or persons responsible for taking the footage, no doubt motivated by their strongly held animal welfare concerns, might be minded to take steps to ensure that the operator of a large training facility be removed from the industry entirely," the board ruled.
"The board can make no express finding to that effect. It is simply not in a position to rule it out."
The board, comprising Kate Cuthbertson SC, Amber Cohen and Rodney Lester, said the basis of Bullock's not guilty plea was "he did not know that the pademelon tail was attached to the lure in the bullring and that he was therefore not in possession of it within the meaning of the rules".
They found "no direct evidence" Bullock "knew of the existence of the pademelon tail on his property".
The board accepted Bullock's lawyer's argument the tail was placed in a location on the property which was "not being presently utilised for the purposes of greyhound training and had not been used for some considerable period of time".
"As a consequence, the appeal is upheld and the conviction and penalty quashed," the board said.
Bullock is a multiple premiership winning trainer of greyhounds, with a number of Tasmanian racing industry awards to his name.
Animal Liberation Tasmania president Kristy Alger described the decision as "just absolute nonsense".
RSPCA Tasmania chief executive Jan Davis said the outcome was "disappointing".
"Tasmania lags behind every other jurisdiction in Australia, we don't have clear and indisputable rules of racing, we don't have animal welfare legislation that gives sufficient clarity."
Anthony Bullock was contacted for comment.
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