The same sport - but two completely different worlds

Chatting with Australia’s leading greyhound breeder/owner, Paul Wheeler, a little earlier in the week was a real eye-opener.

On his farm, which spans 300 acres and houses greyhounds that consume four tonnes of meat per week — meat which is delivered on a semi-trailer and stored in freezers capable of holding 100 tonnes — this clearly isn’t a one-man, one-dog operation. This is greyhound racing on a grand scale- perhaps the grandest of scales. But, crucially and surprisingly, it’s financially viable.

The Wheeler family’s story has something of a rags-to-riches feel about it and is best documented on their own website, wheelersgreyhounds.com.au, which details how, in a short period of time, beginning in the 1960s, they went from having little of no knowledge of the greyhound industry to becoming one of the most successful breeding operations in the country.