The Canberra Liberals would not ban greyhound racing in the ACT until an independent inquiry examines whether mistreatment is occurring locally.
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The ACT government says it effectively had no choice but to follow NSW Premier Mike Baird's lead in banning greyhound racing.
NSW took that decision after an inquiry found evidence of widespread mistreatment of animals.
A special commission found the killing of between 48,891 and 68,448 dogs occurred because they were too slow or were unsuitable.
Roughly 180 sustained catastrophic injuries lead to immediate death each year.
A large proportion of the trainers and dogs who race in Canberra come from NSW.
The RSPCA has previously presented evidence to an ACT Legislative Assembly committee that a number of NSW trainers racing in the territory have been linked to the practice of live baiting.
On Monday, the ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said he would not immediately ban greyhound racing in Canberra if elected in October's election.
He said he would want a separate ACT inquiry to examine whether the sorts of issues experienced in NSW were occurring here.
"There is no evidence. There was a review done in NSW, there has been no review in the ACT," he told ABC Radio.
"This is not an evidence-based decision and I have real concerns about how this decision was made."
Mr Hanson said the ACT government "may have" made the right decision, but that could not be assessed without proper evidence.
But Deputy Chief Minister Simon Corbell said the evidence was already compelling about the harm being done to animals.
"There has been widespread mistreatment and inhumane practice against thousands and thousands of dogs, we know that to be the case," Mr Corbell said.
"What we also know is that greyhound racing in the ACT is effectively one meeting venue that's part of the broader NSW racing network," he said.
