Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) acknowledged the resignation of Chairman Peter Caillard yesterday.

Peter was appointed Chairman of GRV in August 2011 and since that time led GRV through a period of significant change. The transformation of the GRV leadership team and the organisation’s alignment with Public Sector Values following the Ombudsman’s Report in 2012 helped shape a renewed GRV culture. Peter led a board with a particular focus on greyhound welfare, integrity and governance.

The past three years has seen a period of great prosperity for the industry with prize money increasing to $41.7 million and with this came greater focus from the board on prohibited substances. This saw integrity spending increase to $4.5 million annually and swab numbers increase from 3100 in 2011/12 to more than 5000 in 2014/15, with less than 0.8% being returned as positive samples.

The Greyhound Adoption Program was also a great passion for Peter and he saw the program reach a record of 536 adoptions in the 2013/14 Financial Year and the GAP property undergo an $880,000 redevelopment ensuring the property is well resourced in the future. In addition the Greyhound Welfare department has grown from one to five staff members in the past three years and the establishment of the collaborative adoption scheme with the RSPCA has seen 55 greyhounds find new homes.

This board also saw the introduction of tough new penalty guidelines for a range of offences outlining the organisations zero-tolerance approach to serious rule breaches and issues of animal welfare.

In 2013 GRV underwent a significant strategic planning process. This process led to the development of a new five-year strategic plan ‘On Track for a Great Future’ that was released in early 2014 with ambitious goals to change the greyhound racing industry and better align the sport with changing community values.

A number of initiatives such as; playing a key role in the development of a national greyhound welfare strategy, grading and racing review and a complete administrative restructure at GRV underpinned Peter’s time in the sport.

GRV thanks Peter for his contribution to the industry.

Minister for Racing Martin Pakula has announced that current board member Michael Harms who joined the board in October 2014 will be installed as interim Chairman until the Racing Integrity Commissioner’s investigation is complete.

Michael’s previous roles include; Executive Chairman of RSN racing and sport radio station, partner and business director at national marketing agency George Patterson Partners, and managing director of Channel Seven Melbourne.