It comes after racing minister Paul Toole announced on Friday that Alan Brown, an experienced racing administrator and lawyer, as the Chief Commissioner. Former NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman Clare Petre and former NSW Natural Resources Commissioner John Keniry were appointed the other commissioners. 

Gunnedah-based Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association chairman Geoff Rose hoped the commission –  tasked by the state government to regulate the industry, target wrongdoing and enforce animal welfare standards – would focus on breeding and re-homing.

Mr Rose hailed Dr Keniry as “one of the lifesavers of the industry” after NSW was in line to become the first state in the country to end the sport in the wake of a Special Commission of Inquiry, which found “overwhelming evidence of systemic animal cruelty, including mass greyhound killings and live baiting”.

After the ban was repealed last October, the government announced sweeping changes to the industry, adopting all but one of the 122 recommendations of the Greyhound Industry Reform Panel in March this year.

“I think it’s very good,” Mr Rose said of the Commissioners being appointed.

“(Dr Keniry) will enforce the upright welfare of the animals.”

The Commission will now begin recruitment, focusing on a CEO and chief steward.

“It’s hard to forecast what the industry is going to do,” Mr Rose said.

“Breeding is down by about 50 per cent in NSW. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not a good thing. 

“The first thing (the commission should focus on) is privatising the breeding.”

Mr Rose also hoped the commission would focus on re-homing and the Greyhound Adoption Program.

Gunnedah Greyhound Racing Club will host its first meet since June this Sunday.

The NSW government has committed $41 million over the next five years to implement the reforms.

Alan Brown is an accomplished lawyer with wide experience in areas, including banking, finance, commercial and property law. He also has extensive directorship and racing experience, becoming a director of the Sydney Turf Club in 1983 and serving as Chair from 2005 until 2008. He was then appointed to the Board of Racing NSW as Chair until 2011, before continuing as director until 2014.

Clare Petre has broad leadership and governance experience, having served as the NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman from 1998 to 2014. She has also chaired the Consumer Advisory Panel with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and is currently a board member of Energy Consumers Australia and City West Housing.

Dr John Keniry AM was NSW Natural Resources Commissioner from 2011 to 2016. He is a chemical engineer who spent his early career in senior roles in the food industry, and currently chairs the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. Dr Keniry has substantial directorship and governance experience, as well as a deep knowledge of the NSW greyhound industry from his role last year as Coordinator General of the Greyhound Transition Taskforce.