The treatment of greyhounds at a Wyee adoption centre will be investigated, after former staff raised animal welfare allegations.
NSW Gaming and Racing Minister David Harris has asked the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission to review the allegations.
"They have the potential to undermine public trust and integrity in the industry," Mr Harris said.
The integrity commission will review allegations about injuries to greyhounds and the state of kennels at Wyee.
It will also examine the Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) management response to animal welfare concerns raised by staff.
The centre, known as Greyhounds as Pets (GAP) Wyee, was shut last month in a cost-cutting measure. It had 22 staff and 51 greyhounds.
A former staffer at the centre said the allegations about injuries to the dogs were not substantial.
The staffer said some dogs suffered cuts, but this was a normal part of life in a kennel.
"They would go to the vet the same day. The greyhounds have such thin skin," the staffer said.
"The site was old and run down, but we had a maintenance worker on site five days a week who would fix problems straight away."
The staffer said the kennels at Wyee were a good home for the dogs and they had a large yard to exercise.
However, the staffer alleged there were concerns about greyhounds at the Western Sydney GAP centre being kept in "tiny dirt pens with no access to grass".
However, staff at the Sydney site were "fantastic and doing their best".
The staffer said there were legitimate concerns about changes to rehabilitation practices for the greyhounds at Wyee.
The staffer alleged these changes meant the dogs had much less chance of gaining the required resilience to be rehomed.
The staffer alleged this was linked to boosting the number of greyhounds sent to the US.
"The dogs need to be super-adaptive and resilient to fly and travel," the staffer said.
The Wyee site was one of two adoption centres that GRNSW had for preparing dogs for rehoming.
It was shut in a cost-cutting measure by GRNSW, which aimed to reduce spending by 30 per cent in 2024-25 due to significant falls in gambling revenue.
The Wyee site will be upgraded and converted into the organisation's centre for rehoming dogs in the US, which a contractor will run.
Internal GRNSW emails show staff were concerned about greyhounds being sent to the US with grade three heart murmurs.
However, GRNSW management responded in an email to this concern, saying they were "deemed fit to fly".
The staffer who spoke to the Newcastle Herald said "if the vet says the dog isn't right to go to the US, it doesn't go".
GRNSW chief executive Rob Macaulay told the Herald last month that about 800 dogs had been exported to the US since the program began in January last year.
Mr Macaulay added that only one dog had died "in transit".
"It's an extraordinarily successful program," he said.
A GRNSW spokesperson said it had "consistently invited examination of any aspect of our rehoming programs".
"As an organisation, GAP runs the largest and most successful greyhound rehoming operation in the world.
"We do great things for our wonderful greyhounds, participants and adopters."
