A greyhound adoption centre at Wyee has been abruptly shut down, with staff confirming they were sacked without warning and escorted from the property.
The centre was known as Greyhounds as Pets (GAP) Wyee, which had 22 staff and 51 greyhounds.
It was one of two adoption centres that Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) had for preparing dogs for rehoming.
Workers at the Wyee centre, who were made redundant on Monday, said they were in shock.
"There was no warning. They told staff 'it's just a normal meeting, don't worry'. Then a big burly security guy showed up," one worker said.
"Staff were escorted from the property by security. The locks were changed immediately. It was like we were criminals."
They wondered why the security guard was there because "we're a happy, friendly team".
Another worker said "they were telling people they were afraid of staff coming to steal dogs".
"Some staff weren't at the meeting, so didn't know until the afternoon. Others found out in our group chat.
"There was a lot of tears, people were having panic attacks. It was horrendous.
"They blindsided us completely and locked us out of our emails."
The Wyee site will be converted into the organisation's centre for rehoming dogs in the US, which a contractor runs.
The move was 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.
Animal welfare advocate Geoff Davidson said he was "really concerned" for the affected employees and greyhounds.
"The employees should have got decent notice of this," Mr Davidson said.
GRNSW chief executive Rob Macaulay said "our heads of HR and GAP" gave the news to employees.
Mr Macaulay said staff were offered counselling and resume training as part of a "redundancy support plan".
"These people go with our deep respect and sympathy," he said.
"This is not some slipshod operation, it's a carefully thought out plan to accommodate the financial reality of the market."
He said the 51 dogs had been moved to other sites, so construction work could be done at Wyee for the new centre.
"There were 27 dogs already earmarked for the US program. Of the other 24 dogs, seven of those need further attention and training and 17 are ready for adoption."
Staff were concerned about the dogs being exported to the US.
"Some of these dogs are so highly anxious, they won't survive a 20-hour plane trip," one worker said.
Mr Macaulay said about 800 dogs had been exported to the US since the program began in January last year, with only one dog dying "in transit".
"It's an extraordinarily successful program," he said.
Workers were concerned that some dogs would be euthanised and the domestic GAP program shut.
Mr Macaulay said "I'm making lots of cuts in other places to fund more for GAP".
"We are committed to GAP and rehoming 20 per cent more dogs than last year. The goal for financial year '25 will be 3500 dogs," he said.
Asked about any dogs being euthanised, he said "No, that's not happening".
"There was one sick dog that went home overnight with somebody. The seven dogs on medication have gone to our Londonderry facility."
Staff were told only kennel attendant jobs would be available at the new Wyee centre and they could reapply for them.
But there were fears that some staff would be "rehired at a lower rate", which Mr Macaulay disputed.
One worker said staff were concerned about "keeping a roof over their heads" after losing their jobs, but "we're more worried about the dogs".
"I want everybody to know how hard we tried for those dogs."
Another said the dogs must have "proper training".
"These dogs are not domesticated. They have no social skills and are not resilient. They need quite a bit of rehabilitation before they're pet ready."
Mr Macaulay said "dogs that need training come to our centres".
"Dogs that are pet ready stay with their racing trainer until we adopt them. The majority stay with trainers and the others need training."
