Dozens of trailers full of greyhounds considered too slow for racing in Australia have reportedly been sent to Asia to prop up a cruel racing industry where the dogs are kept in "prison-like" cells and frequently culled. 
Dozens of Australian trainers and owners have exported their dogs to countries like Macau and China, an investigation by the ABC's 7.30 program has revealed.
As many as 30 Australian greyhounds were being shipped to Macau every month to replace dogs that are regularly incinerated at the Canidrome facility in Macau, according to the report backed by evidence obtained by Animal rights group, Animals Australia.
More than 800 dogs are kept in squalid conditions in cages, dozens are destroyed every month, and one dog dies on the track every day, animal rights advocates estimated, according to the report.
"For those dogs it's actually a straight-out death sentence," said Animals Australia Campaign Director Lyn White.
"The conditions are awful, it's prison-like, barren cells, and in fact it really is like being exported to another country and put on death row," she told 7.30.
The practice is not illegal but, without the required passports, it is against racing rules set out by Australian greyhound racing body Greyhounds Australia. 
As many as 168 greyhounds have been exported to Asia and the Middle East, all without passports, according to data obtained under freedom of information from the Department of Agriculture, from   January to   August 2015 alone.
The head of Macau's leading animal welfare groups, Anima, has written to the Australian consulate in Hong Kong urging them to end the export of Australian animals to Macau.
"What I want the people in Australia to know is that young animals go to Macau and they are killed with no choice to be adopted," Albano Martins told 730.
But a burgeoning greyhound racing market in China is also taking advantage of Australian greyhound exporters, according to the report. 
Animals Australia has called on Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce to amend the Export Control Act so that dogs cannot be exported without industry approval.
But a spokesperson for Mr Joyce told 730 the Government didn't believe mandating the passport scheme would address Animal Welfare concerns. 
Greyhounds Australia had lambasted the government for its inaction.
"The government's reluctance to act on industry and community concerns risks adverse welfare outcomes for exported greyhounds and threatens Australia's standing as a strong advocate for animal welfare,"  Greyhounds Australia Chief Executive Scott Parker said in a statement.
- With AAP