Talking Couch Potatoes

A very personal episode. We sit down with Dr Ann Hakara Holdsworth, veterinarian and founder of Pets at Peace - Home Vet, a gentle home euthanasia and palliative care service for our furry family members 🕊️

Dr Ann is the vet who came to Matt's home the day he said goodbye to his beloved Princess, Bunny. Her first words at the door were "do you need a hug?" and honestly, that tells you everything about how she does this work 🤍

In this episode, Dr Ann shares:
🐦 Why she became a vet in the first place (spoiler: baby birds!)
😿 The loss of her own beloved cat, Kimmy...and the night that reshaped her entire approach to end-of-life care
⏰ Why it is kinder to be a week too early than a day too late
✨ The "three spunkies and still eating" rule, a beautifully simple way to gauge when it might be time
🧊 The iceberg effect..."nothing to see here".
🏡 Her whole model of care: peace over perfection, every single time

Plus Mel brings the latest WA injury figures and they are grim 😔, we sit in the silence from the inquiry 🦗, Matt urges you to hound your MP 📣, and we meet Goofy, our Foster of the Fortnight who badly needs out of kennels 🐕

💛 A gentle heads up: this episode covers pet loss, grief and euthanasia. Be kind to yourself while you listen.
🕊️ Find Dr Ann here
🏡 Could you foster or adopt? Goofy and Zeus are both still waiting. Reach out to Greyhound Adoptions WA
🍽️ Huge thanks to our podcast sponsor Sprinkles and Sprouts

Rescued, not retired 🐾

#TalkingCouchPotatoes #FreeTheHounds #EndGreyhoundRacing #AnimalAdvocacy #PetsAtPeace #PetLoss #RescuedNotRetired

Seventy episodes in, and we've marked it with one of the most remarkable conversations we've had!

Michelle Carr first joined us back in Episode 48, sitting firmly on the other side of the fence. A welder by trade, dog enthusiast by nature, deep into ethology, breed history and genetics...she came on to make the case for racing.

Then she reflected. Listened back. Started examining her arguments, going right through the stewards' reports, the economics and the research, until she'd written a full piece of her own: 📄 Public Costs, Private Industry.

In this episode, Michelle discusses some of what she found:

🧵 Unravelling arguments
🏭 An industry consolidating
💸Gambling Harm and demographics
🐕 The "greyhounds will go extinct!" trope, dismantled
🧠 And her advice for anyone still sitting on the fence

Plus
💔 Mel and Matt on the shocking death of a dog exercised behind a quad bike
📣 why right now - with the inquiry report due - is the moment to talk to your local MP, and
🐶 Foster of the Fortnight Zeus, a gorgeous black houndy mix who badly needs out of kennels and into a couch. 🛋️
🙏 Special thanks to our podcast sponsor Sprinkles and Sprouts — delicious food made with grocery store ingredients
🐾 Want to meet Zeus? Get in touch with Greyhound Adoptions WA

#TalkingCouchPotatoes #FreeTheHounds #EndGreyhoundRacing #AnimalAdvocacy

We are thrilled to bring you Stephen Walters - independent economist with Optimal Economics, and author of the very first Cost-Benefit Analysis of Greyhound Racing in WA (2026), commissioned by Animals Australia 📊

Perth-raised and now Sydney-based, Stephen started with a blank sheet of paper 📄, trawled through budget papers, audited annual reports and ABS data, followed the money trail 💰... and what he found blows the industry's "economic benefit" claims clean out of the water.

In this episode, Stephen breaks down:
💸 Why WA is set to LOSE around $36 million in economic value from greyhound racing this year alone
🎰 The $110+ million in gambling harm that industry-sponsored studies conveniently leave out of their economic studies
🏛️ The estimated $39+ million this year of YOUR taxes propping up prize money, breeding bonuses and track upgrades
📉 A cost-benefit ratio of just 0.79 - spend $100, get only $79 of value back (odds no punter would take! 🙅)

Plus 🐾 Mel introduces our Foster of the Fortnight, Red ❤️ a sweet, shy two-year-old boy looking for his forever family through Greyhound Adoptions WA ...and Matt opens proceedings with his best Summer of (Episode) '69 serenade 🎸😅

Read about the report here 👉 https://animalsaustralia.org/our-work/greyhound-racing/greyhound-racing-in-western-australia-is-costing-community-millions/

Special thanks to our awesome podcast sponsor Sprinkles and Sprouts 🌱https://www.sprinklesandsprouts.com/

#TalkingCouchPotatoes #FreeTheHounds #EndGreyhoundRacing #AnimalsAustralia

The New Zealand people have been heard, and greyhound racing will permanently end on August 1st 2026!
So this week we sit down with one of the people who helped make it happen: Emily Robertson, a spokesperson and volunteer for The Greyhound Protection League of New Zealand for over a decade. 🇳🇿✊Emily's not just an advocate, she's also a lawyer and has FIVE gorgeous hounds (Luigi, Niji, Carly, and litter mates Billy & Tilly) 🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕In this episode, Emily breaks down:🔑 The five key factors that won the fight to end greyhound racing in NZ⏳ Why persistence through over a decade of being ignored, laughed at and fought was non-negotiable🤝 How having a solid support system got them through advocate fatigue📰 The investigative journalism that finally dragged the issue into the public eye🐾 How greyhounds themselves turned out to be their own best advocates
Plus Mel and Matt kick things off with a lovely recap of our BrewDog meet-up, a tender moment remembering the beautiful hounds we've lost, an update on our foster favourites (happy tails for Sandy who is officially ADOPTED 🎉), and an urgent callout for foster carers for Helena, plus Chopper and Des, who are currently stuck in boarding kennels. 🏠💛Greyhound Protection League of New Zealand
https://www.gplnz.org/Special thanks to our podcast sponsor Sprinkles and Sprouts 🌱 https://www.sprinklesandsprouts.com/#TalkingCouchPotatoes #FreeTheHounds #EndGreyhoundRacing #GreyhoundProtectionLeagueNZ #AdoptDontShop

We are beyond excited to bring you a conversation that had us completely losing track of time...meet Carey Theil, Executive Director of GREY2K USA Worldwide, calling in all the way from Boston, Massachusetts, USA!

Carey is co-founder of the most powerful greyhound advocacy organisation on the planet. His organisation played a key role in shutting down 46 greyhound racing tracks in the US, and 44 states declaring it illegal.
He's got a TED Talk with co-founder Christine Dorchak on 25 years of activism, a PhD-level approach to policy, and interestingly, he's also a national chess master! 😉♟️

And he agrees that the most critical greyhound fight in the world right now is here in Australia.

In this episode, Carey breaks down:
🌍 How GREY2K USA went from a heartbreaking loss in Massachusetts to closing almost all US dog tracks over 25 years
🤝 Why international collaboration between advocacy groups is the key to real, lasting change
🏆 Why the end of greyhound racing is inevitable. We only have to win once!
💛 And a reminder to look after yourself in advocacy work...we are playing a long game

Plus we meet Jazz 🖤🤍, a gorgeous black tuxedo'd boy hoping for his furever-fam. Contact Greyhound Adoptions WA to meet this handsome fella! https://www.savour-life.com.au/adopt-a-dog/search-now/view/130006⁠

🫣We also forgot to do the outro... because we were so deep in this conversation we had to record it from the pub. Sorry about that!🍺😂

Special thanks to our podcast sponsor Sprinkles and Sprouts 🌱 ⁠https://www.sprinklesandsprouts.com/⁠

#TalkingCouchPotatoes #FreeTheHounds #EndGreyhoundRacing #GREY2KUSA