Wagga's greyhound racing track has been labelled one of the "deadliest" in the state following the release of new figures.
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An analysis of 99 stewards' reports compiled by NSW Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi showed five dogs died during 25 race meetings in Wagga and a further 84 were injured this year.
Dr Faruqi said the figures showed that The Gardens outside Newcastle is the deadliest track in NSW, followed by Gosford, Nowra and Lismore with six deaths each.
Wagga was the "most likely for a dog to die", with one-in-five race meets resulting in a greyhound death, according to the Greens.
However, the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission says Wagga is actually one of the safest tracks in NSW, with three incidents occurring at one race meeting which "skewed the data".
The figures come as the Wagga Greyhound Racing Club is preparing for a pre-Christmas meeting on Sunday.
Across all tracks in NSW, stewards' reports reveal that in 2019, 63 dogs died on track and 2530 were injured, according to the Greens.
A spokeswoman for the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission said it supervised 286 greyhound race meetings - with 2835 races and 20,289 greyhound starts - during the July to September quarter.
"The number of greyhounds that suffered a catastrophic injury resulting in euthanasia or death was 12, representing a rate of 0.6 per 1000 starts," the spokeswoman said.
"This is the lowest catastrophic injury rate since reporting began in 2016.
"Catastrophic injuries at Wagga are an anomaly not a trend."
Senator Faruqi said that in NSW at least one dog has been killed and 48 injured on track each week, but the Newcastle track is the deadliest with eight dogs "dying for the sake of a bet this year".
"Greyhound racing can never be made safe for animals," she said.
"We know that only half of dogs make it out of racing alive.
"Drugging and doping of dogs continues. The original reasons for the ban are still very much present," she said.
"Forty-one million dollars in taxpayer money has been sunk into greyhound racing and gambling industry since the Liberals' backflip and dogs are still breaking their necks, spines and legs for the sake of a bet."
