Newshub can reveal a greyhound club secured thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to replace their unsafe track with a new one.
A new track was built, but the club had reinstated an old, dangerous starting position on the track.
The industry body said the reconfigured track has been made safer, but Racing Minister Grant Robertson said he's "extremely disappointed", and after receiving the information from Newshub, he's asked the Racing Integrity Board to investigate.
The Manawatū Raceway has a 375-metre starting box. It's back in action after being decommissioned because it was unsafe.
"It's extremely disappointing. The Racing Safety Development Fund is there to improve track safety across all racing codes. They were provided money to create a safer track environment and what we're hearing now is an extremely disappointing outcome," Robertson said.
The Palmerston North Greyhound Club got $13,880 to build a new 410-metre track in 2018, which it did.
"This would be to help reduce injuries" is what Greyhound Racing New Zealand said at the time.
The problem with the old track that led to it being shut down was that it started close to a bend, making it more dangerous as the dogs charged out of the boxes at speed.
"When they turn the corner, that places a huge lot of force on their limbs and also when they're turning corners they tend to bunch together as they round the corner, which increases the chance that they're going to collide with each other," said SPCA safety officer Dr Alison Vaughan.
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The old unsafe track was closed and not used for years. But then at the end of last year, construction crews moved in and it was rebuilt in exactly the same dangerous position - too close to the bend.
However, Greyhound Racing New Zealand says the track has been "realigned" and is now safer.
Its CEO Glenda Hughes says while the left-hand corner of box 1 is positioned in the same place, box 8 has been shifted by 15 centimetres.
"You cannot help look at that decision and come to the conclusion that they're prioritising profit over the welfare of their dogs," Dr Vaughan said.
"I think that is appalling, and unfortunately with the greyhound industry, we're shocked but not surprised. We have seen this sort of thing time and again."
Those who allocated the funding for safety improvements were never informed that the old starting position was being reinstated.
"I believe they should have told officials that, given that they were funded for a safety improvement," Robertson said.
The matter's been referred to the Racing Integrity Board and Robertson is also investigating how to make clubs more accountable for the public money they receive.
"I've asked officials at the Department of Internal Affairs to come back to me as to how we can make sure that clubs are doing what they say they're going to do with the funding they're given," Robertson said.
Since racing resumed at the 375-metre track less than two months ago, 21 dogs have been injured while racing there.
But Greyhound Racing New Zealand (GRNZ) told Newshub that multiple changes occurred when the old starting position was reinstated.
The industry says the realigned boxes allow dogs to take a straighter line to the corner, and a rule change means the lure now starts 10 metres ahead of the dogs.
It says there's been a "reduction in injuries" and "no race falls".
GRNZ said it planned to brief Robertson on the matter next month.
