Ban Greyhound Racing in Wales
The movement to phase out greyhound racing was initially spearheaded by Hope Rescue, who along with Greyhound Rescue Wales (GRW), spent years – and funds – taking in surplus and injured dogs from the track near Caerphilly. In September 2021, Hope Rescue launched a petition calling for a ban on greyhound racing in Wales, which was eventually signed by more than 35,000 people. Three organisations have recently joined forces alongside GRW and Hope Rescue to campaign for a phased end, including Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, and the RSPCA.
Valley Greyhound Stadium in Ystrad Mynach is the only racing track in Wales and a petition to the Senedd on banning received more than 35,000 signatures
“A phased end is needed to allow the racing industry and animal welfare organisations to carefully plan and coordinate the care of the many dogs affected.”
Like Hope Rescue and GRW, the RSPCA has also spent years engaging with the industry to secure welfare improvements along with Blue Cross and Dogs Trust. In 2022, the RSPCA, Blue Cross, Dogs Trust and GRW each changed their policies to call for a phased end to the activity. This is because we firmly believe that it is impossible to ensure that each and every greyhound has a good quality of life before, during and after their racing careers. The only way to truly safeguard the welfare of the dogs in this industry is to phase it out entirely.
source https://www.iwa.wales/agenda/2023/06/a-phased-end-to-greyhound-racing-in-wales/
A phased end is needed to allow the racing industry and animal welfare organisations to carefully plan and coordinate the care of the many dogs affected. Our organisations want to see an end to greyhound racing announced to put a stop to the unnecessary and completely preventable deaths and injury of countless dogs every year. Wales has already demonstrated its ability to set its own high animal welfare standards by being the first UK nation to ban electric shock collars for dogs, with prohibitions on the use of both snares and glue traps also expected to become law soon. Becoming the first UK nation to ban greyhound racing would further prove our commitment to the welfare of our fellow creatures while showing that risking dogs’ lives for the sake of entertainment has no place in a modern, compassionate Wales.
BAN GREYHOUND RACING IN WALES
BAN GREYHOUND RACING IN WALES
The petiton is now closed and will be debated in The Senedd on 8 March 2023
Ban greyhound racing in Wales
In Wales we have one independent greyhound track racing once a week. Since April 2018, Hope Rescue & their rescue partners have taken in almost 200 surplus greyhounds from this track, 40 of which sustained injuries. There are plans for the track to become a Greyhound Board of Great Britain track, racing four times a week, greatly increasing the number of surplus dogs & injuries. Greyhound racing is inherently cruel & greyhounds have little legal protection. It is already banned in 41 US states.
More details
Campaign groups have collated data and evidence of poor welfare within greyhound racing in the U.K.
Alliance Against Greyhound Racing: https://www.aagr.org.uk/category/why-is-greyhound-racing-cruel/
League Against Cruel Sports: https://www.league.org.uk/greyhound-racing
There have also been press articles and undercover investigations in to greyhound racing:
RTE Investigates: Greyhounds Running For Their Lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM
Panorama investigates: Doping and rigging bets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0p0bHSkIAk
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/greyhounds-being-shipped-pakistan-illegal-23765480
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13086085/british-greyhounds-racing-dogs-mass-graves-bolt/
A recent petition is due to be debated in Parliament after securing 104,882 signatures.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554073
Ban Greyhound Racing in Ireland
What the Greyhound Industry DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW !
The Greyhound Racing industry in the Republic of Ireland is regulated and promoted by the commercial semi-state body the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB). There are currently 15 IGB licensed Greyhound racing tracks in the country. There are also five independent "flapper" tracks that are not overseen by an industry body, but are instead licensed by the city and town councils in which they are located. Finally, there is one track in Northern Ireland, which is regulated by the Irish Coursing Club.
The majority of greyhounds racing in Ireland are bred in the country. In 2019, there were 2,324 litters registered in the Irish Greyhound Stud Book, a decrease of 23% since 2010.3
Source GREY2KUSA https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/worldwide/ireland.php
RTÉ Investigates: Greyhounds Running for Their Lives reported that 5,987 Greyhounds were slaughtered in 2017 because they failed to make qualification times or their performance had declined. Many Greyhounds are being culled at knackeries – with one company saying it shot dogs in bulk – in breach of a regulation that only veterinary practitioners can euthanise Greyhounds.
The IGB has Racing Regulations that include rules for betting and prize money, doping policies and requirements for racing officials.Additionally, the Irish government passed the Welfare of Greyhounds Act in 2011 that sets standards for certain Greyhound breeding operations and general welfare requirements for housing, transport and record keeping.
Many charities and organisation are exposing tracks and trainers that have breached regulations, with Greyhounds being kept in the most appalling conditions, where they are abused by being raced on injuries and many Greyhounds are subjected to drugs such as cocaine to enhance their performance.
Currently there are 14 greyhound tracks in Southern Ireland – Galway, Dublin, Dundalk, Enniscorthy, Kilkenny, Mullingar, Newbridge, Clonmel, Cork, Limerick, Thurles, Tralee, Waterford and Youghal. In 2019 two further tracks were shut down, Lifford and Longford.
These all are under the control of Bord na gCon which was renamed Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCE) (Greyhound Racing Ireland) in 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound_Racing_Ireland
In Northern Ireland there are two further greyhound tracks – Drumbo and Derry. However these tracks are under the control of the Irish Coursing Club (ICC).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Coursing_Club
Greyhound Racing Ireland is a commercial semi-state body charged with regulating and promoting greyhound racing in Ireland since its founding in July 1958. It reports to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Since 2001 the Irish government has granted €273 million to the greyhound racing industry.
Some of this funding is taken from a levy on all gambling in Ireland, which has been ring-fenced for the industry.
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2020/08/01/e1-365-billion-irish-government-grants-to-horse-and-greyhound-racing/
In 2020 the amount granted was €16.8m. Without this funding the greyhound racing industry would be ‘goosed’ as claimed by one Irish politician in 2019.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30951839.html
Despite very generous funding from the Irish taxpayer, attendances at greyhound tracks have been in freefall and this trend has continued forward.
source https://www.aagr.org.uk/category/racing-in-ireland-scotland/
More information GREY2KUSA Greyhound racing in Ireland
Many other Greyhounds are passed from trainer to trainer and only the lucky dogs end up in rescue centres for abandon dogs but the majority of Greyhounds are found mutilated or with their ears cut off to prevent the identity of the abuser/owner/trainer being found through the tattoo numbers insider their ears.
Ban The Exportation of Greyhounds
Greyhounds around the world are exploited for profit and entertainment and then abandoned and even killed by brutal methods at the end of their short race careers. They are often mutilated to prevent the owner being identified.
The number of owners of greyhounds used in racing has plummeted by nearly 3,000 over the past decade, newly released statistics show.
The number of owners of greyhounds used in racing has plummeted by nearly 3,000 over the past decade, newly released statistics show.
The figures were revealed by the Minister for Agriculture and provide further confirmation that more and more people are abandoning the dying greyhound “industry”.
Minister Charlie McConalogue was responding to a Dail Question from Neasa Hourigan TD (Green Party, Dublin Central) who asked for the “number of registered non-coursing greyhound owners for each of the years 2013 to 2023 inclusive”.
An active owner was defined as an owner who “had one or more greyhounds that raced/trialled in the Republic of Ireland tracks during the calendar year”.
The figures provided show that there were 2,927 FEWER owners of racing greyhounds in 2023 compared to 2013. That’s a massive drop of 36%.
In 2013, the number stood at 8,165 and last year, it was 5,238.
One of the largest annual drops was in 2022, which saw a major exodus of 520 owners compared to 2021. See below for more details.
These are just some of several losses Greyhound Racing Ireland has seen in recent years. Its latest annual report, published in September 2023, showed that it suffered a massive drop in profits in 2022.
Its pre-tax profit was just €1.08 million – 63% less than the 2021 figure of €2.94 million.
The annual report also revealed falls in the number of greyhound races, race meetings, greyhound entries and greyhound rehomings in 2022.
Greyhound Racing Ireland laughably claimed that “2022 was a positive year for Rásaíocht Con Éireann from a greyhound racing perspective”, but in reality, GRI saw:
• A huge drop in the number of races – from 15,533 in 2021 to 14,299 in 2022,
• A drop in the number of race meetings – from 1,384 in 2021 to 1,358 in 2022 and
• A substantial 7,800 (8.5%) decline in the “number of greyhound entries” – from 91,778 in 2021 to 83,978 in 2022.
Also down was the number of greyhounds reportedly rehomed via GRI’s Irish Retired Greyhound Trust. According to GRI, 2,234 greyhounds were rehomed in 2021 but in 2022, this fell by nearly 20% to just 1,808 rehomings. These figures covered only a fraction of the number of greyhounds exiting racing. An estimated 6,000 are killed behind the scenes each year because they are not fast enough to win.
Also down was the “prize money contributions from owners & sponsors”, falling by more than 20% from €1.86 million in 2021 to €1.47 million in 2022. This did not stop GRI from increasing the total prizemoney for the year to €8.3 million, covering 82% of this total. It stated in its report that “prize money contributions account for 39% of the total allocation to GRI from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund”. This means that €6,828,973 of the €17,600,000 in taxpayers’ money handed over to GRI in 2022 was paid out as prizemoney to greyhound owners and trainers.
Read the annual report at
Click to access rasaiocht-con-eireann-annual-report-2022.pdf
Active owners of greyhounds used in racing:
Year: Number of Owners
2013: 8,165
2014: 7,572
2015: 7,288
2016: 7,124
2017: 6,630
2018: 6,200
2019: 6,211
2020: 5,738
2021: 5,717
2022: 5,197
2023: 5,238
Ban the Exportation of Greyhounds with the Exception of Rescue purposes only
What The Greyhound Racing Industry Is Not Telling Anyone
Doping Dogs
Dogs are sometimes given illegal drugs such as Cocaine, Morphine and Amphetimines such as Speed. 'This can also be found on the GBGB website, under 'Disiplinaries' Dogs can either be sped up or slowed down.
Drugs are mostly used to speed a dog up.
Some dogs may be fed a heavy meal a few hours before a race to slow them down. This can cause bloat which is often fatal.
(The dogs stomach dilates and twists)Some dogs tend to run on the inside of the track and others on the outside
Therefore placing an outside dog in an inside trap – and an inside dog on an outside trap will cause them to cross the track to gain their usual running position.
Doing this means dogs will crash into one another and can cause devastation costing the lives of dogs.
Both doping of dogs and feeding before a race carries high risks for the dogs, including seizures, stroke, and death.
Source https://www.cagednw.co.uk/greyhoundcruelty.html
Injuries On The Track
Under the GBGB Rules, there must be a qualified vet at every GBGB licensed track while dogs are racing.
The vet checks each dog before a race but this does not protect the dog sufficiently because:
The vet is not given enough amount of time to examine the dogs properly which means dogs are often run with injuries. Unless injury or illness is obvious they will be raced, exacerbating the injury.
Some dogs may be given drugs such as anti inflammatories by their trainers to mask the pain so that they can still run.
These dogs will eventually fall, or go completely lame.Source https://www.cagednw.co.uk/greyhoundcruelty.html
Why are dogs raced with injuries?
Some trainers dogs are used for live streaming (TV broadcasting across the world)
These are called BAGS trainers.
Bags means Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound ServiceGreyhound Trainers may;
A) Own their dogs
B) Kennel them for other owners
C) Part own dogsFor every dog entered in a BAGS race, a trainer is usually paid in the region of £20 to £40, depending on the track. The dog does not have to be placed. Payment is given even for the losers. Dogs have even been raced while blind or partially blind.
Source https://www.cagednw.co.uk/greyhoundcruelty.html
When a dog gets injured on the track
If it's a serious injury and the dog remains alive after the fall, the dog will be carried to the vet room usually by the owner, trainer, or any other assisting person but not normally by a qualified veterinary person.
If a dog has a break, especially in the spinal region, it may be made worse by moving the dog inappropriately (by an unqualified veterinary professional)
There are barely any resources at the track for an injured dog. There is only a vet room and a vet who can administer drugs such as painkillers or euthanasia.
We have been advised by insiders that dogs on many occasion are unnecessarily euthanised if a track vet does not carry enough painkillers to the track.
A dog may be sent home with an injury such as a broken hock after being given painkillers. Dogs are raced often of an evening, when vet practices are not open, and call out fees are expensive, therefore dogs may be left overnight without any emergency care, x-rays etc, other than the pain killers given by the vet.
(If a dog is sent home and later destroyed it will not show on the tracks data for deaths recorded due to injury. This benefits the track management, giving their reputation a boost for less injured dogs destroyed at their track)
There is no guarantee a dog will be taken to a vet surgery after he/she has left the track. There are no follow up checks. Dogs may be left lame, for example with broken toes, hocks etc, for months with no treatment given.
Some will have calcified joints or horrific bone malformations due to being left without treatment.
Many of these cases have been witnessed by rescue centres and campaigners
The Murder Of The Greyhounds
The Captive Bolt Gun
It is legal for any person to destroy greyhounds using a captive bolt gun. No training or license is required by law.
Use of the Captive bolt gun.
The bolt gun is placed on a specific area of the skull – If misplaced, it will cause horrific injury and will not render the dog fully unconscious.
This may cause the killer to make repeated attempts, destroying the dog in a most inhumane manner, while causing horrific pain, terror and suffering.
Deaths Of Innocent Greyhounds
Dogs are very often destroyed at flapping tracks. A vet may attend a flapping track specifically to destroy dogs that are not fast enough, injured, or just no longer wanted for racing. These death figures are not recorded.
Homed dogs are also often retained dogs, this means they are kept by their trainer/owners when they are no longer racing on a licensed track.
These dogs are no longer registered to race so are classed as 'no longer' responsible for by the GBGB therefore they may be later;
1) Exported to race or for breeding, to countries where there are no welfare laws to protect them, such as Pakistan, Spain, China, Romania, etc
2) Used for breeding in trainers kennels, until they are no longer producing, and then destroyed
3) Sent onto race at flapping tracks
4) Kept on allotments in horrific conditions, with little to no proper shelter, bedding, stimulation, or vet treatment – also left outdoors in freezing weather throughout the winter.