Gone to the dogs? A look at greyhound racing's future - June 2025

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm posting this topic here, as an 'impartial' member of the Coffee Shop forum - grahame may have been reluctant to post such, as he has a vested interest in greyhounds - although I haven't asked him whether that's the case here.

So, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

On Saturday, Towcester Racecourse in Northamptonshire will host the annual English Greyhound Derby, with a £175,000 prize at stake for the winner.

While adored by some, the event has previously been a target for animal rights protestors, who claim the welfare of dogs is at stake so long as racing continues.

BBC News looks at where the divisive sport stands in 2025.

Earlier this year, the Welsh government announced it would ban greyhound racing "as soon as practically possible". It followed cross-party calls for a ban, a government consultation and a petition that attracted some 35,000 signatures.

No timeline has been announced for the ban, but it was welcomed by a coalition of animal welfare charities including the Dogs Trust, which said England, Scotland and Northern Ireland should follow suit. "Greyhound racing is inherently dangerous for the dogs involved, and running at speed around oval tracks causes significant injury to many dogs," it said. "In some cases, the injuries are so severe that it is necessary to euthanise the dog."

However, the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said in February that there were "absolutely no plans" to extend the ban announced in Wales.

According to data published by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, 109 dogs died trackside at races in 2023. The number does not include deaths which may have occurred during training, or that have resulted later from injuries incurred during racing.

In 2023, welfare group Animal Rising scaled scaffolding in a bid to disrupt the greyhound derby at Towcester. The racecourse said the action had cost it "thousands of pounds" in security, but racing had not been disrupted.

That BBC news article continues, in some detail, so I won't quote all of it here - but please do click on the link if you would like to read more.

Meanwhile, I have become increasingly familiar with grahame's two greyhounds, in Melksham. They are both great characters, the senior one leading their pursuits over the lawns towards squirrels, pigeons, a neighbour's cat, or indeed anything else they spotted 'on the ground'.

Chris.

[grahame]

You have a really interesting conundrum here - and one that plays with the lives of beautiful dogs in looks and character.   Our two exist and are here with us and they are lovely family pets but only because of the fearsome sport from which they were [retired/rescued] (and people will argue whether they really are rescue!).

Greyhounds are treated far much more as a disposable commodity in Ireland, and a number of specialist rescues such as Bristol DAWG in our area have more rehoming offers than local dogs in the area for rehoming, and I see posts from time to time welcoming hounds coming to England to retire.  From what I read, they are more scarse in the USA and there's also a flow across the Atlantic.  There's a Far Eastern element too.

I don't pretend to have an answer. I do know that the breed could become at risk if there was no racing at all worldwide.  I know that some of them love to run for pleasure, and that they are delicate dogs as top atheletes can be delicate - always getting scrapes and grazes even in our environment.  Our Lulu came with clear evidence of a pretty dramatic history, for sure ... but the since she arrived she's got more major and minor marks and hindsight suggests that she may have suffered in a horrific industry, or just had the accidents she's prone too.

There are bad and good trainers ... we have some locally who rehome their ex and failed racers in the community, and some have arrangements with the like of Dog's Trust who have an arrangement to take some greyhounds in when they retire.  I sense the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) trainers are kinder than the Irish ones, but that's based on what I read and what I read may not be balanced - a false evidence sample.

Oh goodness - this is a safe space where I can spew this out in arena where so many people have highly charged views.   We know the history somewhat of our current too, and we knew it for Billy who was an "outlier" and not one of the pattern.  And don't get me started on lunchers, or on various bull terrier types.

Lisa commented "you see lots of pictures and cuddly labrador puppies, but have you - ever - seen a greyhound puppy?"

Err - you haven't asked, Chris - happy to respond if that WAS a question.  Think I have done.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Err - you haven't asked, Chris - happy to respond if that WAS a question.  Think I have done.

No, grahame, it wasn't a question - more of a hopefully tactful introduction to my own post on this topic, relevant particularly to you. 

They nearly got that squirrel, though! 

CfN.