Animal Welfare – Renewed calls to ban greyhound racing after horror weekend on tracks

Animal rights organisation SAFE is renewing calls for the Government to end greyhound racing after yet another horror weekend on the tracks.

Sunday alone saw nine injuries and four broken bones in Auckland. In one race, a lure break-down caused multiple collisions, but this was not even the main factor in the catastrophic pile-up of injuries – many of which were sustained simply during the course of ‘ordinary’ racing.

Commentators on web forum “bitofayarn.com” pointed to a greyhound “yelping constantly in pain,” and noted that the “Stewards report wasn’t going to be a pretty read at all, no matter how much they try to tone it down.”

SAFE Campaigns Manager Anna de Roo said the disastrous weekend was another tragic mark on the greyhound racing industry’s already bleak animal welfare record.

“No one wants to watch this kind of pain inflicted on animals. It’s a horror show,” said de Roo.

In the previous racing season that ended 31 July 2022, 39% of greyhounds had sustained injuries on the track.

“Multiple reviews of the industry have concluded greyhound racing is inherently dangerous. Even under intense scrutiny for animal welfare failings, the industry can’t stop these grisly injuries being inflicted on greyhounds.”

“It is becoming increasingly clear the social licence for greyhound racing has expired,” said de Roo.

A poll by Camorra Research ltd. found 74% of New Zealanders would vote to ban greyhound racing in a referendum. A petition demanding a ban on greyhound racing accrued over 37,000 signatures.

“The public has made their voice loud and clear – they do not want to see dogs injured for entertainment and gambling profits.”  

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Notes for editors:

• Following a review of the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson, the previous Racing Minister, stated there are three fundamental issues that still need to be addressed; data recording, transparency of all activities, and animal welfare generally. He tasked the Racing Integrity board to identify a specific set of indicators over each of these areas that will be used to assess the industry’s progress, reporting back to the Minister before the end of 2022.

• In August 2021, Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan accepted The Greyhound Protection League of New Zealand’s 37,700 signature-strong petition, calling for a ban on greyhound racing in New Zealand. SAFE had been supporting the petition since November 2020.

• Greyhound racing is legal in only seven countries. A ban in the Australian Capital Territory came into force in April 2018, followed by a ban in Florida, USA, in November 2018. Since Florida is home to 11 of the USA’s 17 active dog tracks, this is a signal that greyhound racing will soon become a thing of the past in the United States.

• Last month, two trainers were banned from greyhound racing for two years after inspectors found 15 greyhounds living in what they called “abhorrent conditions”. They were standing in their own excrement, food and waste had not been cleared away, and the greyhounds had excrement through their coats.