The 100 year anniversary of dog racing in the UK is fast approaching, and there are still debates as to the ethics behind the sport. The first greyhound meeting was held on July 24th, 1926, at Belle Vue in Manchester, but within 10 years there were roughly 200 tracks across the country. Opposition to the races is nothing new though, and Winston Churchill wrote a letter to the Home Secretary in 1927 about his disgust towards it.
Despite the objections, England is still one of five countries that have legalised dog racing, while Scotland and Wales are phasing it out.
Annual data, published by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), show that dog deaths have lowered from 427 in 2023, to 386 in 2024, with the total number of track fatalities being 123. The Greyhound Board did not provide a comment when asked.
Members of Parliament have been lobbying for a ban on racing for years, and Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan explained, “the greyhound industry has failed to deliver on its promises to make real improvements to the welfare of these wonderful animals, and we can no longer stay silent.” From 2020 to 2024 statistics show that there were at least 20,398 injuries because of dog racing.
Mr Duncan-Jordan also mentioned the hundreds of dogs that animal welfare charities say disappear each year. He stated, “We just don’t know the true number of puppies left unaccounted for between birth and racing registration – because the industry refers to these missing young dogs as ‘wastage’.” According to the Blue Cross, statistics from the GBGB do not refer to these puppies, leaving them completely unacknowledged every year.
Over the years there have been many organisations dedicated to supporting retired greyhounds and protesting against the sport. The Alliance Against Greyhound Racing (AAGR) has been fully active since around 2021, when they managed to trigger a parliamentary debate after their petition gained over 100,000 signatures in only six months.
A representative at AAGR, Dr Moe Kaur, described the motivations of many of the volunteers, saying, “many of us have seen the damage racing has done to our own greyhounds, as well as those in rescue.” She added, “around 3,500 greyhounds are dumped into homing organisations every year, with an increasing number being stuck in trainers kennels due to a lack of space.”
Ella Murphy has been volunteering at a shelter for retired greyhounds for a year, so she’s been observing the behavioural patterns of the dogs. Although she has not seen firsthand how the dogs are treated while racing, she has said, “some of the dogs come in with injuries, some come in and they are ill, most commonly they come in with their relationship with humans severely damaged.” She explained how nervous some dogs can be when they enter the retirement shelter, with some of them refusing to leave their kennels at first. The dogs often have specific fears from their own experiences before retiring, such as other dogs or men.
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Dr Kaur explained, “there is no denying some trainers look after the greyhounds very well, then at the other end you have trainers who have neglected and starved greyhounds.”
Ella Murphy has also used her time at the shelter to learn more about what greyhounds across the country experience. Each year only around 3,000 retired greyhounds are actually able to be rehomed, with an estimated 10,000 dogs being left behind. Ella addressed this, saying, “I know they are severely overbred to supply for races, and they are often killed if they are not fast enough.” The UK gets most of its racing greyhounds supplied from Ireland, with the country transporting an average of 6,250 on a yearly basis.
Recent retirement data from Greyhound Racing UK shows that roughly 60% of greyhounds end up in homing centres, whilst only 11% are rehomed by their owners or trainers.
Kate Pirie rescued her greyhound, Caoimhe, from a local greyhound trust a few years ago, and described the conditions she found her in, “she was underweight. So much so that it looked like she had black rings around her tail, but it was actually the dips between each bone. She smelt bad and was filthy, but she looked at me as though she knew we belonged together.”
While most greyhounds race until between the ages of three and five, Caoimhe was only two years and nine months old when she was adopted, but her retirement was for a reason. Kate Pirie was told, “she had raced multiple times and sustained an injury which required rehabilitation. She was raced again before she had fully healed and the same problem occurred with her leg.” She retired from racing and was put up for rescue soon after.
To this day there are an estimated 18 registered greyhound tracks remaining in the UK, with Belle Vue closing its doors after being sold in 2019, and Crayford Stadium closing as recently as 2025. There are also three tracks being run independent of GBGB, earning them the title of ‘flapping tracks’ due to them being unlicensed. Data from these stadiums is not included in official statistics, making it nearly impossible to track the treatment of the dogs involved in these races.
The popularity of greyhound racing has been slowly dwindling since the second world war, when the Labour government started taxing the tracks by an average of 95%. Additionally, when betting shops were legalised in the 1960s, many greyhound gamblers found that the opening times were targeted towards horse racing and would close at night when the dog races took place. This put more strain on the profit of the industry, but it is still making roughly £800 million in betting turnover.
The movement against greyhound racing needs more support, with Dr Kaur saying, “the biggest help would be to contact local MPs, making them aware of the cruelty involved in greyhound racing. Help spread awareness, support any local demo groups and sign any serious petitions asking for a ban on greyhound racing.”
