After 100 years of greyhound racing, ministers must finally ban it
4 min read
As greyhound racing reaches its 100-year anniversary, the government must follow Wales and Scotland’s lead and commit to banning the practice in England.
This year marks a milestone for animal protection across the UK.
Within the space of a week, both the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments passed legislation to introduce a ban on greyhound racing in their respective nations.
This year also marks the 100-year anniversary of greyhound racing, with the first race in Manchester in July 1926. After a century of the practice, this anniversary must be more than a milestone. It marks a moment to recognise the harm caused, confront the failures of the industry, and acknowledge that public opinion has moved on.
England now faces a clear choice: follow suit or risk becoming an outlier – undermining our credibility on animal protection and damaging our reputation as a global leader.
Concerns around animal protection continue to overshadow the greyhound racing industry. The life of most racing dogs is marked by isolation and misery. Typically confined to unclean kennels, dogs face little social interaction, rough handling, and untreated wounds.
The industry’s own data reflects this crisis. More than 31,000 greyhounds were injured between 2017 and 2024, with thousands more put down – often because the costs of treatment have outweighed the value placed on their lives.
Data also shows that over 600 dogs have fallen during races this year – more than four every day. It has also identified more than 2,000 dogs who have raced since January but have not been seen in over a month, nor reported as adopted or retired. With the industry’s horrific track record, I am deeply concerned about the fate of these dogs.
These figures are all the more worrying given they sit alongside concerns about the effectiveness of the industry’s self-regulation. Statistics from the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) show over 100 breaches of their own rules since the start of last year, which reports indicate amount to over 200 potential criminal offences. This includes serious cases of dangerous neglect and failures to protect dogs from injury and death, alongside broader issues such as substance misuse and integrity violations.
Yet none of these cases appear to have been referred to the police. Instead, reports suggest that the industry handles these cases internally, issuing only weak, ineffective sanctions.
As a nation of animal lovers, this isn’t something we can continue to ignore.
Those in favour of the sport argue that it is a ‘cornerstone’ of working-class life and a contributor to jobs and economic growth. But these claims simply don’t stand up to scrutiny.
Public attitudes are shifting. Interest in the sport is in decline, with the vast majority disengaged. Public petitions have demonstrated clear public backing for change and a growing expectation that Government action will follow. Working class culture evolves over time and simply because racing was traditionally seen as a working-class pastime – that in itself is not reason enough to defend it and the mistreatment of the dogs that are involved.
The economic case for the sport is equally weak. While the industry cites a £55m annual contribution to our economy, independent evidence shows that the sector sustains a limited number of low-wage roles without delivering meaningful long-term economic value. This is not a serious growth industry, but rather a sector seeking to be shielded from its own loss of public support.
As a gambling product, greyhound racing is inseparable from gambling harm – with real costs for both society and the public purse.
The impacts of gambling-related harm are widespread and devastating, reaching into families and communities across the country and placing additional strain on already stretched public services.
We cannot allow industry narratives to obscure this reality.
As greyhound racing approaches 100-year anniversary, I urge the government to use this moment to reconsider its position and bring forward legislation to ban greyhound racing in England, aligning with the direction of travel in Scotland and Wales.
Doing so would place animal protection firmly at the heart of policymaking, properly reflect the values of a nation of animal lovers, and help deliver on this Labour government’s commitment to reduce gambling harms.
Neil Duncan-Jordan is the Labour MP for Poole
