Last week our member league association GREY2K USA host a Parliamentary Exhibition in Edinburgh, in the Garden Lobby of the Holyrood, in support of ending dog racing. The team had the occasion to speak to one third of all Members of Scottish Parliament asking to support legislation to phase out dog racing in the country. Twenty-five MSPs signed a pledge.

In Scotland, the Shawfield Stadium of Glasgow has already shut its doors after statistics showed that 197 dogs were injured and 15 died between 2017 and 2020 at the racetrack. Now, only Thornton Stadium remains to be shut down and the Scottish Parliament should work hard to definitively ban this cruel “unproperly” called sport fulfilling the wish of 60% of Scots who support the end of dog racing.

Christine A. Dorchak – President of Grey2K USA – has declared: “Scotland is not alone in working towards the day when all greyhounds run free. On Sunday, the historic Henlow Stadium in England held its last race. Plans to build 75 new homes on the site are already in progress. This latest shutdown follows the closure of the Peterborough, Belle Vue and Poole Stadiums in 2020, Wimbledon and Hall Green in 2017. Meanwhile in the United States, the current handle at the last two American tracks, Wheeling Island and Tri State Greyhound Parks in West Virginia, just plummeted 32.1% and 20% respectively as compared to the first three weeks of last year. If it weren’t for $17 million in annual subsidies, these derelict facilities would have been razed long ago. While we are glad to share these important trends, the fact remains that dogs are still suffering at the more than 100 tracks around the globe”.

Greyhound racing is cruel and inhumane, and out of step with the humane values we all share. It should be phased out. The life of a racing greyhound is dominated by confinement, limited socialisation, injury and death, drugging and overbreeding.

CONFINEMENT

Greyhounds are kept confined in solitary cages for long hours each day. They have little opportunity for social interaction with people or other dogs. Some are also constantly muzzled, a kind of cage within a cage.

DRUGGING

Performance-enhancing drugs are used to dope dogs and fix races. These illegal substances expose greyhounds to the risk of neurological and muscular abnormalities, increased heart rate, convulsions, vomiting and lethargy.

INJURIES AND DEATHS

Greyhound racing is inherently unsafe. At tracks across the world, fragile greyhounds face death and injury at every turn, routinely suffering broken legs, crushed skulls, paralysis, heart attacks and other serious injuries.

BREEDING

Thousands of puppies are bred every year to supply the industry, creating a culture of waste. This oversupply puts signifcant pressure on volunteer rescue groups, and the sad result is that healthy dogs are regularly killed due to a lack of homes.

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