Greyhound Racing

Last Friday I spent the evening at Romford Greyhound Stadium.

“Why?!” you might ask.

Because this is one of the UK’s 16 remaining Dog Racing tracks, and I, along with many others, think it should be shut down.

Greyhound racing originated in the early 1900’s and involves greyhounds chasing a mechanical ‘hare’ around a racetrack. There’s a misconception that this is a harmless ‘sport’, as dogs love to run, but on the contrary, it’s a cruel practice that treats living beings as commercial commodities and results in widespread death and suffering.

More than 4000 greyhounds within the racing industry died between 2017 and 2024, and during the same period there were over 35,000 reported injuries. In 2024, one dog died every 3 days.

Off the track

Yet these are just the recorded statistics. It's unknown how many dogs are killed (often by a bolt gun to the back of the head, or by drowning) either before they reach race-readiness (because they’re not fast enough to win) or if they’ve become injured and are no longer considered profitable. Estimated figures suggest that around 15 - 20,000 dogs are bred for the industry every year in Ireland, with a further 1000 bred in Great Britain – that’s 10 times more dogs being born every year than are required to race. It doesn’t take complex maths to work out that that leaves a lot of what the industry refers to as ‘wastage’.

Those who make the cut spend most of their time confined in barren kennels, often muzzled. They have little enrichment, socialisation or exercise. They are often kept in low light, with bad sanitation, and are fed poor diets. Investigations have documented widespread abuse and suffering.

Race day

Dogs are routinely drugged before races with substances such as cocaine, to enhance their performance. They’re often raced in dangerously high temperatures. And whilst greyhounds may have a natural instinct to chase, the action of running at speed around an oval track is hugely problematic to their physicality. They reach speeds of up to 45mph; running around corners this fast subjects their bodies to high pressures and asymmetrical forces. Collisions are frequent, and injuries range from fractured ribs, torn tendons, broken necks and spinal paralysis. It’s a requirement that every licensed greyhound racing track has a freezer onsite to store dead bodies.

Afterwards

Greyhounds are typically retired when they’re between 3 and five years old. Their natural lifespan is 10-14 years. A recent estimate from the industry itself suggested that there are around 2,500 dogs waiting in trainers’ kennels for a place to become available at a rescue centre. These are obviously the lucky ones, yet the UK dog rescue sector is already overflowing and operating huge waiting lists for kennel spaces.

Between April 2022 – March 2023 the racing industry profited from over £800million in betting turnover, yet leaves the overstretched charity sector to pick up the pieces for the dogs who are casually discarded when no longer considered useful. People I spoke to on Friday night who were attending the races said that they really like dogs, and they believe that the greyhounds who race are treated well, yet this is a callous and irresponsible industry that treats living beings as money-making tools whilst deceiving their customers with misleading welfare claims.

Human harm

Greyhound racing also exploits humans.

Romford racetrack is owned and operated by the gambling company Ladbrokes Coral. A 2023 government review outlines the socio-demographic profile of those most at risk of developing a gambling addiction as people who are unemployed, living in deprived areas, with poor health and low life satisfaction. Gambling addiction can lead to depression, alcoholism, homelessness, and suicide.

Ladbrokes Coral were fined £5.9million in 2019 for failing ‘to put in place effective safeguards to prevent consumers suffering gambling harm’. The Coral Romford Greyhound Stadium opens at 10am on a Monday morning.

Moving forward

Whilst it attracted millions of viewers in the 1940s, less than 10% of the British public attend or follow greyhound racing now. It’s not part of our culture, it’s outdated and it needs to go. Greyhounds are gentle, affectionate dogs who love a sofa-snooze. They don’t deserve to be exploited for ‘entertainment’.

• Sign the petition to ban greyhound racing

• Sign up here to find out how you can get involved with the campaign to shut down every remaining UK dog track.

Sources: Animal Aid / Blue Cross