Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom

GBGB Logo

Registered racing in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) and has been UKAS accredited since 2010.[9] All in the registered sector are subject to the GBGB Rules of Racing [10] and the Directions of the Stewards, who set the standards for greyhound welfare and racing integrity, from racecourse facilities and trainers' kennels to retirement of greyhounds. There are Stewards' inquiries, and then disciplinary action is taken against anyone found failing to comply.[11]

The registered sector consists of 19 racecourses and approximately 880 trainers, 4,000 kennel staff and 860 racecourse officials. Greyhound owners number 15,000 with approximately 7,000-8,000 greyhounds registered annually for racing.[1]

Independent racing, also known as 'flapping', is held at three racecourses. The numbers of trainers, kennel staff, owners and greyhounds involved in independent racing is unknown because there is no requirement for central registration or licensing, and no code of practice. In England, standards for welfare and integrity are set by local government, but there is no governing or other regulatory body.

Nottingham Stadium

Towcester Stadium

Shawfield Stadium

Sheffield Stadium

There are 19 active Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) registered stadiums in the UK,[13] with 18 in England and one in Scotland. There are no tracks in Wales, and Northern Irish tracks do not come under the control of the GBGB.

• Brighton and Hove Stadium, Brighton and Hove
• Central Park Stadium, Sittingbourne
• Crayford Stadium, London
• Doncaster Stadium, Doncaster
• Harlow Stadium, Harlow
• Henlow Stadium, Stondon
• Kinsley Stadium, Kinsley
• Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton
• Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Nottingham Stadium, Nottingham
• Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
• Pelaw Grange, Chester-le-Street
• Perry Barr Stadium, Birmingham
• Romford Stadium, London
• Shawfield Stadium, Shawfield
• Sunderland Stadium, Sunderland
• Swindon Stadium, Swindon
• Towcester Stadium, Towcester
• Yarmouth Stadium, Great Yarmouth

There are also three active independent stadiums:

• Askern Stadium, Doncaster
• Thornton Stadium, Thornton
• Valley Stadium, Ystrad Mynach

Greyhound racing at registered stadiums in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). In Britain, greyhounds are not kept at the tracks and are instead housed in the kennels of trainers and transported to the tracks to race. Licensed kennels have to fall within specific guidelines and rules[10] and are checked by officials to make sure the treatment of racing greyhounds is within the rules.[10] In 2018 licensing and inspecting trainer's kennels was conducted through the government-approved, UKAS accredited method.[16] When a greyhound is due to race or trial at a track its health and condition must be checked by the veterinary surgeon at kennelling time and again before they are permitted to race, the weight must be recorded by officials and random drugs tests are conducted.[10]

When the greyhounds finish racing they are retired under the GBGB bond scheme (introduced in 2020) which ensures the homing costs are met.[17] Owners may keep the dog for breeding or as pets, or they can send them to greyhound adoption groups. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) have introduced measures to locate where racing greyhounds reside after they have retired from racing and from 2017 the retirement data has been available to the public.[18] Concern among welfare groups is the well being of some racing greyhounds who are not adopted upon their retirement, and that they may subsequently be put down or sold by their owners, however the GBGB require all owners to sign a retirement form indicating the retirement plans.[19]

The main greyhound adoption organisation in Britain is the Retired Greyhound Trust (RGT). The RGT is a charity but is partly funded by the British Greyhound Racing Fund (BGRF), who gave funding of £1,400,000 in 2015 and rehomed 4,000 greyhounds in 2016.[20][21] In recent years the racing industry has made significant progress in establishing programmes for the adoption of retired racers. Many race tracks have established their own adoption programmes[22] in addition to actively cooperating with private adoption groups throughout the country.

There are also many independent organisations which find homes for retired Greyhounds including Forever Hounds,[23] Greyhound Gap,[24] Celia Cross Greyhound Trust[25] and Bark Inn Kennels.[26] Several independent rescue and homing groups receive some funding from the industry but mainly rely on public donations. In 2016, 1,500 greyhounds were rehomed by independent groups. In 2018 several tracks introduced a scheme whereby every greyhound is found a home by the track, these include Kinsley and Doncaster.[27][28]

During 2020 many homing organisations including the Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Portsmouth Greyhound Trusts reported that all retired greyhounds were being homed and that there was a shortage. Concerns were raised that if the shortage of retired greyhounds continued it could force some homing organisations to close.[29]

The most recent independently verified published figures show that the 2019 injury rate was 1.21% which equated to 4,970 from 410,607 runs. The most common injury was a hind limb muscle at 1104 (0.27%), this was followed by foot injuries 1088 (0.26%), wrist 792 (0.19%), hock 765 (0.19%), fore limb muscle 504 (0.12%), for long bone 94 (0.02%) and hind long bone 29 (0.01%), other equated to 594 (0.14%).[30]

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) actively works to prevent the spread of drug usage within the registered greyhound racing sector.[31] Attempts are made to recover urine samples from all six greyhounds in a race. Greyhounds from which samples can not be obtained for a certain number of consecutive races are subject to being ruled off the track. If a positive sample is found, violators are subject to penalties and loss of their racing licenses by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). The trainer of the greyhound is at all times the "absolute insurer" of the condition of the animal. The trainer is responsible for any positive test regardless of how the banned substance has entered the greyhound's system.[32] Due to the increased practice of random testing, the number of positive samples has decreased.[31]

Over a one year period from 2017–18, over 15,000 greyhounds were tested by the GBGB 'flying squad' which returned four positive cocaine tests. These cases resulted in disqualification or suspension for the offending parties.[33]

Isolated incidents have occurred that resulted in national newspaper articles. In 2012, there was a report of greyhound cadavers being sold to research labs used for students to practice upon. Liverpool University Animal Training School has stated that it received the remains of dogs put to sleep because it was essential to improving animal health and welfare.[34] Greyhounds were sent to builder David Smith, in the North East of England who destroyed greyhounds with a captive bolt gun, he was unqualified to do so.[35] Smith faced a fine and jail sentence[36] and anyone found to have sent a greyhound to him was warned off for life.[37]