The dog racing industry is now the largest government-sponsored puppy farming business in Australia.
CPG’s 2025 report on overbreeding reveals the national dog racing industry is the largest puppy farming enterprise in Australia – it now breeds more than 10,000 pups annually (which is about 85% of its highest whelping rate back in the bad, old days before the McHugh inquiry in NSW during 2015-16),
Last year, 10.5K greyhounds were named – the largest number since the big drop in 2017 and 2018. So we’re already at 84% of the prior high and this doesn’t even include un-named pups (these are pups deemed not suitable for racing by the industry which it discards one way or another).
The drop in breeding followed the McHugh inquiry in NSW (2015) and the several live baiting exposés after that.
Worse still, CPG research shows the racing industry only rehomes one dog for every four it breeds annually.
FY2023 saw 10,178 pups whelped and only 2,636 greyhounds rehomed nationwide by GAPs
Breeding caps must be implemented
The solution is clear: implement caps on the number of greyhounds bred. We urge state and territory governments to take immediate action.
- an enforceable cap on the number of greyhounds bred,
- breeding standards, including environmental and social enrichment from puppyhood,
- regular inspections and compliance checks on breeding establishments,
- a national database to track greyhounds from birth to end of life.
Quotes
“Greyhound industry figures discussed breeding so many dogs it would become impossible to shut down the industry due to welfare issues, in secret recordings tabled in South Australia’s Parliament.”
ABC online news, Leah MacLennan, May 2024
“The community has an expectation that overbreeding should not occur.”
The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) policy 2018