Injuries are very common in greyhound racing causing intense pain, suffering and distress.
Serious bone fractures of the leg are the most common injury. Some fractures are communited which is a high velocity injury more commonly associated with car accidents or being shot. Muscle injuries are also very common.
Greyhounds are put under intense pressure when racing and this physical over-exertion causes seizures due to a lack of oxygen, heat-related stress and the collapse of greyhounds post-race. Serious injuries can lead to greyhounds dying on the track or being put to death at the end of the race.
Every year, hundreds of dogs are killed on Australian tracks. Most injuries occur in the left foreleg and right hind leg because in Australia races are run anti-clockwise. Many more were removed from the track and later euthanised. Not all states provides details of the fate of these dogs. The majority of these greyhounds fractured a leg during the race which is often a highly treatable injury. Despite the state Rebate Schemes, none of these greyhounds were considered worth the estimated $4,000 to repair their injury.
- the risk of a fracture to a racing greyhound increases 400 percent after the first 12 months of racing,
- twenty-five percent of racing greyhound injuries are to the right hock, resulting in surgery, retirement or mostly, euthanasia,
- racing contributes to mineralisation, demineralisation and stress in the bones, causing fractures.
- Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds, Lethal Tracks reports
- NSW Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission (GWIC): injury reports.
- RSPCA Knowledge Base: What are the animal welfare issues with greyhound racing
