The truth about greyhound racing

The greyhound racing industry knows that most dog-loving Australians do not support the exploitation of animals for entertainment and gambling.

The cashed-up greyhound racing industry tries to counter these facts with a wealth of spin.
 
We encourage you to challenge every statement made by the greyhound racing industry. We hope the evidence below and on this website helps you to hold both them and state governments to account. 

Greyhounds are forced to race

Greyhounds are bred for prey drive, “broken” as puppies and punished if they don’t race with enough commitment.

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All greyhound racing is unsafe

On average, three dogs die every week on Australian tracks and 28 are injured every day.

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Racing greyhounds are not part of the family

Over 70% of greyhounds are discarded every year when they no longer make money for their owners.

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Greyhounds are neglected

Volunteer rehoming charities report 89% of greyhounds show signs of neglect when they leave the industry.

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Darwin Greyhound Association Kennel Block 4

Greyhounds are socially deprived

Greyhounds are often kept in barren, kennel-like environments with no opportunity to express normal behaviour.

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Greyhound racing isn’t sport, it’s gambling

The greyhound racing industry is funded by gambling and millions of taxpayer dollars. And voters don’t get a say.

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There is no whole of life tracking for greyhounds

No Australian state or territory records the fate of dogs once they have been transferred out of the industry.

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Greyhounds are forced to race
Greyhound is pushed into starting box at Wentworth Park, NSW

Greyhounds are bred for prey drive, they are “broken” as puppies and punished if they don’t race with enough commitment. For example, greyhounds are charged under industry rules for not being competitive enough on the track. They are also penalised for demonstrating many behaviours typical of a normal dog.

Stewards’ reports from every race meeting record many greyhounds showing “failure to pursue”. They are even charged if they have suffered an injury. Many greyhounds are also recorded as being “difficult to box” which means they don’t want to enter the starting box.

Race videos show that dogs are pushed into the starting boxes. The dogs’ “racing manners” are also penalised if they don’t meet racing rules. This can include “marring” for turning their head and engaging with other dogs.

Sources:
Shocking video reveals dangers of Wentworth Park racetrack
2022 track deaths and injuries with links to Stewards Reports
Greyhound Racing Victoria: Breaking-in of greyhounds (external site)

All greyhound racing is unsafe
Tiggerlong Fab and Veracruz collided on the home turn at the Wagga racetrack in August. They fell and were euthanised shortly afterwards by the on-track vet.

The dogs run at up to 70kmh and collisions are often fatal.

The racing industry and regulators refuse to reveal the number of deaths and injuries at each racetrack.

Stewards reports show greyhounds suffering at every track. Horrific deaths are frequent – broken necks, backs, spines, mutilation by race lure.

The industry tries to hide the dangers of racing by censoring race videos.

Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted trying to make tracks safe, with dogs still being killed and injured after upgrades.

Designs from University of Technology Sydney are claimed to make tracks safer, but dogs still die and suffer on these tracks.

The industry says that straight tracks are safe, but refuses to transfer racing on curved tracks to straight tracks. And deaths and injuries still happen on straight tracks.

They continue to race greyhounds on wet tracks even though they admit it’s dangerous.

The new, supposedly safe flagship racetracks – Angle Park, Traralgon, Grafton, Horsham – have cost $14m of taxpayer funds and killed or injured more than 1,200 dogs. They had University of Technology Sydney design input.

Sources:
August sees fourteen greyhounds killed
2022 Australian track deaths and injuries
Australian track deaths and injuries – first half 2022
Lethal Tracks 2021

Racing greyhounds are not loved as pets
25% of greyhound puppies never make it to the track. The industry calls them initial wastage.

The industry is currently breeding six times more greyhounds than it can rehome. 

Breeding fell dramatically following the exposure of mass killing and live baiting across the industry.

However, it is now on the increase with a 50% increase in puppies bred for racing in NSW since 2017 and a 72% increase in Victoria.

Some owners have 50 or more dogs. In NSW, the average number of greyhounds owned by participants is 10. These dogs are not companion animals, they are commodities to be exploited for money.

Many greyhounds are owned by syndicates who never meet the dog. They are purchased purely as an opportunity to profit from gambling. The dogs then reside with trainers who are often in charge of numerous dogs.

Most racing dogs are retired by the time they’re five years old. As the RSPCA points out, many dogs spend their whole racing lives in small, barren kennels, never coming inside and certainly not treated as a companion animal. For many of them if they’re kept by their owner after retirement, this is the life they will have for ever.

In FY20/21 in NSW, 71% of greyhounds were discarded by their owners after the dogs retired, in QLD, 72% and in WA, 97%. The other states don’t provide transparency around retirement numbers.

Due to lack of whole of life tracking, some of these dogs will end up dumped at pounds or animal shelters.

Sources:
Greyhound Racing NSW: utilisation rate of greyhounds bred by the industry (external site)
Report: survey finds widespread industry neglect of greyhounds
RSPCA knowledgebase: what are the problems with greyhound racing (external site)

Greyhounds are neglected
Cosmo finished racing but nobody noticed he was sick. He died of Lymphoma soon after being rescued by a community rehomer.

    A national survey conducted in 2021 showed that greyhounds are still leaving the racing industry in a neglected and stressed condition. This highlights that rather than being part of the family, many dogs do not receive the most basic care, physically or mentally.

    18 community-run rehoming charities were surveyed regarding the condition of dogs at the time of surrender from owners and trainers. The survey found that the health of the dogs is mostly poor.

    89% of those surveyed said that the dogs that they took into their care came with pre-existing conditions that required veterinary care, including bad teeth and really poor diets.

    Some were also unable to walk up or down stairs, had untreated wounds from track racing and weren’t socialised for rehoming.

    While the community rescues are “no-kill”, the industry rehomers will euthanase those dogs whose owners have failed to socialise them for a life post-racing.

    Annual reports show that in NSW alone in the last five years, 264 greyhounds were euthanased as “unrehomable”.

    Sources:
    Report: survey finds widespread industry neglect of greyhounds
    Mestrov paints himself a winner while greyhounds keep losing
    Greyhound Racing NSW Annual Reports (external site)

    Greyhounds are socially deprived
    Darwin Greyhound Association Kennel Block 4
    Greyhound housed in Darwin Greyhound Association Kennel Block

    The importance of socialisation to the physical and mental health of dogs is undeniable. This includes being introduced to different environments, experiences, people and other animals.

    Many greyhound puppies are not given these opportunities, only experiencing where they were born and training facilities.

    While fewer dogs are now being killed during their time in the industry, many of the dogs which are emerging have significant fear-based behavioural issues. These dogs require investment of considerable time and money to rehabilitate for life as a pet.

    This has a serious financial and emotional impact on volunteer rehoming groups who are already overrun with dogs with hundreds more on waiting lists.

    Regulations making it harder to euthanise dogs have also meant owners and trainers are putting increasing pressure on groups to take more dogs. 

    There are three key changes that would significantly improve welfare for these dogs when it comes time to transition out of the industry:

    • breeding for pet characteristics rather than racing,
    • appropriate socialisation during key socialisation windows, and
    • reduced breeding numbers so that the numbers which are bred can be reasonably rehomed.

    Given these dogs are only useful to the racing industry for a small proportion of their lives, this would be the ethical approach. However, it would cut into the profit margins so significantly that the industry would not be sustainable. And therein lies the problem.

    Sources:
    Report: survey finds widespread industry neglect of greyhounds
    Blog: greyhound rehoming: the biggest losers are still the dogs
    A GAPing hole in rehoming, FY20/21 Update 

    Greyhound racing isn't sport, it's gambling
      The NSW state government spends $5m per annum to address the harm caused by online wagering on animal racing

      The greyhound racing industry is funded by the gambling industry and state governments. Without these two revenue streams, the industry would be unviable.

      State government funding is not linked to performance, revenue earned or animal welfare considerations yet it amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. And voters do not get a say.

      And this is all taxpayer money that could be spent on fixing roads, healthcare, education, aged care and other areas that are critical to the entire community.

      Given the dramatic reduction in racetrack attendance there is virtually no money made through community engagement. People are not interested in seeing dogs being maimed and possibly killed.

      Given this, it is not surprising that when a Channel 7 News poll in 2018 asked: “The NSW government today donated $500,000 to the richest dog race in the world. Is this a good use of taxpayer’s money.” 95 percent of the 39.8K respondents answered NO.

      Australian gambling losses are about $25 billion a year. That makes us the biggest “losers” in the world by around 40 percent. The social costs are enormous around family breakdown, domestic violence, financial losses and physical and mental health issues.

      Sources:
      The government-funded greyhound racing industry
      Public opinion: people do not support greyhound racing
      The New Daily: More gambling warnings (external site)
      Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: gambling in Australia (external site)

      There is no whole of life tracking for greyhounds
      Whole of life tracking is the only way to protect young, healthy greyhounds from unnecessary euthanasia

      No Australian state or territory has implemented whole of life tracking for greyhounds. Where tracking exists it is partial and usually only applies when a dog is considered to be of economic value to the racing industry.

      For example, dogs are not tracked as puppies before microchipping, when they are transferred interstate or dumped at a pound.

      These loopholes mean that greyhounds can be written off the industry books and potentially killed.

      State governments allow loopholes in tracking systems because they:

      • recognise that the industry could not continue without the “wastage” of unwanted dogs,
      • benefit from the millions of dollars in betting tax generated by the industry, and
      • are heavily influenced by vested interests including the gambling industry.