Tim Bonner: Greyhound racing banned - what next?

The Welsh Government announced this week that it would ban greyhound racing “as soon as practically possible”. Its justification is that a majority of 1,100 people who responded to a consultation on animal welfare had supported such a ban and that 35,000 people had clicked on an online petition. This is a very low bar and sets all sorts of precedents for other activities involving animals which are logically inseparable from racing dogs against each other.

There was a time in the middle of the last century when greyhound racing was one of the most popular sports in the country. Tracks were built in accessible urban areas and dog racing was a cheap and enjoyable gambling medium which was especially relevant before the legalisation of betting shops in 1961. Greyhound racing had developed from coursing which itself had been hugely popular. Famously the stock market would pause for the final of the Waterloo Cup and 100,000 people would gather at Altcar to watch the pinnacle of the coursing year. However, the invention of the electric hare which allowed six or more dogs to race on a defined circuit provided a much-improved offer for punters than two dogs coursing in a muddy field near Southport.

Times change and with them fashions. Greyhound racing was gradually challenged by other options as bookmakers started to offer bets on practically every other sport. Meanwhile, urban greyhound tracks offered valuable development opportunities and one by one the roll call of tracks has diminished. A core of enthusiasts remain, however, and there are still 19 tracks in the UK and a loyal group of owners and trainers who are focussed much more on the dogs than on providing a betting opportunity. The elephant in the room has always been greyhound welfare and, in particular, the fate of retired racing dogs. Historically, euthanasia was the norm and as public attitudes to animals shifted that became an unspoken timebomb. In the early 2000s that bomb exploded with a series of media exposés of routine shooting and disposal of dogs including a builders’ merchant from County Durham who shot and buried thousands of dogs in a small field behind his house.

The greyhound world has subsequently moved heaven and earth to change its approach to greyhound welfare. Dogs are traced from birth or import to retirement, regulation is strict throughout the industry and 96% of dogs are now revoked on retirement. This has not, however, stopped campaigns from animal rights groups. They see dog racing as a weak link: a fading sport particularly in Wales where there is an amenable government and only one greyhound racing track.

This link, however, could break the chain and open the gates to all sorts of other prohibitions. What, in the end, is the difference between racing a dog, a horse or a pigeon? And we know perfectly well that the end game for activists is the prohibition of any animal use for whatever purpose and the decision to ban greyhound racing in Wales is a significant step in that direction.