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Greyhounds are adorable, innocent dogs that are famous for their ‘profession’ as a racer. While this may seem all ‘Handy-Dandy’ to you, there are some facts about racing that will shock you to the bone. I’m about to tell you some of these facts.
Adoption groups report that ex-racer greyhounds often have tooth problems. They also have tick-borne diseases. The best dogs are kept for breeding while others are ‘disposed of’. But have you ever actually stopped to think, what REALLY happens to a greyhound after its racing career is over? Well, I have the answer to this question.
A greyhound’s racing career is usually over when the dog is around 4-6 years old. Unfortunately, in the UK, it is not known how many greyhounds are rehomed each year but as many as 40% of the dogs who retire are unaccounted for. This should be changed as all animals have the right to a happy life. This means being fed well, cleaned, taken on walks, and most of all, being loved. In the USA, 2,000-3,000 greyhounds are killed each year after their racing career is over. Some dogs are even sent to other countries to race on different race-tracks.
In New South Wales, a state in Australia, 68,000 greyhounds were killed in the space of only 12 years. Sticking to the point of New South Wales, there was going to be a ban on greyhound racing but this ban was later reversed due to unpopularity and possibly the lobbying of people who made money out of greyhound racing.
In 2008 it was reported that puppies that were too slow to race were put down and sold by the Belle Vue Manchester stadium to research labs at Liverpool University. This is not the only time this has happened as University College Dublin also revealed that they bought 33 dogs in 2013. However, there have been other problems at Belle Vue with criticisms of the state of some of the kennels as well as accidents and deaths during training. Organisations have been critical of Belle Vue and their website now describes how it supports dogs being rehomed after retirement. So campaigning does help.
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) is the organisation that controls greyhound racing in Great Britain. It is currently being investigated by City of London Police for claims including bribery and fraud.
Do you also want to know what a greyhound’s career is like while it continues? Well, I’ll tell you. A greyhound spends over 20 hours in isolation, in a cage with no means of even going to the toilet outside. The cages are cramped and dirty, and some racing tracks even force two greyhounds at a time into the same cage. Apart for the few minutes a dog spends on the race track, they spend their day in these cages, forced to wear muzzles. Some greyhounds even suffer from injuries, but they’re too horrible even to talk about here. Aside from that, they get no affection, no love and are even starved before a race. Unfortunately, it’s not just greyhounds that get affected. When greyhounds race, or train, a small animal (a mouse, piglet or ferret etc.) is sometimes flung around a race track for the dogs to chase. This animal is killed and eaten by the dogs afterwards. Join this petition to stop Live Baiting.
Yet there is still hope. The greyhound racing industry is slowly dying, as more people are made aware of its cruelties. 39 states in America have banned greyhound racing and adoption groups are trying to provide the best future for greyhounds after they race. In the meantime, the UK government has legislated to improve the welfare of greyhounds while they race. This includes the inspection of kennels at tracks and a requirement of racetracks to collect data involving injuries, welfare and accidents etc. However, because they did not make it clear that the info collected was meant to be shared publicly, the racing industry has kept these data secret. A recent government report showed that while the findings are not too bad (the welfare of greyhounds has improved), the public are getting suspicious because it now looks as though these industries have something to hide. This report also recommended that the same regulations about welfare should be applied to the off-track kennels (where dogs spend 95% of their time) and that more of the money made from betting (£1.4bn in the UK each year) should be spent on welfare. In other words, that the people making money out of greyhound racing should contribute to their wellbeing. Before this recommendation was even put into place, the popular betting place known as Betfair, contributed no money whatsoever to the welfare of greyhounds. This is unfair, as Betfair are now making themselves look as though they don’t care about animals. Reports from the UK and the USA have shown that the racing industry cannot regulate itself and laws must be tighter.
However, despite the fact that greyhound welfare has improved, do you really think a greyhound would enjoy the unfortunate fates I’ve described above? So while these improvements are good news for as long as greyhound racing exists, I think we should still campaign to stop racing altogether.
Having a greyhound
My greyhound Katie (you can see a picture of her below) inspired me to write this blog. When we got her she was underweight, her knees and elbows were bare from sleeping on concrete, she had had to have a tooth removed because of dental problems and she has a toe missing from one of her back paws after a racing accident. We have had her a year and she is now much healthier and happier.
And although she’s large, there’s nothing cuter! She’s a huge softie and she’s so much fun to have around. Having a greyhound made me realise that there are so many other adorable animals out there that also need rescuing. I love animals, and I hope this blog will make you love them even more than you already do. We will talk about some of the animals in need in other blogs. But back to the subject of Katie. It feels amazing to have a greyhound. They’re not at all hard to look after. They don’t need long walks: only two 20 minute walks a day. They aren’t energetic; in fact they will just sleep for most of the day. Except for the few minutes when they go MANIC in the garden. So, the only thing they actually require besides food is a secure garden. In fact, a dog-bed is optional, if you have a sofa and you’re alright with them sabotaging it. Here’s one thing to bear in mind, though. UNTIL THEY’RE TRAINED, DO NOT LET THEM OFF THE LEAD OUTSIDE WHEN TAKING THEM FOR A WALK.
Having a greyhound is SO fun and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who isn’t allergic and has the time and space required. However, if you have a smaller pet I would recommend that you keep the dog away from it as it might not act so friendly to your pet. This is because, when it was being trained to race, it was trained not to like smaller creatures and even though its racing days are over, it won’t have forgotten its training. You can read more about how wonderful greyhounds are here.
Although greyhounds are large and may appear daunting, they’re really not. Because of this, I would recommend that you adopt one. I adopted mine from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, and I am happy that I did, but there are other amazing homes for animals who would happily let you adopt a greyhound and experience the awesomeness yourself.
So if you want to help end greyhound racing, the League Against Cruel Sports suggests doing these things:
If you live in an area where there is a greyhound track, Contact your MP and ask them to look into concerns about abuse in the greyhound industry.
Join one of their supporter groups to help raise awareness about the hidden side of greyhound racing
Share information (such as this blog) on your social media
THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR but we have some more animals to save!