Greyhound-Report-2014

Foreword
This report on greyhound racing in Great Britain is a joint product of
the League Against Cruel Sports and GREY2K USA Worldwide. Both
organisations believe that commercial greyhound racing is cruel and
inhumane and, as currently practised, has no place in British society.
Across the globe, the humane problems of a largely unregulated
dog racing industry have now been exposed, and governments are
responding with affirmative action, including outright prohibitions.
In the United States the activity is now illegal in thirty-nine of fifty states.
Countries such as South Africa and Jamaica have refused to legalise
it in the first place. It is our hope that Parliament will study this activity
in the context of its worldwide decline.
Although official critiques of greyhound racing in the UK have been
issued in the past, it appears that little to nothing has actually changed
within the industry. Greyhounds continue to suffer needlessly while
concerns over their welfare remain largely ignored.
Our joint report also stands apart from past research as it contains more
recent data and uses data not previously analysed, such as disciplinary
rulings and the use of greyhounds by public universities.
This is also the first comprehensive report on greyhound racing in the
United Kingdom from a humane perspective.
Research for this report was conducted over a twenty-month period,
from October 2012 until May 2014. Information was collected through
multiple avenues, including a review of existing reports on greyhound
racing, public information requests submitted to government agencies
and universities, industry websites and news stories.
Injury data is not publicly available from the Greyhound Board of
Great Britain, so information was instead collected from the websites
and blogs of UK greyhound trainers, as well as on industry forums,
websites, and in an industry newspaper.
A total of 24 of these sites were located and searched, going back
to 2006, to find references to racing greyhound injuries. Finally,
stakeholders were contacted and asked if they could provide any
useful data for the report.
Once data was collected and organised, key areas of welfare
concern emerged.
Christine A. Dorchak, Esq.
President
GREY2K USA Worldwide
4 The state of greyhound racing in Great Britain l A mandate for change