Debunking the myths about greyhound racing

Love dogs? Then help to ban greyhound racing.

I feel like we have, for decades, been hearing politicians say the greyhound racing industry is “on notice”. Yet we are still seeing this violent and toxic industry defended in the media. This time by Winston Peters who has trotted out the same myths about greyhound racing.

This pro-greyhound racing propaganda is as old and tired as he is - yet we are still hearing it. So, let’s break them down, myth by myth.

I’ve had a rescue greyhound for five years. I adopted her after working on a response to the Hansen Report. In 2017, QC Rodney Hansen was commissioned by the then NZ Racing Board to inquire into, and report on, welfare issues in greyhound racing in Aotearoa. Like every single report ever commissioned by anyone - it was damning in its criticism of the New Zealand greyhound racing industry.

There have been many reports since.

It’s now 2024, and we’ve already seen so many beautiful greyhounds killed. Including three in one week in March.

In order to end this madness. We all have to do our part. Anyone who claims they love dogs, needs to step up. I am hoping that this post gives you responses that you can cut and paste when greyhound industry shills and politicians trot out their usual garbage. Let’s go.

Greyhounds love to race

All dogs love to run, including greyhounds.

“Racing” is a human concept and claiming that dogs love racing is ascribing them with a level of human behaviour and understanding which they simply don't have. In any event, there are plenty of things humans love doing but they are nonetheless legally or socially precluded from doing them because they are inherently dangerous. 

Animal owners have a duty of care to protect animals from anything likely to cause significant pain or distress. Whether some dogs enjoy running is quite simply irrelevant when assessing whether or not it should be legal to race dogs, given the documented prevalence of serious injury. 

If you ban greyhounds they will have to euthanise all of the greyhounds / Greyhounds will become extinct if you ban racing / The SPCA couldn’t cope with all of the greyhounds needing to be rehomed

First of all - Greyhounds are euthanised every year because they cannot be rehomed due to trauma from racing - that’s happening right now. The industry and its supporters are only upset by euthanasia when it’s happening in some imagined future and is not even guaranteed. 

Secondly, people will always love greyhounds. A greyhound that hasn’t been too traumatised by racing makes an amazing pet.

Thirdly, Dogwatch, HUHA, SAFE and SPCA have all formally announced their commitment to assist the industry in their rehoming, in the event of a shutdown.

All of the greyhounds currently racing will need to be rescued whether racing is banned or not. 

But, let’s look at a real world example eh?  In Florida, greyhound racing was banned in 2018, giving the industry until the last day of 2020 to phase out. That left 5,000 to 7,000 greyhounds needing forever homes. By the end of 2022 Glorida greyhound rehoming organisations started closing their doors, with all greyhounds rehomed.

Most greyhounds are adopted when they finish racing

The Racing Integrity Board's greyhound review showed adoption of former racing dogs fell by 14 percent from 2020 to 2022 - from 603 adoptions to 521.

An independent 2021 report commissioned by the Government said this about adoption: "Many dogs were not suitable for rehoming, due to behaviours that made them unsuitable for pet life and a lack of socialisation training to ameliorate these behaviours at a time when the dog is young enough for these to be effective. Furthermore, the negative impacts of racing on overall health often do not present until a dog is settled into a new home."

Kennels are at breaking point in Aotearoa and times spent in kennels are increasing. This was mentioned in a 2022 report by the Racing Integrity (lol) Board. 

We are starting to ship greyhounds to the US at great cost and discomfort.

Photo by Valeriano

Greyhound racing isn’t dangerous

Deaths are only one metric. And they’re high. A total of seven greyhounds were euthanised on race day in the 2021/22 racing season, compared with 21 in the previous season. But injuries and euthanasias during race day trials were not officially recorded before the 2021/22 season. And they do not include race day trials or dogs that are euthanised because they are just not needed anymore.

Greyhound Racing NZ only introduced a euthanasia policy in 2022 according to this 2022 report. They have been told they need to ensure their euthanasia policy intent extends across the whole industry and not just the race day environment. The issue of euthanasia of healthy greyhounds is a key welfare concern, raised in reports commissioned by the government.

While euthanasia rates on race day have declined, there has been an increase in serious injuries on race day. These injuries which can have lasting impacts on the dogs. As ex-racing dogs' veterinary records are not accessible post-racing, there is no real way of knowing the true impacts of racing on the dogs in the long term.

Veterinarians have suggested weak bones,  microfracturing, arthritis, and sesamoid injuries could be caused and exacerbated by racing, Greyhound Racing NZ have no way of knowing true implications, because these long term issues are left to well meaning adopters to deal with (including the financial burden).

Greyhound racing is just like horse racing

First of all, I’m just going to say I don’t like horse racing and I don’t get it - so don’t take this as me championing horse racing please. But it’s a whataboutism that we see a lot.

Put as simply as possible: Horse racing involves fewer animal participants. Horses are very expensive and time consuming to break in so they are treated like more of an investment and as such, they are not kept en masse like greyhounds. They are also raced longer (in terms of age). As a result, the horse racing industry is not subject to the raft of issues associated with overbreeding and rehoming in the same way that the greyhound racing industry is.

There is a greater degree of human control in horse racing. The guidance of the jockey (as opposed to a greyhound chasing a lure at full speed guided purely by prey drive) assists in limiting injuries to horses from collision or poor navigation of bends. 

Greyhounds are also faster than horses, they have to navigate corners on the track - all of this means they crash more often than race horses, and the crash injuries can be deadly. 

Off track, greyhounds are also more likely to be subject to confinement than horses. This can have flow on implications for the dogs, particularly as a lack of socialisation can be a huge impediment to a greyhound being safely rehomed.

Photo by Tonia Kraakman

Greyhounds can’t be forced to race

No they can’t be, but they can be drugged and kept in conditions that mean they feel they have no choice but to run.

Imagine if you were confined for the majority of your day, everyday. Don’t you think you would take advantage of every opportunity to stretch your legs?

The fact they run on the track "willingly” should not be considered consent to exploit them. They don't know or understand the dangers of racing.

If your children enjoyed playing chicken with cars on the road, any parent with a single functioning brain cell wouldn't let them do it because there is a high risk of serious injury. The same logic applies here: dogs lack reasoning skills, dog owners have a duty of care.

Racing greyhounds are treated like kings and are all well cared for

If that was the case, why are so many adopted greyhounds traumatised?

What of the ‘minimum welfare standard’ I talked about above?

Photo by Juan Gomez

The Greyhound Racing Industry has improved

Umm citation needed.

The government has spent a lot of taxpayer money on giving the greyhound industry chances to improve. In 2017 they had The Hansen Report, in 2021 The Robertson Review, in 2022 The Racing Integrity Board Review.

I’d argue they’ve done close to fuck all. But you don’t have to trust me. Look at the reports - the 2022 review found that “progress is mixed”, with “improvement” in ten out of fifteen areas in the five years since the Hansen report.

The RIB report shows that only eight of 30 initiatives have been successfully closed.

Greyhound trainers all love their dogs

The “it’s just a few bad apples” myth is one pushed by the greyhound racing industry - but just how many trainers have to be caught drugging, beating, and euthanising their dogs for us to say there is something rotten at the heart of greyhound racing? Add in the known appalling living conditions, live baiting, overbreeding and the killing of unsocialised healthy dogs and it begs the question - if you’re a trainer who loves your dog, why would you want to be part of this industry?

New Zealand has greyhound racing millionaires that own hundreds of dogs. Can you love hundreds of dogs, that you keep stacked in crates in warehouses/sheds?

One human to 50 greyhounds. That's the “minimum welfare standard” for daily care that Greyhound Racing New Zealand stipulates for kennels housing greyhounds over 16 weeks of age. If that person worked around the clock with no rest, that's less than 30 minutes to give each dog water, food, toileting, enrichment, socialisation, medical care, and affection - plus the rigorous training regimes and race day preparations.

This 2022 article speaks for itself as do the bevy of similar horror stories.

If you ultimately just see your dog not as a pet to be adored - but as a way to make as much money as you can, even if it leads to their death - can you really say you love your dog?

If you love your dog, keep them. A ban on greyhound racing will simply mean your dogs aren’t injured or killed on the track.

It’s real simple eh? If you love your dog don’t put their lives at risk by racing them.

theweekly.nz

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So, what can you do? Share this post. Share the videos posted on TikTok and Instagram. And contact Winston Peters to tell him you want to see greyhound racing banned. You can contact him on Winston.Peters@parliament.govt.nz.

To anyone reading this from the greyhound industry, I’ve since moved from the home I was in when I adopted my girl. Please don’t put the family that now lives there at risk by reprinting my old home address. Ngā mihi.