Charity calls for end to greyhound racing after sport receives State funding boost

Among the issues of concern for the Dogs Trust are the rate of deaths at tracks. File picture: Howard Crowdy

State funding for the greyhound industry has been hiked in the Budget by €600,000, or 3%, to €18.2m.

The 2023 iteration of the Horse and Greyhound Fund, first introduced in 2001, will total €91m, split 80% to 20% between the horse and greyhound racing industries respectively.

At this morning's Department of Agriculture post-budget press conference, the department noted in its briefing materials that it would continued supports towards “the improvement of traceability and welfare standards in our greyhound racing sector”.

Reacting to the news, anti-greyhound racing advocates Greyhound Action Ireland called the ongoing State funding of the sport “obscene and unjustifiable”.

“By continuing to fund greyhound racing, this government is giving the stamp of approval to an activity that overbreeds and disposes of thousands of healthy dogs every year,” Nuala Donlon, spokesperson for the body.

Meanwhile, dogs charity Dogs Trust Ireland has called for greyhound racing to be ended in Ireland for the first time. Spokesperson for the charity Ciara Murran said that the charity is now calling for a "phased end" to the sport, a stance which has resulted from a recent review of its welfare policy, but added the industry “is something we’ve always had concerns around”.

She said that Dogs Trust had informed the sport’s governing body Greyhound Racing Ireland of the change in policy before making the announcement.

“We have been working for many years to try to improve welfare standards, and while some improvements have been made, we’re still concerned regarding a number of welfare issues that haven’t been resolved and that we think can’t be,” she said.

Among the issues of concern for the Dogs Trust are the rate of deaths at tracks, and the traceability system in use, in particular with regards to tracing dogs after their running careers have ended.

Regarding the hike in State funding for next year, Ms Murran said the charity is “more concerned as to how the money is being spent”.

“We know a lot of it is going into traceability, and we don’t think that system is in the best interests of the dog. We feel it’s more aspirational rather than a real improvement,” she said.

Ina statement, Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) said it welcomes the Budget 2023 allocation for greyhound racing from the Horse & Greyhound Fund, adding that it will enable RCÉ to continue expanding on the range of care and welfare initiatives that it operates.

Frank Nyhan, chair of the Board of RCÉ, said, “On behalf of the Board and the wider greyhound racing community, I would like to acknowledge the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s ongoing support for our sport.” 

 He added, “While successive budget allocations through the Horse & Greyhound Fund and the Covid employee support schemes have assisted the organisation in countering some of this lost income, it has more importantly served RCÉ by enabling the organisation to continue expanding and building on the range of care and welfare initiatives that we operate.”