Wales may outlaw greyhound racing after a Senedd committee urged for its gradual abolition.
A petition to the Welsh Government which has now been closed has been signed by 35,101 people who believe enough is enough, and the majority of the petitions committee members have just agreed. Members also demanded an investigation into other animal-related sports.
The petition called out the one independent greyhound track, Valley Greyhound Stadium inYstrad Mynach which races once a week. The petition noted: "Since April 2018, Hope Rescue and their rescue partners have taken in almost 200 surplus greyhounds from this track, 40 of which sustained injuries.
Read more: Dog lovers oppose plans by Wales' last greyhound race track to expand
"There are plans for the track to become a Greyhound Board of Great Britain track, racing four times a week, greatly increasing the number of surplus dogs and injuries. Greyhound racing is inherently cruel and greyhounds have little legal protection- it is already banned in 41 US states."
Valleys Greyhounds have rejected this statement, claiming that the number of dogs rescued and injured in this timeframe is inaccurate. But Vanessa Waddon, the owner of Llanharan-based dog charity Hope Rescue, which launched the petition is determined that something needs to change now.
She said: "We need the Welsh Government to put a stop to this cruel sport. One injury and one death is too much. The reason we are calling for a ban is that we don't feel that regulation has worked in the rest of the UK.
"We're very concerned that no matter what regulation you put in place you're never going to stop the injuries and you're never going to stop the deaths."
The Committee Chair Jack Sergeant said: “So today the Petitions Committee in the Senedd are launching their report into Greyhound racing in Wales. This was supported by a majority of committee members. I believe it’s got the support of the majority of the Welsh Parliament too… and it certainly has the support of me as Chair of the Senedd Petitions Committee. The report will now to the Welsh Government.
“They will reply in the new year and we will debate the issue here in the heart of the Welsh Democracy. This report was all about the greyhounds in Wales. This is an important step forward. And of course, we will report back in the new year."
What will this mean for the Greyhound racing business?
Owner of Valleys Greyhounds Malcom Tams has been in the industry for 50 years, ever since his Uncle got him into greyhound racing when he was 18. He said: "We create a number of jobs here which would be lost if this greyhound racing was banned. But what you have to look at as well is, if they're going to ban greyhound racing they will have to do it for all these kind of sports, including horse racing and lurcher racing.
"What concerns me really is when this petition was produced, Hope Rescue made the assertions that they rescued 200 greyhounds from us in a period of time which isn't correct. You must also look at the statistics which claim dogs have been injured because an injury to some people can mean even the slightest of issues.
"It's been made out that the dogs which have been injured have had to be rehomed and that's not the case. Most of the time they are treated properly and then can continue as normal."
Malcom also was unhappy with the number of people signing the petition who are not from Wales or local to the area where his track is. He added: "There's 35,00 signatures but if you look, 15,000 of them are not even from England or Wales."
The track has also applied to become licenced, which Malcom believes would make a big difference to them in terms of being able to show how the dogs are being looked after.
He said: "It's a very thin line we're treading at the moment with being unlicensed as I'm limited to what I can do. I've bought the place. I've spent half a million pounds on it trying to put it on the map. In my career only two of our dogs that race here have had to be put down due to serious injuries."
He said: "I can see where people are coming from when they're saying the dogs shouldn't be raced but you've got to look at where we're coming from. It's been portrayed that our track is not safe to have dogs on, but we've had eight visits by the vets and Caerphilly Council in the last 12 months who say that it is still in good condition."
Not everyone in the committee was in favour of the idea of banning the sport for good, it was also reported that one of the committee's five members, Conservative Member of the Senedd MS Joel James, said that tightening current regulations would be preferable than a phased prohibition. Despite supporting a ban, the research noted that Ystrad Mynach and the Valleys Greyhounds Stadium would suffer financially as a result.
A spokesperson for Greyhound Board (GBGB) of Great Britain said: “We are disappointed that four members of the Petitions Committee are in favour of a ban on greyhound racing in Wales.
"As their report makes very clear in its recommendations, however, there are a number of strong alternatives which would allow the sport to continue in a fully regulated environment thus protecting the welfare of dogs, the jobs and livelihoods of those involved in the sport and the revenue contribution the sport makes to the economy. Adopting these would align Wales with the rest of the country.
“The Petitions Committee’s recommendation that the Welsh Government should consider banning all sport with animals puts horse racing, fishing, dog agility and even pigeon racing on notice that they are next. We have always said that calls for a ban on greyhound racing are the thin end of the wedge and this recommendation proves that one hundred per cent.”
The Welsh government has said: "Our ambition is for all animals in Wales to have a good quality life.
"We recognised there are concerns relating to the welfare of racing greyhounds and we will give careful consideration to the committee's recommendations."
And this is not the first petition in Wales that has demanded action from the goverment. In 2021, a campaign to end greyhound cruelty gained huge support from a cross-party group of MPs. The campaign, titled “End Greyhound Cruelty”, called for a statutory five per cent levy to be paid by all bookmakers to go towards the care and wellbeing of all racing dogs, and a parliamentary debate in response to the 2020 petition that gained over 100,000 signatures to ban dog racing by The Alliance Against Greyhound Racing.
Read next:
Animal charities call for total ban on greyhound racing in Wales
Devastating pictures show why rescue centre wants to end greyhound racing
MPs back campaign to end greyhound cruelty with calls to ban new racecourses being built
Political leaders throw their support behind Hope Rescue's campaign against greyhound racing
