Proposed Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Scotland) Bill
This proposed Bill will promote the welfare of greyhounds by introducing an offence of permitting a greyhound to race at racetracks in Scotland.
The Current Situation
There is an inherent risk of injury and fatality associated with racing greyhounds anti-clockwise around oval racetracks at speeds of up to 40mph. A total of 22,284 injuries and 868 fatalities were recorded within the five-year period of 2018-2022 at licensed racetracks across Great Britain.
There are currently only seven countries globally where greyhound racing operates commercially: United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland); Republic of Ireland; Australia; Mexico; New Zealand; United States; and Vietnam.
There are currently no licensed racetracks operating in Scotland. The non-operational GBGB-licensed racetrack, Shawfield Stadium in South Lanarkshire, has been closed since March 2020. The last-remaining un-licenced racetrack in Scotland, the Thornton Greyhound Stadium in Fife, operates without oversight from any regulatory body or local authority. Unlicensed racetracks are not required to collect or publish data relating to their activities such as the number of injuries and fatalities at racetracks. There is no requirement to have veterinarians present at unlicensed racetracks to assess the health of dogs prior to a race or provide prompt veterinary care for any injured dogs after a race.
In Scotland, there is no statutory licensing scheme applied to greyhound racing. That means that apart from the general welfare protections offered by the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 there is no statutory oversight of unlicensed greyhound racing in Scotland.
The Scottish Government launched a consultation into the Licensing of activities involving animals in July 2023, which sought views on proposals to introduce a statutory licensing scheme for greyhound racing in Scotland. A consultation summary report will be published in due course that will include an analysis of the responses received and set out the next steps. In the Member’s view, while the introduction of a statutory licensing scheme might improve welfare standards at racetracks in Scotland, it would not eliminate the inherent risk of injury and fatality faced by greyhounds whilst racing.
The case for new legislation
In Scotland, entering a greyhound to race is not unlawful, and racing greyhounds are not adequately protected from harm.
The Scottish SPCA highlighted that whilst the provisions in the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 afford protection to all dogs across a number of welfare concerns, there is no specific prohibition on racing greyhounds and accordingly does not address the specific risk of injury and fatality which arise as a result of greyhound racing.
Despite progress toward improving welfare standards at licensed racetracks across Great Britain, the statistics available illustrate that as long as greyhounds are used in racing they will continue to suffer from inherent risks of injury and fatality associated with racing.
The proposed Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Scotland) Bill would prohibit the use of greyhounds in racing in order to protect greyhounds from these inherent harms.