Greyhound racing is an organised, competitive sport in which greyhounds are usually raced around an oval track. The sport originates from coursing.[1] Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock)[2] that travels ahead of the greyhounds on a rail until the greyhounds cross the finish line. As with horse racing, greyhound races often allow the public to bet on the outcome.
In many countries, greyhound racing is purely amateur and solely for enjoyment. In other countries, particularly Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States, greyhound racing is similar to horse racing in that it is part of the gambling industry.
Animal rights and animal welfare groups have been critical of the welfare of greyhounds in the commercial racing industry for many years,[3] with researchers and commentators linking this sustained scrutiny to regulatory and industry reforms in several countries.[4]
Approaches to the retirement and rehoming of racing greyhounds vary by jurisdiction. In the United Kingdom, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain introduced the Greyhound Retirement Scheme in 2020, requiring licensed racing greyhounds to be registered with an approved Greyhound Retirement Scheme (GRS) homing centre after racing.[5][6] In the United States, where commercial greyhound racing has largely ceased, adoption organisations report high rehoming rates for retired racing greyhounds.[7]
History
Greyhound on a gallopGreyhound race in 1939
Modern greyhound racing has its origins in coursing.[8] The first recorded attempt at racing greyhounds on a straight track was made beside the Welsh Harp reservoir, Hendon, England, in 1876, but this experiment did not develop. The industry emerged in its recognisable modern form, featuring circular or oval tracks, with the invention of the mechanical, or artificial, hare in 1912 by an American, Owen Patrick Smith. Smith had altruistic aims for the industry to stop the killing of the jack rabbits and see "greyhound racing as we see horse racing".[9] In 1919, Smith opened the first professional dog-racing track with stands in Emeryville, California.[10] The Emeryville arena was torn down in February 1920 to make way for the construction of a modern racetrack using the mechanical lure, described in the press as the "automatic rabbit."[11] The first race at the new park was on Saturday, May 29, 1920.[12]
The oval track and mechanical hare were introduced to Britain, in 1926, by another American, Charles Munn, in association with Major Lyne-Dixson, a Canadian, who was a key figure in coursing. Finding other supporters proved rather difficult, however, and with the General Strike of 1926 looming, the two men scoured the country in an attempt to find others who would join them. Eventually they met Brigadier-General Critchley, who introduced them to Sir William Gentle.[1] Between them they raised £22,000, and like the American 'International Greyhound Racing Association' (or the I.G.R.A.), they launched the Greyhound Racing Association, holding the first British meeting at Manchester's Belle Vue Stadium. The industry was successful in cities and towns throughout the UK – by the end of 1927, there were forty tracks operating.
Middle-class reformers were outraged,[13] and the working-class delighted, with the emergence in the late-1920s of Greyhound racing as an entertaining new sport and betting opportunity. At first it seemed modern, glamorous, and American, but the middle class lost interest when working-class audiences took over.[14][15] The working class appreciated the nearby urban locations of the tracks and the evening times of the meetings. Betting has always been a key ingredient of greyhound racing, both through on-course bookmakers and the totalisator, first introduced in 1930. Like horse racing, it is popular to bet on the greyhound races as a form of parimutuel betting.
Greyhound racing enjoyed its highest United Kingdom attendances just after the Second World War—for example, attendances during 1946 were estimated to be around 75 million based on an annual totalisator turnover of £196,431,430.[16][17] The industry experienced a decline beginning in the early 1960s, after the 1960 UK Betting and Gaming Act permitted off-course cash betting. Sponsorship, limited television coverage, and the later abolition of on-course betting tax have partially offset this decline.
By country
Greyhounds rounding a turn on a track
Commercial greyhound racing is characterised by several criteria (varying depending on country) and can include legalised gambling, the existence of a regulatory structure, the physical presence of racetracks, whether the host state or subdivision shares in any gambling proceeds, fees charged by host locations, the use of professional racing kennels, the number of dogs participating in races, the existence of an official racing code, and membership in a greyhound racing federation or trade association.[18]
In Australia, greyhound racing is regulated at the state and territory level. The Australian Capital Territory enacted legislation in 2017 to prohibit greyhound racing, with the ban taking effect in 2018,[19] while in Tasmania legislation providing for a staged phase-out of greyhound racing passed the House of Assembly in 2025, with the activity scheduled to end by 2029, subject to final parliamentary approval.[20]
In September 2025, the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Bill was introduced to the Senedd.[24] Subsequent Welsh Government statements indicated that implementation would not be immediate, with Wales' only track expected to close between 2027 and 2030.[25]
United States
Ear tattoo on an American racing greyhound. Ear tattoos (along with microchips) are used for identification of greyhounds during their racing careers.
In the United States, greyhound racing is governed by state or local law, however, as of 2025 only two racetracks in West Virginia continue to operate.[26] Greyhound care is regulated by the American Greyhound Council[27] and the National Greyhound Association.[28][29]
Racing in New Zealand is currently governed by the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) in accordance with the Racing Act 2003[30] but on 10 December 2024, Winston Peters the Minister for Racing announced that greyhound racing was to be banned in New Zealand to protect the welfare of the racing dogs.[31] The sport was to be phased out gradually over 20 months to allow time to rehome the estimated 2900 racing dogs. The last race is slated to be July 2026 at the latest.[32]
Defunct racing
China
There was a greyhound track called the Canidrome located in Macau, China, which conducted racing from 1932 to 1938 and again from 1963 to 2018.[33]
Vietnam
There was formerly a greyhound racing track in Vietnam at the Lam Son Stadium in Vung Tau, Vietnam from 2000 to March 2023.[34][35]
Mexico
There was one greyhound racing track in Mexico, the Caliente Hipodrome in Tijuana, that hosted races from 1947 to July 14, 2024.[36]
Generally, a greyhound's career will end between the ages of four and six – after the dog can no longer race, or possibly when it is no longer competitive. The best dogs are kept for breeding and there are industry-associated adoption groups and rescue groups that work to obtain retired racing greyhounds and place them as pets. In the United Kingdom, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has introduced measures to locate where racing greyhounds reside after they have retired from racing and as from 2017 records have been available to the public.[37]
Several organisations, such as British Greyhounds Retired Database, Greyhound Rescue West of England, Birmingham Greyhound Protection, GAGAH, Adopt-a-Greyhound and Greyhound Pets of America, and the Greyhound Trust try to ensure that as many of the dogs as possible are adopted. Some of these groups also advocate better treatment of the dogs while at the track and/or the end of racing for profit. In recent years the racing industry has made significant progress in establishing programs for the adoption of retired racers.[38] In addition to actively cooperating with private adoption groups throughout the country, many race tracks have established their own adoption programs at various tracks.[38]
Medical care
The medical care of a racing greyhound is primarily the responsibility of the trainer while in training. All tracks in the United Kingdom have to have a veterinary surgeon and veterinary room facilities on site during racing.[38] The greyhounds require microchipping, annual vaccinations against distemper, infectious canine hepatitis, parvovirus, leptospirosis, and a vaccination to minimise outbreaks of diseases such as kennel cough.[39] All greyhounds in the UK must pass a pre-race veterinary inspection before being allowed to take part in that race.[40]
The racing industry (in several countries) actively works to prevent the spread of doping cases. Attempts are being made to recover urine samples from all greyhounds in a race, not just the winners. Greyhounds from which samples cannot be obtained for a certain number of consecutive races are subject to being ruled off the track in some countries. Violators are subject to criminal penalties and loss of their racing licenses by state gaming commissions and a permanent ban from the National Greyhound Association. The trainer of the greyhound is at all times the "absolute insurer" of the condition of the animal. The trainer is responsible for any positive test regardless of how the banned substance has entered the greyhound's system.[39]
A series of research papers have indicated that the greyhound racing industry played an important role in the rise of drug-resistanthookworms. Greyhound farms tended to treat greyhounds with dewormers even when the dogs did not have an active infection, thus enabling worms, which are constantly exposed to drugs, to develop immunity against the drugs among the surviving worms. The rise of drug-resistant hookworms poses a threat to pets and humans more generally.[41]
In Australia, veterinary oversight within the greyhound racing industry has been the subject of public scrutiny. In New South Wales (NSW), a report authored by the former Chief Veterinary Officer of Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW), Alex Brittan, was publicly reported in mid-2024 and raised concerns regarding injury rates, recovery periods between races, euthanasia practices, and the accuracy of welfare and rehoming data. Media reporting stated that the report alleged some dogs were being raced at physiologically unsustainable frequencies and that veterinary and welfare monitoring at race tracks was insufficient in some circumstances.[42][43]
The publication of the report was followed by the resignation of the chief executive of GRNSW. The NSW Government subsequently announced an independent inquiry into animal welfare, integrity, and regulatory practices within the industry.[44]
↑Norman Baker, "Going to the Dogs—Hostility to Greyhound Racing in Britain: Puritanism, Socialism and Pragmaticism." Journal of Sport History 23.2 (1996): 97-119. Online
↑Mike Huggins, "Going to the dogs." History Today 56.5 (2006): 31+.
↑Daryl Leeworthy, "A diversion from the new leisure: greyhound racing, working-class culture, and the politics of unemployment in inter-war South Wales." Sport in History 32.1 (2012): 53-73.
↑Particulars of Licensed tracks, table 1 Licensed Dog Racecourses. Licensing Authorities. 1946.
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