Greens hail government support for greyhound racing ban
Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell has hailed the news that the Scottish Government will back the principles of his bill to ban greyhound racing in Scotland.
The support was confirmed this week in a letter to Mark by the Minister for Agriculture, Jim Fairlie, which acknowledged that “there are genuine risks associated with racing greyhounds around tracks of oval design and this is supported by evidence.”
Mark has received crossparty support for his bill, and, with the backing of Scottish Ministers he is a big step closer to getting it over the line.
In April the Welsh Government announced that it would ban the cruel gambling-led sport as soon as practically possible, while New Zealand is making similar moves.
Mark said:
“I am delighted that the government is backing my bill. This is a big step towards ensuring that we protect our greyhounds and halt this cruel gambling-led sport for good.
“With Wales and New Zealand taking action, we can’t let Scotland fall behind the pack. If we are a nation of dog lovers then we need to back that up with words and deeds, and deliver real protections.
“My own dog Bert is an ex-racing greyhound. When I rescued him, he was around two years old and had been discarded with a broken leg that had never been properly treated. He’s now 13 years old and a completely different dog who has brought such love into our family, but he should never have been put through trauma caused by racing to begin with.
“There are dogs like Bert all over Scotland and my bill will ensure that they are no longer being damaged and then discarded.
“There is no safe way to force dogs to run around a curved track at 40 mph, and I look forward to working with the Scottish Government and MSPs from all parties to end it.”
According to the RSPCA, there are only 9 countries in the world that still allow commercial greyhound racing, including all 4 UK nations.
Data from 2023 showed that 109 greyhounds died trackside in the UK, an increase on the number for 2022. There were 4,238 injuries to greyhounds during racing in 2023.