UK Lawmakers To Debate Welfare Issues Surrounding Greyhound Racing

On Monday 28 March, MPs will debate e-petition 554073, relating to greyhound racing. Christina Rees MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. Jo Churchill MP, a Minister from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will respond.

‘Ban greyhound racing to end unnecessary deaths & suffering of racing dogs’

The petition, which has more than 104,000 signatures, states: “The Government must introduce legislation to abolish greyhound racing, via managed shutdown of activities, and ensure welfare of redundant dogs through a levy on the industry. In 2019 Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) data confirmed 4970 injuries & 710 deaths (14 per week).”

In its response to the petition, provided on 26 November 2020, the Government said: “Defra supports high welfare for racing greyhounds, considers that welfare concerns are being addressed in many ways, and believes a ban is unnecessary.”

The debate will last up to 90 minutes, and will provide opportunities for MPs to question the Government directly on this issue. The debate will take place in Westminster Hall from 16:30, and will be available to view on Parliament TV and on YouTube.

Petition details

• ‘Ban greyhound racing to end unnecessary deaths & suffering of racing dogs’- view on petition signature map.
• Any Library Briefing Papers for this debate will be available here.

Follow the debate

• Watch the debate live online: https://parliamentlive.tv/Commons or YouTube.
• Read the debate transcript: House of Commons – Hansard – UK Parliament
• Follow the Committee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hocpetitions
• You can also follow the debate with the hashtag: #GreyhoundRacingDebate

Where in the country were these petitions signed?

The top 10 parliamentary constituencies that supported the ‘Ban greyhound racing to end unnecessary deaths & suffering of racing dogs’ are as follows: