CAMPAIGNERS have called for an end to greyhound racing following the publication of new figures on injuries and track fatalities.
Last week, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), the regulator for licensed greyhound racing, published new data covering all registered greyhounds racing at its 20 licensed tracks in Britain.
The numbers reveal that there were 99 fatalities at GBGB tracks in 2022.
That is however down from 242 in 2018, when figures were first released.
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In total, 306 greyhounds died last year due to reasons including illness, natural causes and treatment costs.
That figure was down from the 932 deaths recorded in 2018.
Emily Lawrence, regional campaign manager at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The release of figures showing the scale of deaths and injuries among racing greyhounds across the country illustrates why there is so much opposition to the return of greyhound racing to Oxford.
“Greyhound racing is inherently dangerous and dogs are being sacrificed for people’s entertainment – it’s why we are calling for this cruel sport to end in Oxford.
“It’s time for change and for councillors and MPs in the city to address this important animal welfare issue by doing everything they can to end greyhound racing.”
Oxford Stadium managing director Kevin Boothby said injuries and fatalities are not limited to just greyhound racing when it comes to sport involving animals.
He said: “The latest data perfectly demonstrates how new measures and regulatory change have contributed to significantly improving safety and lasting care standards in licensed greyhound racing.
“Our sport is committed to delivering the very highest standards of care to racing greyhounds and part of that commitment is being fully transparent with our injury, fatality and rehoming data.
“Injuries and fatalities to animals are not, and never will be, exclusive to greyhound racing.
“Risk applies to all animal-based sports and activities – including dog agility, canicross and flyball.
“Suggesting our sport should be banned based on historically low data is an extreme view which naturally places the aforementioned sports at risk too where releasing such data is not required.
“The regeneration of Oxford Stadium has been the feel-good story of the decade locally and we have been overwhelmed by the public’s response.
“Our open door policy is there for anyone who wishes to be educated about greyhound racing’s present day operation which we are extremely proud of.
“To date, no one has accepted this offer – including campaign groups who we have proactively approached amid their satisfaction to share wildly inaccurate, and occasionally entirely untrue, statistics.”
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About the author
To sign up to Liam’s latest Oxford United newsletter for free, click here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/newsletters/
Formerly the politics reporter for the Oxford Mail, Liam now covers all things Oxford United.
Liam attends the U’s home and away, as well as covering other big sports stories across the county.
His Oxford United newsletter is released every Saturday morning at 6am.
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