Battersea Dogs & Cats Home have issued a statement in support of Neil Parish’s call for a levy on greyhound racing. The Chairman of the EFRA committee reporting on greyhound welfare, made his plea in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday.
Peter Laurie, Deputy Chief Executive at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home said: “Battersea strongly agrees with the EFRA Committee’s recommendation that Government should introduce a statutory levy on betting companies to fund Greyhound welfare.
“Bookmakers and betting organisations are making enormous profits from Greyhound racing, yet the racing industry itself remains chronically underfunded. The existing voluntary arrangement by which some, but certainly not all, bookmakers make only a very modest contribution is unfit for purpose and is not raising the funds required to safeguard the welfare of Greyhounds both during racing and on their retirement.
“The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) recently released figures relating to injuries incurred by Greyhounds at tracks, and their fate on their retirement from racing. While we were pleased to see the number of greyhounds put to sleep had fallen slightly on the previous year, urgent action is required to reduce this number further.
“We are also concerned that the overall number of injuries detected at tracks increased last year, contributing to an average of 21 Greyhounds retiring from GBGB tracks each day. This number alone places a very significant and unsustainable burden on rehoming charities. Battersea took in 125 ex-racing Greyhounds in 2018 and has already helped 70 this year, but clearly more homes are needed for these wonderful dogs.
“Better welfare will cost money and it is time for the betting industry to be forced to pay its fair share, that we consider to be at least 1% of gross Greyhound betting turnover.”
