For the first time ever, more than half of all new greyhounds registered are being homed by the Retired Greyhound Trust writes Floyd Amphlett.
Figures released by the GBGB show that 7329 greyhounds were sanctioned for racing in 2014, this represents a drop decline of 191 greyhounds on the previous year – roughly 2.5%.
With departing RGT boss Peter Laurie confident that his organisation homed at least 3,700 greyhounds last year, the gap between ‘registered and rehomed’ continues to shrink.
That is certainly a favourable comparison viewed against the earliest figures I have on record for homing – 2002. Then, the charity homed 2,030 greyhounds while the NGRC registered 10,722.
Whilst welfarists and ‘antis’ will point to the 3,600 greyhounds (approx.) not rehomed by the charity, the facts behind that figure will always be obscure.
They include the runners retained or re-homed by owners, stock returning to Ireland for breeding, and the thousands of ex-racers still living in racing kennels but simply no longer racing.
The GBGB have the powers to monitor ex-racers until they are deregistered as ex-racers – a significantly different figure to the number homed by the RGT – as they stringently enforce their ‘green form policy’. (One of the many duties monitored by UKAS).
However, even then, the regulators cannot take into account any owner who simply leaves the sport and throws the forms in the bin.
Despite repeated calls for ‘cradle to grave’ monitoring, the Home Office, when drawing up regulations under the Animal Welfare Act, made it clear that once greyhounds are no longer racing, they have the same legal footing as other pets.
In other words, an owner who decides to euthanize an eight year old greyhound is under no greater requirement to notify any authority, than the owner of a mongrel exercising the same right.
Other figures reveal that trainer numbers continue to fall. In six months, the number of professional handlers has declined from 352 to 340 and the number of ‘greyhound trainer’ licences has dipped from 456 to 447.
