The End of Greyhound Racing in New Zealand By: Rachel Conner

Active commercial dog racing can only be found in Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and until recently, New Zealand.[1] Greyhound remains legal in Mexico and Vietnam as well, but there are currently no operational tracks in either country.[2] The number countries with active commercial dog racing does not account for the twenty-one countries that operate non-commercial dog racing.[3] New Zealand’s history with greyhound racing is quite extensive. In New Zealand, greyhound racing evolved from coursing, which consists of two dogs chasing down wild hares that had been flushed from cover; this was in an effort to deal with the wild hare pest problem.[4] Eventually, coursing was banned in 1954 due to animal cruelty complaints, but it evolved into using artificial lures on tracks to continue the practice.[5]

One of the important aspects of all racing is the gambling, but the Gambling Act of 1908 legalized gambling only for horse racing but not greyhound racing.[6] It was not until 1970 when Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Edinburgh, Charles Prince of Wales, and Princess Anne visited New Zealand did the sport start to gain a more favorable reputation across the country.[7] The Duke of Edinburgh was offered a greyhound as a gift, and this race became a beloved annual tradition named the Silver Collar dedicated to the Duke of Edinburgh himself.[8] Subsequently, the Gambling Act was amended in 1970, and legalized betting was allowed for greyhound racing which made the sport more professionally recognized.[9]

Despite New Zealand’s extensive history with greyhound racing, in October 2022, a public opinion poll found that 74% of residents would support a ban on the sport.[10] But the amount of gambling revenue shows a different statistic. About 612 million in New Zealand dollars (369.5 million in U.S. dollars) was wagered in greyhound racing in 2022.[11]There seems to be a slight discrepancy between the public opinion of New Zealand residents and the amount of money paid into the racing industry.

In December 2024, New Zealand announced plans to ban greyhound racing, which came as a surprise to the racing industry.[12] The plan is to wind down over the next twenty months.[13] The decision was made to protect the welfare of the racing dogs, but now there are about 2,900 racing greyhounds that need to be rehomed safely.[14] Winston Peters, Racing Minister and New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, assured the public that the greyhounds would not be sent overseas to other racing facilities.[15] The substantial number of dogs needed to be rehomed is a daunting task, but animal welfare organizations like Save Animals From Extinction (”S.A.F.E.”) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (”SPCA”) have offered to assist in the efforts.[16] Further, to prevent the unnecessary euthanasia of these greyhounds, New Zealand was quick with plans to introduce legislation to prevent this as the racing industry shuts down over the next twenty months.[17]

Animal welfare campaigns began to push back against New Zealand’s allowance of greyhound racing and subsequently sparked the move for the ban.[18] The decision was chalked up to the percentage of dogs being injured and wanting to do what is in the best interest for the dogs.[19] Prior to the decision, the greyhound racing industry did implement stricter polices about when dog can be euthanized and about sending greyhounds abroad to be rehomed when nothing was available for them in New Zealand; both changes reduced the number of greyhounds killed, but the number of greyhounds injured remained high ultimately leading to the need for the ban.[20] The New Zealand decision could lead to more countries to repeal their commercial racing due to the major push back from so many animal welfare campaigns and the diminishing public opinion towards greyhound racing.[21] For example, this decision has pushed the League Against Cruel Sports, an animal welfare charity, to call upon the United Kingdom to adopt similar legislation.[22]

On the opposite side, this decision was devastating to the racing industry. Specifically, Greyhound Racing New Zealand (“GRNZ”), one of the largest and more prominent associations comprising of racing clubs across New Zealand, was deeply impacted by the decision.[23] One of the association’s members cited potential cultural and economic voids this decision would create, as well as the decision overlooking the meaningful progress the association has achieved over its long history.[24] GRNZ says it has been reforming its practices with a commitment to animal welfare.[25] Also, there are about 1,000 people who were employed full-time by the racing industry, so their jobs will be lost over the coming twenty months.[26] Edward Rennell, the CEO of GRNZ, was shocked by the decision and has publicly pushed back against the claims that the industry failed to meet certain benchmarks.[27] Rennell recalls the small injury rate and the significant drop in euthanasias in the past four years.[28] Rennell also expressed frustration with not having the opportunity to present the racing industry’s case.[29]

Greyhound racing contributes about 8.5% to the New Zealand’s racing industry, which accounts for about 1.3 billion New Zealand dollars.[30] When looking at the whole of New Zealand’s racing industry, thoroughbred racing and harness racing are the biggest producers of expenditure, have the majority of the racing clubs, and a massive number of attendances compared to greyhound racing.[31] However, greyhound racing has more races than thoroughbred and harness combined with the smallest number of animals in training, which implies the amount of strain that is put on the greyhounds.[32] So, while the dissolution of greyhound racing is a win for New Zealand and for animal welfare campaigns, greyhound racing is only a drop in the bucket when compared to the large scale racing industry in New Zealand. It will be interesting to see if New Zealand will implement any other racing related legislation in the future that is in the best interest of the horses impacted by the extensive and very profitable racing industry.

[1] Greyhound Racing Around the World, Grey2k USA Worldwide,  https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/worldwide.php (last visited Feb. 15, 2025).

[2] Charlotte Graham-McLay, Greyhound Racing is Increasingly Rare Worldwide. New Zealand Now Plans to Outlaw the Practice, The Seattle Times (Dec. 10, 2024), https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/greyhound-racing-is-increasingly-rare-worldwide-new-zealand-now-plans-to-outlaw-the-practice/.

[3] Greyhound Racing Around the World, supra note 1.

[4] Victoria Birkinshaw, Greyhound Racing, New Zealand Geographic, https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/greyhound-racing/ (last visited Feb. 15, 2025); Page 10. Greyhound Racing, Teara, https://teara.govt.nz/en/horse-and-greyhound-racing/page-10 (last visited Feb. 15, 2025).

[5] Id.

[6] Birkinshaw, supra note 4.

[7] Greyhound Racing in New Zealand, Greyhounds News (Feb. 9, 2024), https://greyhoundsnews.uk/articles/greyhound-racing-in-new-zealand/; Page 10, Greyhound Racing, supra note 4.

[8] Greyhound Racing in New Zealand, supra note 7; An Offer to Gift a Greyhound, Auckland Greyhound Racing Club Inc, https://greyhounds.co.nz/an-offer-to-gift-a-greyhound/ (last visited Feb. 15, 2025).

[9] Birkinshaw, supra note 4.

[10] Greyhound Racing in New Zeland, supra note 7.

[11] Greyhound Racing in New Zeland, supra note 7.

[12] Kelly Ng, New Zealand to Band Greyhound Racing, BBC (Dec. 9, 2024), https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6l1xjnd6xo.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Nicole Cosgrove, Greyhound Racing Banned in New Zealand – A Win for Animal Welfare, Dogster (Dec. 20, 2024), https://www.dogster.com/barking-news/greyhound-racing-banned-in-new-zealand-a-win-for-animal-welfare.

[16] Id.

[17] Eva Corlett, New Zealand Plans to Ban Greyhound Racing Over Animal Welfare Concern, The Guardian (Dec. 9, 2024), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/new-zealand-greyhound-racing-ban-plan-winston-peters-ntwnfb; Graham-McLay, supra note 2.

[18] Graham-McLay, supra note 2.

[19] Corlett, supra note 17.

[20] Graham-McLay, supra note 2.

[21] Cosgrove, supra note 15.

[22] New Zealand Greyhound Racing Ban Sparks Calls for a Similar Move Here, League Against Cruel Sports (Dec. 10, 2024), https://www.league.org.uk/news-and-resources/news/new-zealand-greyhound-racing-ban-sparks-calls-for-a-similar-move-here/.

[23] Ng, supra note 12.

[24] Ng, supra note 12.

[25] Corlett, supra note 17.

[26] Corlett, supra note 17.

[27] Greyhound Racing Band in New Zealand Sparks Industry Outrage, Australian Racing Greyhound, https://australianracinggreyhound.com/news/greyhound-racing-ban-in-new-zealand-sparks-industry-outrage/161481/ (last visited Feb. 15, 2024).

[28] Id.

[29] Id.

[30] Cosgrove, supra note 15.

[31] Size & Scope of the New Zealand Racing Industry, IER (Jan. 2024), https://nztr.co.nz/sites/nztrindustry/files/2024-05/Size%20and%20Scope%20of%20NZ%20Racing%2022-23_Draft%20Report%202024%20%28HR%29_0.pdf.

[32] Id.