“I believe that now is the right time to move to ban greyhound racing in Wales.”
With these words, spoken in the Senedd on 18 February 2025, Wales’ Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies signalled an overdue step away from cruel sports.
The announcement followed an extensive public consultation and years of campaigning from animal advocates. “I have seen the strength of feeling on this, and I have listened,” said Irranca-Davies.
If Wales goes ahead with the ban, it will become the first UK nation to outlaw greyhound racing.
Nation of animal lovers
For a self-proclaimed nation of animal lovers, this cruel use of dogs for entertainment is intolerable. And it was public mobilisation that eventually prompted the Welsh Government to take action.
For years, animal advocates from Animal Rising and other groups have pressured the government to choose love over harm.
Last year, a petition to ban greyhound racing in Wales soared to more than 35,000 signatures. The Welsh Government opened a consultation on the topic, which received more than 1,100 responses. Of these, some two-thirds were in favour of the ban.
Mark Bird, Chief Executive of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, cried foul, lamenting that the move followed “pressure from the extreme animal rights movement.”
The ban is the result of broad-based opposition to animal cruelty. And what a delightful change it makes that the government has listened to a mass movement of animal lovers acting in the interests of other living beings rather than a small board of self-interested industry figures who want to profit from animal exploitation!
From intention to interdiction
The public consultation ran from December 2023 to March 2024 and found a clear majority of people support the idea of banning greyhound racing in Wales.
Now, the Welsh Government must act to implement the interdiction.
Promisingly, Irranca-Davies stressed that he wants “a ban to come into force as soon as practicably possible”.
An “Implementation Group” will set out the practical steps needed to enforce the ban. The government has pledged to “engage with stakeholders, learn from other countries approaches and advise the Government on how a ban will come into force”. It will speak with representatives who are implementing a similar ban in New Zealand.
Will England ban greyhound racing?
Wales is leading the way with a first-of-its-kind ban on greyhound racing set to come into effect soon.
Animal advocates now plan to push England, Scotland and Northern Ireland to follow suit. Last week, UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs that there are “absolutely no plans” to extend Wales’ greyhound racing ban to the rest of the UK.
But times change. And, as Wales has shown, the tide of public opinion can be hard to stop. Expect renewed calls for action around the UK in the years ahead. ★
Featured image credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
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