NGRC To Improve Monitoring Of Retired Greyhounds

The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) has agreed an arrangement with UK dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust which should help improve its monitoring of the rehoming of retired greyhounds.

The agreement is intended to provide extra security to protect the welfare of Greyhounds in the racing industry, ensuring they are retired in the appropriate manner and cared for once their career comes to an end.

The NGCR came under fire earlier in the year, from the Associate Parliamentary Group For Animal Welfare, (APGAW) which reported enormous gaps in Greyhound Industry records and calling it a 'matter of extreme priority' for the industry to improve its tracking of dogs.

For its part, the NGRC says most owners do act responsibly and make suitable arrangements for their retired Greyhounds either by taking them home as pets, or organising re-homing through welfare organisations.

The agreement with Dogs Trust, says the NGRC, is a part of its commitment to working with mainstream welfare groups to collect information and identify Greyhound owners who act irresponsibly.

Under its Rule 18, the NGRC sets out the responsibilities of Greyhound owners who run their dogs on NGRC registered tracks. It includes the requirement to make acceptable arrangements for a retired Greyhound as follows:

  • The Greyhound be retained as a pet, or


  • the Greyhound be boarded at a Licensed Kennel, or


  • the Greyhound be boarded at a Kennel licensed by the local authority, or


  • the Greyhound be found a home through the Retired Greyhound Trust, or


  • the Greyhound be sold or found a home, responsibly, or


  • if it is necessary for the Greyhound to be euthanased either on humane grounds or because none of the above options are available, the Owner ensuring, subject to Rule 58, that such euthanasia is carried out by a registered Veterinary Surgeon.


    • The caveat, Rule 58, declares that euthanasia must be carried out under veterinary supervision.. "unless in the Veterinary Surgeon's absence immediate euthanasia is obviously essential."

    NGRC Chief Executive, Alistair McLean said:

    "We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Dogs Trust and to progress our common interest of improving Greyhound welfare. Our ownership education programme is proving successful and this is one particular initiative which will help us to build upon our work. We would welcome similar agreements with other re-homing organisations."

    Clarissa Baldwin, Chief Executive, Dogs Trust added:

    "We are pleased to have come to a more formal agreement with the NGRC. The flow of data will enable them to further enforce their Rule 18 which will be a positive move for Greyhound welfare. We recognise that welfare organisations have a part to play and I am hopeful that members of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes will also participate in this information gathering and we will be discussing this at our forthcoming meeting."

    The NGRC regulated sector currently consists of 30 racecourses, 1,520 trainers, 4,135 kennel staff, 867 racecourse officials, and in excess of 15,000 Greyhound owners with approximately 10,000 Greyhounds registered annually for licensed racing.