A campaign to end greyhound cruelty has gained huge support from a cross-party group of MPs in recent weeks.
The campaign, simply titled “End Greyhound Cruelty”, is calling for a statutory five per cent levy to be paid by all bookmakers to go towards the care and wellbeing of all racing dogs, and a parliamentary debate in response to the 2020 petition that gained over 100,000 signatures to ban dog racing by The Alliance Against Greyhound Racing.
It also wants to improve transparency within the industry by ending the self regulation of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, and wants to implement full life tracking of all dogs, and prohibit the building of new racecourses in the UK.
Its website is full of shocking figures, like the fact “a UK racing greyhound dies or is destroyed every 12 hours” and “in 2018, 324 greyhounds were destroyed for financial reasons” instead of being rehomed or medically treated.
The campaign is lobbying policy makers to bring stronger regulations to the industry.
End Greyhound Cruelty currently has the support of various MPs including Dr Lisa Cameron, Tracey Crouch, Caroline Lucas, Marion Fellows and Jim Shannon.
The campaign has tabled a parliamentary Early Day Motion on the welfare of greyhounds racing in the UK, thanks to Dr Lisa Cameron, MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow.
Dr Lisa Cameron said: “I’ve tabled an Early Day Motion on the welfare of greyhounds racing in the UK, because I believe stronger regulation is needed to protect the dogs.”
Early Day Motions (EDMs) are motions submitted by MPs in the House of Commons to draw attention to particular issues or campaigns.
According to the charity League Against Cruel Sports , with data from Greyhound Board of Great Britain, 3,375 greyhounds sustained injuries in 2020 and at least 200 greyhounds died trackside.
End Greyhound Cruelty is encouraging people to help by writing to their local MP and has a template letter on its website.
