Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greyhound racing is a popular sport in the United Kingdom. They are many different tracks in the UK. It is Parimutuel betting (The Tote), similar to Horse racing.
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[edit] Competitions
The biggest competition in England is Greyhound Derby held at Wimbledon Stadium.
[edit] Stadiums
They are 31 NGRC registered stadiums in The UK These include:
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[edit] Treatment of racing dogs
In the UK Greyhounds are not kept at the tracks and are instead housed in the kennels of private individuals (usually the trainer, in the case of licensed NGRC tracks - unlicensed greyhound racing is known as "flapping") and transported to the tracks to race. Dogs' health and condition are checked at the track, and drugs tests are conducted to check for tampering with the dogs. This is thought to be better for the dogs welfare than in other countries.
[edit] Retirement
Due to the high number of dogs going through the system each year the National Greyhound Racing Club have set up The Retired Greyhound Trustto rehome the Greyhounds who have left or were unable to start racing, it is a charity but is partly funded by the National Greyhound Racing Club and presents a better view of Greyhound racing to the public. There are also many independent organisations who are finding homes for retired Greyhounds.
After the dogs are no longer able to race (generally, a greyhound's career will end by the age of four to six), many keep dogs as family pets after retirement, owners may keep the dog for breeding, or they can send them to adoption groups, euthanization is a last resort, if no other option is viable.
[edit] Adoption
The main adoption organization in the UK is the Retired Greyhound Trust (RGT). Several organizations, such as British Greyhounds Retired Database, Adopt-a-Greyhound and Greyhound Pets of America also exist to try to ensure that as many of the dogs as possible are adopted.
In recent years the racing industry has made significant progress in establishing programs for the adoption of retired racers. In addition to actively cooperating with private adoption groups throughout the country, many race tracks have established their own adoption programs. A significant amount of money made from greyhound racing is now put into retirement programs and to the RGT.
[edit] Drugs
Drug Using has emerged as a problem in Greyhound racing. The racing industry is actively working to prevent the spread of this practice; attempts are made to recover urine samples from all greyhounds in a race, not just the winners. Greyhounds from which samples can not be obtained for a certain number of consecutive races are subject to being ruled off the track. If a positive sample is found violators are subject to penalties and loss of their racing licenses by the NGRC. The trainer of the greyhound is at all times the "absolute insurer" of the condition of the animal. The trainer is responsible for any positive test regardless of how the banned substance has entered the greyhound's system.
