News Blog Greyhound racing to be banned in Wales; is Scotland next? 19-02-25 Yesterday, we were thrilled when the Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced that Wales will ban greyhound racing, becoming the first country in the UK to do so. Announcing the Government’s commitment to ban greyhound racing, the Deputy First Minister said: “I have since seen the strength of feeling on this and I have listened... I believe now is the right time to ban greyhound racing in Wales and we are proud to be the first nation in the UK to do this.” The Deputy Minister has expressed his desire that the ban comes into place as soon as is practically possible. Wales becomes 2nd country to announce ban With a ban to come into force in Wales, Scotland will become one of only eight countries worldwide where greyhound racing still occurs. A few months ago, New Zealand announced its plans to ban greyhound racing due to “unacceptably high” rate of injuries. The industry will be wound down over the next 20 months, allowing for the rehoming of dogs that have been made to race. Indeed, when announcing the commitment to ban greyhound racing, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said “we also note what is happening in other countries across the world, who are taking steps to ban this activity” and referred to the imminent ban in New Zealand. Could a Scottish ban be imminent? Mark Ruskell MSP has brought the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Scotland) Bill which would put an end to greyhound racing in Scotland. 86% of respondents to Bill's consultation backed the proposed ban on greyhound racing. Additionally, 9,505 more individuals pledged their support for the main aims of the Bill through our Unbound the Greyhound public pledge. The Bill secured the necessary cross-party support from MSPs in just 24 hours and thus Mark Ruskell MSP will soon have the right to introduce the Bill to the Scottish Parliament. The Bill came following significant public support for ending greyhound racing in Scotland. 22,655 people signed our coalition open letter urging the Scottish Government to phase out the industry, which also garnered high-profile celebrity endorsements including from Ricky Gervais, Chris Packham and David Olusoga. 10 MSPs, and 14 rescued greyhounds, also joined the coalition outside Parliament to show their support as we submitted our open letter to the Government. Read our open letter Watch this space As soon as the Proposed Bill to Ban Greyhound Racing (Scotland) is introduced to the Scottish Parliament, we will rally our supporters to demonstrate their support for an end to greyhound racing and to encourage their MSPs to support the Bill. It’s time to put dog racing out of its misery. Manage Cookie Preferences