Greyhound Watch Wales

Providing transparency for racing greyhounds in Wales

Pictured: Jilly, who lost her leg as a result of racing at the Valley Greyhound Stadium in Ystrad Mynach

What is Greyhound Watch Wales?

We believe the public has a right to make an informed choice about greyhound racing.

Commercial greyhound racing in Great Britain is not regulated by an independent body, but is overseen by the industry itself. We feel there has to be a level of scrutiny over racing greyhounds in Wales that is fully independent from the racing industry, openly reporting problems to the public when they occur. This not only includes information from races, but also issues around the welfare of racing greyhounds across Wales more generally.

This page provides a ‘feed’ of such information that is arranged chronologically and is freely available to anyone who wishes to see it. As far as is possible, video evidence is provided so that the reality of what is described can be witnessed first-hand.

Injuries Explained

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) does not publish details of injuries and deaths at individual tracks, only annual totals for all GBGB licensed tracks combined. This industry secrecy obscures the safety record of individual tracks from public knowledge.

However, in addition to giving each dog’s finishing time, GBGB race results use a series of abbreviations to describe what happens in each race such as Bmp (bumped), BBmp (Badly Bumped), Stb (Stumbled), FcdCk (forced to check), Crd (Crowded), Fell (Fell), null(DIS) (no time recorded, finished at a distance) or DNF (Did Not Finish).

From these results, live broadcasts, and other sources, we are able to monitor and gather evidence. As a result, we know dogs frequently get into trouble at Wales’ only remaining track. Indeed, in some races as many as 5 out of the 6 dogs are recorded in results as having run into each other. Greyhounds run at over 40mph, and collisions such as these are extremely dangerous.

Without access to track-level injury data, it is not always possible to know the severity of a dog’s injuries when it is recorded as having fallen and not finished a race. By the same token, even dogs which complete the course without obvious incident may come off lame having have sustained injuries such as hairline fractures or muscular or tendon damage.

Report an Incident or Welfare Concern

Use this form to report details of an incident or welfare concern relating to racing greyhounds in Wales.

You can choose to submit your report anonymously, however providing at least an email address will help our volunteers to investigate if they have any follow-up questions.