Inside the final days of the greyhound racing industry

Sunday, 26 July 2026

More than 1000 greyhounds will need to find a new home and numerous workers will be out of a job when the Government ban on commercial racing comes into effect on Friday. George Heagney talks to those involved during the last days of the industry.

The reality of losing the connection with her dogs and the racing community is finally starting to feel real for Foxton greyhound trainer Marcie Flipp.

It’s been 18 months since Racing Minister Winston Peters announced a ban on greyhound racing, in December 2024, but with final race meetings this week - ahead of the last legal races on Friday - many greyhound folk are now turning their minds to what comes next.

Peters says the ban is to protect the welfare of dogs as injuries remained persistently high. There was immediate and vociferous opposition from the industry who maintain that standards have improved and that animal welfare is their priority.

The final day of racing is Friday with events at Addington Raceway in Christchurch, then Hatrick Raceway in Whanganui. Then the Greyhound Transition Agency will take responsibility for the rehoming of about 1400 racing dogs as things are wound down.

Flipp is emotional as she tells the Star-Times she is losing her livelihood, her life and her dogs.

At her peak she had about 55, but that dropped as she gradually rehomed them since the ban was announced. Now she has 17 at her property and only eight have raced.

She plans to keep six as pets and rehome the others.

Five race days are left this week and Flipp will race a couple at Whanganui on Tuesday and Friday.

“I'm mentally wrecked and this whole thing has taken a toll,” she says. “Even [the last day] at Palmerston North was so hard and I fear for how my mental health is going to cope with these last few race meetings because that day was one of the toughest days of my life.

“I've never seen so many tears. It was shit. People just don't understand this, we work so hard, we’re contributing to the economy and now it’s like we never mattered.”

The Transition Agency will provide wellbeing support for people affected by the closure, but Flipp doesn’t plan to use those services.

“Everyone is so angry and most people have got enough family and friend support around them because we’re not only greyhound trainers, we are a big family.”

The Monday after racing finishes could be difficult for many as they won’t be training, getting nominations in for races or heading off to a meeting as was the norm.

Flipp says she has “never cried so much as in the last week”.

“I’m not old enough for the pension but I’m not that young either and that’s the hard thing. You do something for so long and that’s all you know, and then you need to go and find another job.

“Would you take on a 30 year old or a 58 year old for the same position?”

She says the attraction to greyhound racing was her love of the dogs and that you could build a strong connection with them.

“I’ve got some really good, fast dogs in the kennel and I’ve got some useless ones too, but they still get the same love.”

Fifty kennels at her property and a 10-berth trailer for carrying dogs will soon be obsolete.

Flipp’s tale is one being felt the country over, with clubs and trainers getting ready to wind up.

Palmerston North Greyhound Racing Club president Paul Freeman, who has been involved in the industry for 30 years, says things won’t hit home until August 1.

“People will go to Whanganui on the 31st of July then leave feeling fairly numb.

“Being a greyhound trainer isn’t something you can walk away from tomorrow and say ‘hey I’m going to go on holiday for a month’. You’ve got ties to that animal.”

The club rented the racing track from the Manawatū Harness Racing Club.

Freeman says that loss of “a couple hundred thousand dollars a year” would hurt the harness racing club and many people would lose their jobs with the closure, “from camera crews to engineers”.

The final two meetings at Palmerston North were earlier this month, then work started to remove the greyhound infrastructure as part of the lease agreement.

Iron sheets and railing around the 600m track were torn out, as well as 300 posts concreted into the ground. The club will look to sell its 120 kennels.

“We’re going to have to go and remove any sign that we were ever there. Some of the prices quoted, we’re talking hundreds of thousands to remove the track, the matting, the steel, the concrete….

“Where does the money come from? The club has to pay for it, we’ve got to find the money. It’s a similar situation to trainers. They’ve bought a property and have got a mortgage. All of a sudden they’ve got no income.”

Freeman says some older trainers will likely retire, but there are still a lot of younger people involved who will have to decide if they will go to Australia to continue their passion.

“Everyone’s situation is different. You’ll be like a stunned mullet for the first six months. You’ll have to try find a job I suppose.

“It’s more the ones who have got mortgages and whatever else. You can’t go to ANZ Bank and say ‘Winston’s shut me down can I stop paying my mortgage?’”

Peters was in the Philippines this week for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting and unable to comment.

Greyhound Racing New Zealand chief executive Edward Rennell says more than 1000 people would be out of work, from trainers to vets and people providing animal feed.

“It’s hard but it’s even harder on our participants. They’re losing not only their livelihoods, they’re losing their lifetime investment in the industry and they may face a bleak future.”

Friday’s final meeting will be a significant occasion, but Rennell says it would be like a wake.

“There is a large degree of anger in the industry. They feel the decision was manifestly wrong and unfair.

“They’re at the point now, the overwhelming feeling is one of sadness.”

Before Peters announced the ban, about 2900 dogs were racing. Since then, trainers had stopped breeding and many dogs had been rehomed. About 650 were adopted in the past year, Rennell says.

Infrastructure at the seven clubs around the country would have to be removed in the next couple of months.

“It’s going to be painful. A lot of assets, you won’t be realising the value on them. A set of starting boxes that cost $50,000 will now be sold for scrap metal.”

Rennell believes the Government should compensate people in greyhound racing.

He says some would look at alternative options such as continuing their career in Australia, or changing to harness or thoroughbred racing, but the economic climate makes that hard.

South Island greyhound trainer Steve Evans last year relocated to Australia after the ban was announced, taking 80 dogs on a charter flight.

The transition

A statement from the Transition Agency said it will operate until the animals were rehomed, or July 2029, but it could be extended for two more years.

Owners can keep their dogs or hand them over to the agency.

An agency spokesperson told the Star-Times trainers would become carers and it was best for dogs to stay somewhere familiar before being rehomed.

“Where possible, we are paying the people currently looking after them to continue to do that.

“From there, the greyhounds enter our rehoming preparation programme, where greyhound experts train them to become pets before they are matched with the right forever home through one of our trusted partner adoption agencies.”

The agency is mainly funded by TAB New Zealand, using money that previously went into greyhound racing.

From August 1 the agency will take control of the industry’s assets and use the funds to care for greyhounds until they are rehomed, and support the people involved.

When the agency closes, any remaining assets will “be distributed to people who were involved in the industry immediately before its closure”. The agency will advise the racing minister at that time.

The spokesperson said a participant was a person registered with a racing code.

“As an example, it could include (without limitation) trainers, breeders, owners and members of a racing club.”

The agency will also play a role in supporting the people, directing them to the charity OnTrack and the Ministry of Social Development.

“The end of racing has real financial, operational and emotional consequences for people in the industry,” the agency’s statement said. “We are working with key partners to make sure they are supported through the end of racing and beyond, with services for wellbeing and career planning.

“We are also working closely with owners, trainers and others as they make decisions about their futures and the futures of their greyhounds.”

OnTrack’s Mark Rosanowski, who worked as a Trackside race host and commentator for more than 30 years, says some trainers will go to Australia to continue racing but the ones left behind will need help, with OnTrack focused on suicide prevention and mental health support.

“[We] have been moving around the greyhound community, visiting kennels, being at race tracks and being present as much as anything for anybody that needs any extra support.

“At the moment they’re still busy and have still got full-time jobs. They know this is coming and they’re working out what they’re going to do with the next step of their lives.”

He says they face losing their community, the people they saw every week at meetings, so “things could be really tough for some”.

SPCA senior scientific officer Dr Alison Vaughan welcomes the end of greyhound racing and says it marks a significant animal welfare milestone.

“The Government's decision to end the industry followed years of independent reviews that identified persistent animal welfare issues on and off the track, alongside issues with data reporting and transparency.”

Vaughan says while many people worked hard to improve welfare, issues persisted, which led to the decision to stop racing.

She says it’s a significant change for the people involved but the priority is now dog welfare as they became companion animals.