Government to close greyhound racing industry

Tuesday, 10 December 2024

Veteran Racing Minister Winston Peters says the Government will end greyhound racing in New Zealand.

Peters, a three-time minister and long-time supporter of racing, announced on Tuesday the Government had decided to legislate to close the greyhound racing industry in the coming 20 months, after years of effort to reduce harm to racing dogs.

“It's just not a matter of how I feel about it. It's whether we're doing the right thing,” Peters said.

The Government would also pass urgent legislation on Tuesday to prevent the “unnecessary killing” of racing dogs in response to the industry’s imminent closure. The industry was given no prior warning of the closure, for this reason.

“I want to make sure that they will know that within two hours of the legislation coming before Parliament that these dogs are going to be re-homed properly,” Peters said.

It was a decision not “taken lightly”, but was “ultimately driven by protecting the welfare of racing dogs”.

“Despite significant progress made by the greyhound racing industry in recent years, the percentage of dogs being injured remains persistently high and the time has come to make a call in the best interest of the animals.

“Keeping unwanted dogs safe is a priority. The Government is working with animal welfare organisations to establish programmes to support re-homing.”

Once law has been passed to prevent the killing of dogs without veterinarian approval, the Government will in 2025 introduce legislation to shutter the industry.

There is political consensus for ending the greyhound racing industry, and Peters said all political parties would be backing the legislation in the House on Tuesday.

Labour and the Green Party have called for a ban in recent months and quickly made public their support on Tuesday. During the 2023 election campaign Prime Minister Christopher Luxon declared his support for the ban.

“When we were in Government, we had put the industry on notice they needed to maintain a social licence in order to operate,” said Labour racing spokesperson Tangi Utikere.

“Clearly, they have not maintained that social licence, and so this is the right decision.”

There had been three reviews of the industry in a decade, all recommending changes to improve welfare for racing dogs. However, Peters said the work undertaken by the industry was not enough.

“We took a long time to see whether we could change those outcomes, and it didn't happen. So in the end, sadly, we've had to make what I say is the right decision,” Peters said.

A “major initiative”, Peters said, would be re-homing the approximately 2900 dogs still in the racing industry.

The decision would also affect the 1054 full time employees of the greyhound racing industry, many of which would be casual employees, Peters said.

The industry held 390 race meetings and 4800 races in 2023-24, amounting to 8.5% of the economic output of New Zealand’s total racing industry, so the decision was not expected to have a “great deal of impact” on the wider industry.

An advisory committee, led by former Helen Clark chief of staff Heather Simpson, as well as consultant Murray Johnson and veterinarian Lindsay Burton, would also be set up to help the Government manage the transition.

This committee would advise on possible financial compensation for industry players.

Greyhound racing is a shrinking industry across the world. According to Peters office, New Zealand is one of five countries where commercial races remain permitted and occur, alongside Australia, Ireland, the United States, and United Kingdom.

Greyhound Racing New Zealand chair Sean Hannan said the decision was “devastating”.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Government has not recognised the work the industry has done to address areas of concern.”

It had made a number of “stringent” changes to the industry including around breeding, rehoming, and euthanasia, Hannan said.

“We are extremely concerned for the future of the industry’s greyhounds, which may no longer be a breed seen in New Zealand.”

The decision would have “far reaching” consequences for breeders, owners, trainers, employees and ancillary industries. The industry employed more than 1000 people.