MORE greyhounds were euthanised at race tracks last year than in any of the previous four years, prompting leading animal welfare organisations to urge the UK Government to “get real” about the dangers associated with racing.
The “shocking” figures are found in new Greyhound Board of Great Britain Data published this week.
In 2025, 161 greyhounds were euthanised at tracks due to injuries – more than in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021.
That means trackside fatalities surged by 31% last year – up from 123 deaths.
The rise comes even though the industry launched a welfare strategy – A Good Life for Every Greyhound – in May 2022.
The rising number of deaths is despite the total number of dog runs falling. In total, there were 330,836 dog runs in 2025 – a fall of seven percent on the previous year.
Thousands of dogs also experienced injuries last year. Over the year, there were 3,648 injuries – with, on average, one in every 91 dog runs resulting in injury.
Now, the Cut the Chase Coalition – a group of animal welfare charities campaigning against greyhound racing – has urged the UK Government to step in and announce plans to phase out the sport in the coming years.
Wales and Scotland have already brought forward legislation to consign greyhound racing to the history books.
In total, 365 greyhounds competing in the sport died last year. In addition to the 161 who were euthanised trackside, this included those who experienced sudden death, were deemed unsuitable for homing, or because of high treatment costs.
A spokesperson for the Cut the Chase Coalition said: “These shocking new figures are a grim reminder as to the dangers of greyhound racing.
“Things are getting worse. We saw fewer races, yet more trackside fatalities, while the proportion of dogs getting injured is also up.
“We’ve also seen deaths rise year-on-year since the industry published its own welfare strategy in 2022. Clearly, that strategy is not delivering.
“Right now, the industry’s own figures tell us that on average, three greyhounds involved in racing will die a week.
“Such high levels of injury, death and animal suffering simply cannot be justified in the name of so-called entertainment.
“Fortunately, things are changing. Wales and Scotland have already announced that greyhound racing will be phased out in the coming years; and now it is time for the UK Government to get real, acknowledge that regulation is failing, and move forward with plans to protect greyhounds in England.”
The publication of the data follows a landmark study by the University of Melbourne, which showed an increase in dogs dying between 2022 to 2024. A finding researchers say had been “masked” by the UK’s racing industry practice of reporting this figure to two decimal places.
The release of this year’s figures has reinforced ‘Cut the Chase”s belief that greyhound racing is inherently dangerous for the dogs involved; running at speed around oval tracks can cause significant injury.
In some cases, the injuries are so severe that it is necessary to euthanise competing dogs, and the scale of track fatalities last year further demonstrates how dangerous the sport is.
More information on the work of the Cut the Chase Coalition is available online.
