Greyhound racing involves significant welfare harms to dogs throughout their lives, from breeding and training through racing careers to retirement or death when racing value ends.
Greyhound racing welfare problems extend across the entire lifecycle of the dogs involved. Overbreeding means that dogs are created in excess of racing demand, with surplus animals culled at birth or after failing to meet racing standards. Training injuries, live baiting practices, and inadequate retirement provisions compound the welfare harm. The global decline of greyhound racing reflects both growing public welfare awareness and changing gambling preferences, demonstrating that welfare improvement through market change is achievable.