THE Scottish Government has been urged to follow Wales’s lead and ban greyhound racing when a member’s bill is introduced in April.
The Welsh Government announced that it would ban the gambling-led sport earlier this week and plan on outlawing it ‘as soon as possible’.
Only nine countries around the world still allow commercial greyhound racing, according to the RSPCA. Four of them are the UK nations with data from 2023 showing 109 greyhounds died trackside in the UK, while a further 4,238 were injured during racing in the same year.
The bill is being brought forward by the Scottish Green’s Mark Ruskell and it has received cross party support, and he now wants to see Scotland push it through and ban the sport.
Ruskell said: “The way that a country treats its animals tells us a lot about its values.
“Greyhound racing is cruel. There is no excuse for forcing these gentle dogs to run around a course at 40mph and putting them at risk of injury or death.
“Scotland has made some important steps to ban some of the cruel practices and blood sports that were once considered acceptable. But now we are looking increasingly isolated in allowing this gambling-led spectacle to continue.
“With Wales leading the change in the UK, we need to make sure that Scotland doesn’t fall behind.
“April is not far away, and I will continue to work with animal welfare groups and MSPs from all parties to ensure that we build the biggest possible support for my bill.
“I hope that the Scottish Government will get on board and do its bit for animal welfare by supporting the call and ending greyhound racing for good.”
