New Zealand to ban greyhound racing

New Zealand has announced plans to prohibition greyhound racing, citing an "unacceptably high" complaint of injuries.

The athletics has agelong faced disapproval successful the country, with immoderate breeders accused of mistreating oregon doping the animals.

The authorities plans to upwind down the manufacture implicit the adjacent 20 months, to let clip for the rehoming of racing dogs and for radical successful the manufacture to modulation to different jobs.

Apart from New Zealand, commercialized greyhound racing is allowed successful Australia, Ireland, the UK and the US.

"Despite important advancement made by the greyhound racing manufacture successful caller years, the percent of dogs being injured remains persistently precocious and the clip has travel to marque a telephone successful the champion involvement of the animals," Racing Minister Winston Peters said successful a connection connected Tuesday.

"This is not a determination that is taken lightly but is yet driven by protecting the payment of racing dogs," helium said.

The authorities connected Tuesday introduced a measure connected to forestall the unnecessary sidesplitting of racing dogs, which "will beryllium passed nether urgency", said Peters, who is besides New Zealand's lawman premier minister.

Further authorities volition beryllium tabled to alteration the extremity to greyhound racing, helium said.

There person been 3 reviews of the greyhound racing manufacture implicit the past decade, each recommending important changes.

In 2021, 232 racing greyhounds died and 900 suffered injuries, according to section media reports.

The manufacture was placed "on notice" by the authorities successful September that year, but the deaths and injuries continued. Animal rights radical Safe logged much than 2,500 injuries and astir 30 deaths successful the two-and-a-half years that followed.

A cardinal task present is to rehome the estimated 2,900 racing greyhounds that stay successful the country.

Animal rights groups which person agelong fought for the manufacture to beryllium closed cheered Tuesday's announcement, with Safe calling it a "monumental triumph for carnal rights".

New Zealand's oldest carnal payment foundation SPCA said it is "esctatic" astatine the determination and called connected different countries that let greyhound racing to travel suit.

However Greyhound Racing New Zealand, an manufacture relation comprising greyhound racing clubs crossed the country, said it is "devastated" by the government's proposal.

"The greyhound racing assemblage is near reeling from the announcement, with galore voicing concerns implicit the imaginable taste and economical void this determination volition create," said the association's president Sean Hannan.

Greyhound racing accounts for 8.5% of New Zealand's NZ$1.3b ($760m; £595) racing industry, with conscionable implicit 1,000 full-time jobs, information showed.

"The government's determination to adjacent the manufacture is profoundly disappointing, arsenic it overlooks the meaningful advancement we person achieved," said Hannan, who besides urged the authorities to reconsider its decision.