Together with our Cut The Chase coalition partners, we are today celebrating a major victory for animal welfare in Wales, as the Welsh Government announces a ban on greyhound racing.

Our founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vanessa Waddon, reflects on the journey to this historic decision which will bring an end to the entirely preventable injuries and deaths of the dogs involved in greyhound racing in Wales.

“Hope Rescue is named after Last Hope, a greyhound from Valley Greyhound Stadium in Ystrad Mynach that was found on Fochriw mountain back in 2004, shot with a captive bolt gun and with his ears hacked off so he couldn’t be identified by his tattoos, all the time his tail still wagging. This horrific story inspired me to get involved in greyhound protection and ultimately led to the founding of Hope Rescue in 2005.

In 2018, Hope Rescue initiated the innovative Amazing Greys partnership project at Valley Greyhound Stadium, after welfare concerns were raised about the fate of surplus greyhounds from the track. Volunteers from Hope Rescue, Greyhound Rescue Wales and Forever Hounds Trust set up a rota to attend the track on race nights, committing to take every surplus greyhound from the track and ensuring any dogs injured on race nights were taken straight to the vets to receive emergency vet treatment. The project worked with a wider network of rescues including Dogs Trust and Battersea to re-home the rescued greyhounds.

The Amazing Greys project highlighted significant welfare issues with greyhound racing in Wales, and in 2021 when the track announced its intention to become a licensed Greyhound Board of Great Britain track greatly intensifying the volume of racing, we knew we had to act.

In September 2021 we launched our petition to the Senedd Petitions Committee to ban greyhound racing in Wales, with over 35,000 dog lovers signing the petition. We were soon joined by Greyhound Rescue Wales, after their members voted to change their policy and support a ban.

In September 2022, Blue Cross, Dogs Trust and RSPCA undertook internal policy reviews and also came out in support of a ban after working with the greyhound industry for a number of years to try and improve welfare. Joining forces with Hope Rescue and Greyhound Rescue Wales, the Cut The Chase Coalition was formed to take forward the campaign with a strong and united voice.    

In December 2022, the Petitions Committee published their report, with the majority of the Committee supporting a ban. With strong cross-party support, the petition was debated in the Senedd in March 2023, and it was announced that views on greyhound racing would be included in a wider consultation on the licensing of animal activities. The consultation launched in December 2023, and in December 2024 Welsh Government published their response, stating that a decision on greyhound racing would be made in Spring 2025.

Earlier this afternoon, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs announced that greyhound racing would be banned in Wales, fully protecting greyhounds from harm and the inherent risks of commercial racing.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the public for supporting the campaign, and also to the Petitions Committee, chaired by Jack Sargeant MS at the time. We also want to say thank you to the stalwarts of the campaign, Jane Dodds MS, Luke Fletcher MS, Carolyn Thomas MS and Dr Altaf Hussain MS who all played a significant role in rallying strong and unwavering cross-party support for the Cut the Chase campaign

“As we celebrate our 20th anniversary year, there is no better anniversary present than this historic decision.”   

The Cut the Chase Coalition’s priority has always been the welfare of the dogs involved in greyhound racing, and member organisations remain committed to ensuring that this is not negatively impacted by the ban. The Coalition has sent an open letter to both Valley Greyhound Stadium and the Greyhound Board of Great Britain offering their support with displaced greyhounds needing rehoming both during the transitional period, and after racing ceases at the stadium.

The coalition hopes to see other nations follow the lead of Wales in ending the industry, with support for an end to greyhound racing in Scotland also growing. In July 2024, Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, where the last unlicensed racetrack in Scotland is located, Mark Ruskell, secured the required support to ensure his Private Member’s Bill, The Proposed Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Scotland) Bill, will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament and seeks to promote the welfare of the animals by introducing an offence of permitting a greyhound to compete at racetracks in Scotland.