Greyhound Board of Great Britain commits further funding to animal welfare

The newly-rebranded Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has pledged to continue directing at least 75% of the funding it receives from the betting industry towards animal welfare, as detailed in its first year update.

Earlier in the year, a number of the industry’s bookmakers agreed to voluntarily set aside funds to go towards greyhound racing. Betfred, Paddypower Betfair, Sky Betting & Gaming and William Hill joined Ladbrokes-Coral and Jennings Bet, who had agreed to make such contributions in 2018. Meanwhile, Bet365 agreed to continue their contributions.

The update detailed: “We have put in place a whole series of initiatives that assist everyone in our industry to deliver a sport that is safe, welfare-driven and run with outstanding integrity. Alongside our commitment to welfare, we have also begun to deliver on our commitment to people within the sport.

“Initiatives such as our national training conferences, the Greyhound Ambassadors and the Animal Care and Welfare Assistant Apprenticeship are galvanising those within our sport, harnessing existing expertise, sharing and developing best practice and promoting the enthusiasm and unity of the industry.

“As part of this update on the Commitment, we are publishing the 2018 injury and retirement figures which provide an honest and accurate assessment of where our sport is doing well and where it needs to do more. Overall, the data is positive, demonstrating that British greyhound racing’s welfare standards are world leading.”

The GBGB has committed to develop strategies which will allow them to ‘secure future funding to allow a fuller and more substantial roll-out of the Injury Recovery Scheme, which has the potential to put an end to dogs being put to sleep for financial reasons.’

The funding would also go towards supporting the Greyhound Retirement Scheme up last year which is due to attach a financial bond to each greyhound at the point of registration.

As part of the pledges made by the board, there will be a continuation of work alongside the bookmaking industry which will prioritise the need for additional funding towards animal welfare.

The update continued: “We have set ourselves some challenging targets to achieve within the next three years but we are confident that, with the support of everyone working within the industry, as well as our partners and wider stakeholders, we can achieve these targets and continue to ensure our welfare standards are amongst the very best.”