New Zealand has announced intentions to ban greyhound race, citing an “unacceptably great” frequency of accidents.
The sport has long drawn national attention, with some growers accused of treating the creatures badly or doping them.
Over the next 20 weeks, the government intends to shut down the market to allow time for racing dog rehoming and for business workers to change their jobs.
Aside from New Zealand, professional dog race is allowed in Australia, Ireland, the UK and the US.
The proportion of canines being injured remains consistently high and the time has come to make a visit in the best interest of the species, according to racing secretary Winston Peters in a statement released on Tuesday.
This is not a lightly-taken choice, he said, but it is ultimately motivated by ensuring the security of racing puppies.
The authorities on Tuesday introduced a bill on to avoid the unnecessary killing of racing dogs, which” may be passed under urgency”, said Peters, who is also New Zealand’s deputy prime minister.
He said that more policy will be introduced to put an end to greyhound racing.
Over the past ten years, there have been three assessments of the greyhound racing industry that have all recommended major changes.
In 2021, 232 racing terriers died and 900 suffered injury, according to regional media reports.
The economy was placed “on see” by the state in September that time, but the deaths and injuries continued. Animal rights team Safe logged more than 2, 500 wounds and nearly 30 deaths in the two-and-a-half years that followed.
The country’s estimated 2,900 remaining racing terriers need to be rehomed, which is a crucial process right now.
Animal rights organizations, which have huge fought for the industry’s closure, were pleased to hear about Tuesday’s statement, with Safe calling it a “monumental gain for dog right.”
The oldest animal welfare organization in New Zealand, SPCA, called on other nations to help greyhound racing and declared that it is “esctatic” at the walk.
But Greyhound Racing New Zealand, an business partnership comprising greyhound racing venues across the country, said it is “devastated” by the president’s plan.
” The beagle racing community is left reeling from the news, with many expressing concerns over the potential cultural and economic vacuum this decision will create”, said the agency’s president Sean Hannan.
Greyhound racing accounts for 8.5 % of New Zealand’s NZ$ 1.3b ($ 760m, £595 ) racing industry, with just over 1, 000 full-time jobs, data showed.
” The administration’s decision to close the business is genuinely disappointing, as it overlooks the important progress we have achieved”, said Hannan, who likewise urged the government to rethink its decision.