It was once one of the most popular pastimes in the UK, with over 70 million paying spectators in 1946 alone.
A night at the dogs was, for many working men, a weekly treat with crowds of up to 50,000 punters regularly descending on London’s White City in the early sixties.
At the height of greyhound racing’s popularity, Britain boasted 77 tracks. Today there are only 20 or so remaining, with many more considering closure.
With audiences at many venues down by more than half in the last five years, things are looking bleak for greyhound racing.
So is the finish line in sight, and what has caused what many see as an unstoppable decline?
From Hare Coursing to Belle Vue
Organised greyhound racing in Britain really begins with the first mechanical lure meeting at Belle Vue, Manchester, on 24 July 1926.
The idea was imported by American entrepreneur Charles Munn, whose backing for the new “electric hare” format turned an old rural pursuit into an urban, floodlit betting sport.
The take up was astonishing. Within a decade there were around 200 tracks, with annual attendances in the 1930s topping 32 million as workers flocked to midweek evening meetings for cheap admission, bright lights and cash betting.
The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 to regulate licensed tracks, and star dogs like Mick the Miller helped push the sport into newspapers and newsreels.
After the Second World War greyhound racing enjoyed a final boom. In 1946 attendances at British tracks were estimated at around 75 million visits, making it one of the most watched sports in the country.
Across the UK there were 77 licensed tracks and more than 200 independent “flapping” tracks by the late 1940s, ranging from vast city stadiums to improvised rural ovals.
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Long Decline in a Changing Britain
From the 1960s onwards that golden age steadily unravelled. Rising affluence, car ownership and foreign travel gave leisure seekers more options than a cold night on the terraces, while television brought sport into living rooms and shifted habits away from local venues.
Taxation and governance also bit hard. Historians of the sport argue that divided administration and the inability to present a unified lobbying front meant greyhound racing struggled to resist new betting and entertainment taxes.
The legalisation and expansion of betting shops in the early 1960s moved a huge share of handle off track, so for many punters there was no longer a need to attend in person.
The physical estate shrank dramatically. Iconic venues such as White City, Harringay and Belle Vue were sold for redevelopment as land values in cities surged, with greyhound tracks often giving way to supermarkets or housing.
By 2022 regulators counted just 23 active licensed tracks and three independent courses in the whole of the UK, down from hundreds at mid-century.
Welfare Pressure and Political Scrutiny
In recent decades the main driver of decline has been concern over welfare and wastage.
Reports for governments and campaign groups highlight issues such as overbreeding, injuries on tight oval tracks, euthanasia of dogs that cannot be rehomed and patchy standards in kennelling and transport.
The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission has pointed to inherent danger in the sport, a high rate of orthopaedic injuries and long standing problems with oversupply of dogs and lack of traceability through their life cycle.
Campaigners argue that thousands of greyhounds each year face injury or death in the service of betting markets, and that existing welfare laws and regulators have not offered sufficient protection.
These concerns have fed directly into politics. In Scotland and Wales there have been explicit moves to phase out or ban greyhound racing on welfare grounds, with legislation and advisory reports framing the activity as incompatible with modern standards of animal care.
Even where a full ban is not yet in force, the public debate has made it harder for the sport to attract casual racegoers, sponsors and media coverage.
At the same time attendances at licensed tracks have continued to trend down.
Between 2010 and 2018, for example, recorded crowds fell from around 2 million visits to about 1.4 million, highlighting how much of the betting turnover now comes remotely through bookmakers rather than from people on course.
How The Sport is Responding
The main governing body for regulated tracks in England, Scotland and Wales is the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), which licenses stadia and participants and sets welfare rules.
In recent years it has tried to reposition itself as a welfare-first regulator, with the Greyhound Commitment launched in 2018 and a long-term welfare strategy titled A Good Life for Every Greyhound introduced in 2022.
Under these programmes GBGB has rolled out enhanced veterinary presence at tracks, mandatory injury data reporting, improved standards for trainers’ kennels and increased funding to support vet care and homing of retired greyhounds.
Published data from 2018 to 2024 shows a reduction in both total injuries and race-related deaths at licensed venues, which the Board cites as evidence that changes on track are making a real difference.
There is also more emphasis on life after racing. Funds from the betting industry and the sport itself are channelled into rehoming schemes, with the aim that every retired racer has the chance of a pet home.
At the same time, tracks now work harder to pitch themselves as modern entertainment venues, using better facilities, food, family-friendly race nights and digital marketing to reach audiences who may never remember greyhound racing’s heyday.
Dual Code Venues and the Future
One of the most interesting developments has been the rise and revival of dual code venues.
These are stadiums that host both greyhound meetings and other sports, typically horse racing, football or community events, which allows the business to spread its costs and attract different crowds through the week.
By pairing dogs with additional activities, operators can justify investment in facilities that would be hard to fund on racing alone and can brand the site as a broader leisure destination rather than a single-purpose dog track.
For greyhound racing this means better restaurants and bars, improved viewing areas and more flexible use of space for corporate hospitality or themed nights, all of which help keep attendances stable even as the core betting audience ages.
The model also answers a political question. A dual code stadium that supports jobs, grassroots sport and year-round events has a stronger case when facing local planners or campaigners than a site reliant on a few race meetings a week.
It does not remove the welfare debate, but it can give the greyhound side of the operation a platform to showcase higher standards and community value as the centenary of British greyhound racing passes and the sport looks for a sustainable next chapter.
