In the United Kingdom and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has joined with its compatriot Blue Cross and Dogs Trust charities so as to call for a phased end to domestic greyhound racing.

The trio used an official Wednesday press release to detail that they have been working with the nation’s commercial greyhound racing industry for many years as part of the Greyhound Forum in order to help improve conditions for the animals involved in the sport. The three stated that this effort ‘has led to some improvements’ although there remain issues that ‘have not been resolved and cannot be resolved.’

Definitive deadline:

As such and the RSPCA, Dogs Trust and Blue Cross charities declared that they have now joined forces in hopes of bringing about ‘an end to greyhound racing’ so as to stop the unnecessary and preventable deaths of ‘hundreds of dogs every year’. The groups asserted that such a target could be conclusively realized within five years with the industry and animal groups using the intervening period ‘to carefully plan and coordinate the care of the many dogs affected.’

Multiple misgivings:

Chris Sherwood (pictured) serves as the Chief Executive for the RSPCA and he used the press release to pronounce that the three organizations recently conducted a cooperative review into the United Kingdom’s greyhound racing industry that ‘highlighted serious concerns at every stage’ including welfare issues surrounding the kennelling and transportation of dogs. The experienced figure moreover noted that additional worries involved the keeping of animals ‘in poor and barren conditions with little if any enrichment’ alongside their often ‘poor diets’ and the prevalence of severe race injuries.

Supplemental suffering:

The RSPCA went on to proclaim that the trio are furthermore worried by ‘issues around the racing of greyhounds in extreme weather’ as well as the number of puppies that may be regularly killed as part of the industry’s controversial ‘wastage’ policy. The charity affirmed that its investigation also uncovered ‘disjointed and ineffective regulation within the sector’, a lack of transparency regarding best practices and other issues surrounding ‘the enforcement of regulatory standards.’

Read a statement from Sherwood…

“It’s shocking that more than one dog a day is dying due to racing, which our review has determined is inherently unsafe and compromises their welfare at almost every stage of their lives; it simply isn’t acceptable. We feel that now, moving forwards, the only way we can secure good lives for these dogs is to call for the sport to be phased out and we want to see greyhound racing consigned to the past.”

Financial famine:

The RSPCA declared that itself and the Blue Cross and Dogs Trust charities believe the growing inability of the nation’s greyhound racing industry to secure ‘a sustainable and consistent source of income’ has negatively impacted the chances of ‘any meaningful change for the dogs involved’. Nevertheless, it finished by asserting that the sector would need to undergo ‘a complete overhaul’ even if this cash was forthcoming to ‘ensure it is compatible with good welfare.’