Greyhound overbreeding surges and death toll mounts from racing

Overbreeding of greyhounds is surging back to “bad old days” levels in the heavily taxpayer-subsidised greyhound industry, with thousands of dogs a year once again condemned to be “wastage”.

The industry’s own breeding data has been compiled in a new report by the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds and shows dogs whelped by the industry surged past 10,000 for the first time since 2017 — though the data excludes “unnamed” dogs bred by greyhound racers that are rejected at birth as not appropriate for racing.

Breeding by the industry peaked in 2016, before the impact of Four Corners‘ 2015 revelation of extensive animal torture and killing in the industry, and the subsequent, temporary crackdown by state and territory governments in 2016. Numbers dropped to just 7,728 in 2017.

Separate data from industry regulators including unnamed dogs suggests the total numbers could be 2,000-3,000 higher a year nationally. NSW data — it’s the only state that tracks “utilisation” of dogs — show that in some years, 20-30% of dogs are never named.

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Despite repeated inquiries into the industry recommending breeding controls or financial disincentives to curb overbreeding, there are no breeding controls either within the industry or imposed by governments. Indeed, despite the abolition of industry breeding programs in the wake of the exposure of the cruelty of the industry, it and governments continue to incentivise breeders: taxpayer funds have been used to significantly increase prize money within the industry, and fees associated with breeding are routinely reduced or waived.

In Queensland and South Australia, breeders and trainers are also paid “sustainability payments” worth hundreds of dollars simply for making a dog race. Both Queensland and Western Australia have special bonuses for locally bred dogs.

The industry’s one response to relentless overbreeding is industry-funded rehoming programs, which supplement community-run rehoming programs. However, these are entirely overwhelmed by the sheer number of dogs being produced by breeders — industry data suggests it produces about six times more dogs than can be rehomed. Those numbers can only grow worse as the industry begins returning to the horrific rates of overbreeding from before it was exposed.

Despite vets calling for it to be banned, greyhound racing also continues to rely heavily on surgical artificial insemination (SAI), a painful practice banned as mutilation in European countries. SAI involves a female dog, under a general anaesthetic, being subjected to an abdominal incision through muscle to allow semen to be injected directly into her uterine horns, with the dog required to carry pups while healing.

The latest information comes as 2025 looms as a horrific year for greyhound deaths. In January across the country — though mainly in NSW and Victoria — 11 dogs were killed while racing, compared to seven in 2024. Two hundred and sixteen dogs also incurred major injuries; many are likely to be euthanised either due to the extent of their injuries or because owners do not wish to pay the necessary vet bills. Since February, nine more dogs have been killed in racing.

Two of the dogs, Shirl’s Rocket and Ted Robbo, were killed at the so-called Taree “super track” in NSW, which reopened in 2024 after a $6 million refurbishment and which has been hyped as a leader in industry safety and a “centre of excellence” that will get young people interested in the abuse of dogs. Shirl’s Rocket “straddled the rail, making heavy contact with multiple rail posts” and was euthanised after suffering a “compound fracture of the off-side radius and ulna and a suspected spinal cord injury”. Ted Robbo was reported to have “straddled the rail … making contact with multiple upright posts and fell”. He died from a “nearside foreleg fracture and cranial injuries”. The footage of the deaths is sickening.

It turns out that the Taree “super track” didn’t have something as simple as a safety rail, and was closed, only to reopen last weekend. As always, the only “excellence” the greyhound abuse industry exceeds in is torturing and killing animals.

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