MSPs back ‘meaningless’ Scottish greyhound race ban plan

Plans for a partial ban on greyhound racing in Scotland have moved a step closer to becoming law, despite a parliamentary committee being split on the issue.

A government minister has claimed veterinary and welfare analysis provided a “solid” foundation from which they could act.

But the sport’s governing body dismissed the plan as “meaningless”, amid claims the discipline had been unfairly singled out by its critics.

MSPs voted 69 to 27, with 19 abstaining, in favour of the bill tabled by the Green Party’s Mark Ruskell, following a debate on 29 January.

The bill still has to go through two further parliamentary stages before it becomes law, and it is unclear whether that process will be completed ahead of May’s scheduled elections.

‘Significant risk’

Before the session, four members of the parliament’s rural affairs and islands committee had refused to support the bill, claiming the case for legislating had not been made.

The operators of Scotland’s last remaining greyhound track, where no racing has taken place since early last year, also claimed the sport had faced “totally unacceptable vilification” in their evidence to the committee.

But agriculture minister Jim Fairlie highlighted veterinary and welfare reviews indicating the volume of injuries and fatalities “linked to the racing conditions” as he explained the SNP government’s support for the bill.

He said: “Taken together, that evidence provides a solid animal welfare basis for demonstrating that greyhound racing as practised on oval tracks exposes dogs to a significant risk that cannot be eliminated by other measures.”

At present, the bill only applies to oval tracks and would not prevent greyhounds kept in Scotland from being sent to England to race.

‘Meaningless legislation’

Although charities welcomed the vote, Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) chief executive Mark Bird claimed it would have “no tangible impact” on welfare.

He said: “The Greens and SNP seem determined to push through this meaningless legislation in spite of cross-party criticism.”

But Mr Ruskell argued the bill and campaigns associated with it were the only things preventing the sport from expanding.

The vote is the latest phase of the debate on greyhound racing’s future, with separate proposals for a total ban in Wales now the subject of a legal battle between the GBGB and the Welsh Government.

But the UK Government has said it has “no plans” to introduce similar measures, despite more than 55,000 people signing an online petition urging them to do so.