[Note: Any donations made through Change.org go directly to Change.org. If you wish to donate to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports to support our campaigns, you can do so at https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports Thank you]

The number of owners of greyhounds used in racing has plummeted by nearly 3,000 over the past decade, newly released statistics show.

The figures were revealed by the Minister for Agriculture and provide further confirmation that more and more people are abandoning the dying greyhound “industry”.

Minister Charlie McConalogue was responding to a Dail Question from Neasa Hourigan TD (Green Party, Dublin Central) who asked for the “number of registered non-coursing greyhound owners for each of the years 2013 to 2023 inclusive”.

An active owner was defined as an owner who “had one or more greyhounds that raced/trialled in the Republic of Ireland tracks during the calendar year”.

The figures provided show that there were 2,927 FEWER owners of racing greyhounds in 2023 compared to 2013. That's a massive drop of 36%.

In 2013, the number stood at 8,165 and last year, it was 5,238.

One of the largest annual drops was in 2022, which saw a major exodus of 520 owners compared to 2021. See below for more details.

These are just some of several losses Greyhound Racing Ireland has seen in recent years. Its latest annual report, published in September 2023, showed that it suffered a massive drop in profits in 2022.

Its pre-tax profit was just €1.08 million - 63% less than the 2021 figure of €2.94 million. 

The annual report also revealed falls in the number of greyhound races, race meetings, greyhound entries and greyhound rehomings in 2022.

Greyhound Racing Ireland laughably claimed that "2022 was a positive year for Rásaíocht Con Éireann from a greyhound racing perspective", but in reality, GRI saw:

• A huge drop in the number of races - from 15,533 in 2021 to 14,299 in 2022,
• A drop in the number of race meetings - from 1,384 in 2021 to 1,358 in 2022 and
• A substantial 7,800 (8.5%) decline in the "number of greyhound entries" - from 91,778 in 2021 to 83,978 in 2022. 

Also down was the number of greyhounds reportedly rehomed via GRI's Irish Retired Greyhound Trust. According to GRI, 2,234 greyhounds were rehomed in 2021 but in 2022, this fell by nearly 20% to just 1,808 rehomings. These figures covered only a fraction of the number of greyhounds exiting racing. An estimated 6,000 are killed behind the scenes each year because they are not fast enough to win.

Also down was the "prize money contributions from owners & sponsors", falling by more than 20% from €1.86 million in 2021 to €1.47 million in 2022. This did not stop GRI from increasing the total prizemoney for the year to €8.3 million, covering 82% of this total. It stated in its report that “prize money contributions account for 39% of the total allocation to GRI from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund”. This means that €6,828,973 of the €17,600,000 in taxpayers’ money handed over to GRI in 2022 was paid out as prizemoney to greyhound owners and trainers.

Read the annual report at
https://www.grireland.ie/globalassets/report-pdfs/annual-reports/rasaiocht-con-eireann-annual-report-2022.pdf 
 
Active owners of greyhounds used in racing: 
Year: Number of Owners
2013: 8,165
2014: 7,572 
2015: 7,288
2016: 7,124
2017: 6,630
2018: 6,200
2019: 6,211
2020: 5,738 
2021: 5,717
2022: 5,197 
2023: 5,238  

SEE ALSO
Greyhound Racing Ireland suffered massive 63% drop in profits in 2022
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/09/20/greyhound-racing-ireland-suffered-massive-63-drop-in-profits-in-2022/

ACTION ALERT

Don’t attend greyhound races or fundraisers/hen parties/office parties or other events held at greyhound tracks.

Please join us in urging the government to STOP the massive grants that are propping up this cruel, dog-killing gambling activity. Since 2001, Greyhound Racing Ireland has received €347 million in funding, including €17.6 million for 2022, €18.2 million for 2023 and €19 million for 2024. This is unacceptable and must be stopped.

Urge the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party and Sinn Fein to stop supporting this funding.

Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
X: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
X: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

Please sign and share the petitions

Stop supporting the cruel greyhound “industry”
https://www.change.org/p/stop-supporting-the-cruel-greyhound-industry

GAA: Stop club fundraisers at greyhound tracks
https://www.change.org/p/gaa-stop-club-fundraisers-at-greyhound-tracks

Tell Gain Pet Nutrition to Stop Sponsoring Greyhound Racing
https://www.change.org/p/jimtracy-glanbia-ie-tell-gain-pet-nutrition-to-stop-sponsoring-greyhound-racing

Watch RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” documentary
https://youtu.be/ZYTb2qBjlMM

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports