Greyhound racing is “deeply unpopular with the Irish people” and “it is time for it to go”
Green Party Councillor Janet Horner (Dublin City Council) has renewed calls for an end to greyhound racing, saying Ireland must follow Wales and Scotland in banning the dog-killing activity.
Speaking at a protest outside Shelbourne Park stadium on Saturday (12 September 2026), Cllr Horner stated: “6,000 greyhounds die every year in the greyhound racing industry in Ireland and in the meantime places like Shelbourne Park here invite councillors and politicians to come and have a night out celebrating the industry that is torturing and killing dogs. Every year, the state pours 20 million euros into this industry, propping up the torture of dogs and the vultures in the gambling industry.”
“Scotland and Wales recently passed legislation to ban greyhound racing. Ireland is now an outlier. We need to follow suit,” she added. “We need to ban this industry and put dog welfare front and centre again.”
“Greyhound Racing Ireland has blood on its hands and we’re paying for it,” she went on to say in a Facebook post. “Greyhound racing is not a sport, it’s a travesty, and it is used to prop up the vultures in the gambling industry. It is deeply unpopular with the Irish people as opinion polling has proven time and time again. And it is time for it to go.”
Greyhound racing is responsible for much suffering and death and Shelbourne Park is one of the worst tracks for injuries and deaths. At least 394 greyhounds suffered injuries there and 119 were killed over the past 11 years alone, Greyhound Racing Ireland statistics show. This includes 39 injuries and 15 deaths last year and 16 injuries and 5 deaths in the first seven months of 2026.
At races around Ireland since 2014, at least 4,191 greyhounds suffered injuries and 1,682 were killed. The Greyhound Racing Ireland figures do not include the greyhounds injured at tracks and later killed elsewhere, or the many greyhounds who are killed every year because they are not fast enough to win races.
The full horrors of greyhound racing were exposed in the award-winning “RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives” documentary. This revealed that thousands of greyhounds are killed behind the scenes every year simply because they are not fast enough. It included disturbing footage of dogs being delivered to a knackery where they were shot in the head and dumped in a skip. One shot dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM
The programme featured a damning report which Greyhound Racing Ireland attempted to hide. This showed that around 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year because they don’t make the grade. The report estimated that, for example, a total of 17,962 greyhounds were culled in 2013, 2014 and 2015. They were killed for “failure to produce qualifying times”, “failure to produce desired entry level times” and for an “unacceptable decline in performance”.
In a recent “Gone to the Dogs” report on RTE's Prime Time (31 March 2026), the CEO of Greyhound Racing Ireland admitted that thousands of greyhounds continue to be killed in Ireland every year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt-OzDlyPik
Thank you to Councillor Janet Horner for attending the protest and supporting calls for a ban on cruel greyhound racing. Find out more about her on the Green Party website https://www.greenparty.ie/people/janet-horner
ACTION ALERT
Don’t go greyhound racing. Tell the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein to stop supporting funding to greyhound racing and back a ban on this dog-killing gambling activity.
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Tel: 01 619 4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Simon Harris TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01 281 3727
Email: simon.harris@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DeputySimonHarris
X: http://www.twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
X: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
SEE ALSO
89 greyhounds killed at races in first 7 months of 2026
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1377244911214774&set=a.603523135253626
197 greyhounds killed at races in 2025
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/197-greyhounds-killed-at-races-in-2025/
Watch RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” documentary
https://youtu.be/ZYTb2qBjlMM