4. How is the Government liaising with Caerphilly County Borough Council on inspections of the remaining greyhound racing track in Wales to ensure animal welfare standards? OQ57572

Inspections at Wales's remaining greyhound racing track have been arranged through a partnership delivery programme funded by the Welsh Government, which is managed and co-ordinated by Monmouthshire trading standards and the greyhound working group, a sub-group of the Animal Welfare Network Wales, one of our key partnership networks.

In my region, there exists the last remaining greyhound racing track in Wales. This track is also independent, meaning it is not subject to any regulation or licensing requirements. There is no requirement for a veterinary presence or welfare oversight in place, as it stands. Hope Rescue say that, in the last four years, they have taken in 200 greyhounds from this track—40 of these sustained injuries. They fear this will increase when the track is due to become licensed later this year. There are only eight countries left in the world where greyhound racing is still allowed. Minister, is it not time for us to follow suit and ban this activity on the grounds of animal welfare?

Thank you. This is something that I am looking very closely at. I had a meeting just yesterday with Jane Dodds, who you'll be aware is a very firm believer in what you've just suggested, and it's something that I have asked officials to look at. I am hoping to have a meeting with Hope Rescue; I'd be very interested to hear their views. Obviously, they pulled out of attendance at the race track—they were there, I think, for several years. I'm also going to ask the Greyhound Board of Great Britain for a meeting to see what further we can do then. Clearly, if we looked at a ban of greyhound racing, we would have to look at evidence, consultation. It will all take a little while, and, obviously, legislative capacity would have to be available for me to do that. But it's certainly something—. And you just mentioned something right at the end that I have only recently found out, and that is that there are only eight countries in the world that still allow greyhound racing, and we are one of them.

Minister, in 2018, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain launched its greyhound commitment, containing its expectations on how the sport should be run, with welfare at its heart. The safety of every greyhound racing at, as you mentioned, a GBGB licensed track is absolutely paramount—I 100 per cent believe in it. An independent veterinary surgeon is present at all GBGB tracks to check the health and well-being of every greyhound, both before and after racing. They are also there to provide emergency care in the event that a dog needs it. The board constantly strives to minimise the possibility of an injury occurring by funding research into track improvements, with a view to reducing injuries and helping to extend racing careers for dogs. Additionally, there have been a number of upgrades to racecourse kennels in recent years to ensure greyhounds can rest comfortably before and after their races, and each racecourse is regularly inspected to confirm that their facilities continue to meet the required standard. So, Minister, I know you answered my colleague just a second ago, but I just want to know, from my personal angle, whether you agree that, properly regulated, greyhound racing, with the highest standards of welfare at its core, is a spectator sport that creates jobs and provides much entertainment for its followers.

So, my interest is obviously in the one track that we have here in Wales, and one of my reasons for wanting to meet Hope Rescue is because I've seen some very concerning figures and statistics. And one of the things, again, I discussed with Jane Dodds yesterday was around the number of animals that have been injured, and fatally—they obviously died there. So, I'm really keen to understand why there is such a high number of injuries. Now, again, only through my own reading, I understand there is a bend where, unfortunately, a lot of dogs get injured, and some have died. So, my interest is in this one track, and I need to reassure myself. We have very high animal health and welfare standards here in Wales. I think we are a nation of animal lovers. Sometimes, I think we are far fonder of our animals than we are of our fellow humans. And I really want to be reassured, and at the moment I'm not being reassured. So, I think it's for me now to meet with other interested people. I have to say, the new intake of Members in this Senedd have really brought this up the political agenda and raised this with me, and it is an area of great concern. 

And here's one of them—Jane Dodds. [Laughter.]

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Thank you to Peredur Owen Griffiths for raising this issue, which is important to many of us in the Senedd. As you've heard, the track in Caerphilly boasts as having one of the sharpest bends of any racetrack, and I want to read to you something from their literature. They say about this bend in their racetrack: 

'greyhounds frequently find themselves flying into the first corner far too quickly to make the turn. The better the dog, the faster they approach the first bend and the worse the trouble they find.'

And I finish the quote there. Plans to increase the track will increase racing at Caerphilly fourfold, from one race per week to four. And even in 2020, when racing was significantly reduced because of COVID, across the UK's regulated tracks 3,575 greyhounds suffered serious injuries, and 401 dogs died. This is not a spectator sport that we want in Wales. And these include GBGB tracks, so I do come back to Natasha Asghar and say, 'Really, do we want dogs injured even on regulated tracks, and also dogs dying?' Given we know regulation does not stop greyhounds from dying and being injured—and I'm glad to hear that you're prepared to meet with Hope Rescue—I wonder if you would agree with me that there are serious concerns even about regulated tracks. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

Yes, I would agree with Jane Dodds. And, as I say, some of the figures—and you've just given some statistics now and some information about the track—lead me to be very concerned. I have had two meetings with my officials to discuss this, and I do want to assure Members that it is something I take very seriously, am very concerned about, and we'll see what we can do to look—. As you say, it's not just about regulation, but we'll look obviously within the animal welfare plan for Wales for this term of Government. Whilst it's a five-year programme, looking at greyhound racing is something I want to bring to the early part of the Senedd term.