The sleek, elegant and majestic Greyhound was one of the first dogs to be domesticated by man. The dogs you see today have changed very little from those pictured on the walls of the ancient tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The breed spread throughout Africa and Asia and first appeared in this country with the arrival of the Celts in approximately the 5th Century BCE.
The Greyhound’s incredible speed and hunting ability made it a valued status symbol; it was so highly thought of the punishment for a person found to have killed a Greyhound was the same for murdering a human. There was even a medieval law passed forbidding poor people from owning them.
After many centuries in this privileged position, the last century has sadly seen the role of the Greyhound take a drastic turn for the worse.
The Racing Greyhound
The Greyhound is the 18th fastest land mammal, and this incredible running speed has created a lucrative industry based on gambling.
The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) controls some of the racetracks and only allows registered and ear-tattooed dogs to race. At independent tracks, no such regulations apply. Champion dogs can earn a lot of prize money.
Every year around 10,000 racing Greyhounds are ‘retired’ before the age of four. Many of these fallen heroes are left in our hands, but tragically ‘retirement’ can also mean shooting, drowning or export to another country to be raced in terrible conditions.
Some owners do, of course, make provisions for their dog to be kept as a family pet or passed to a rescue organisation such as the Retired Greyhound Trust. Others might have the dog humanely destroyed or simply abandon him once he can no longer earn his keep.