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Sports correspondent & historian with |
New Zealand greyhound racing fans are living on borrowed time as the industry shuts up shop on July 31, 2026.
This writer has mixed view on the ban, having had an interest in a dog at the start of TAB betting and having rehomed a retired greyhound many years later.
Minister of Racing Winston Peters announced in December 2024 that the commercial racing of greyhounds in New Zealand would be banned from the middle of this year.
According to the Government, a transition agency funded by TAB NZ will support rehoming and industry wind‑down.
Greyhounds and whippets were introduced to New Zealand in the mid-1800s to chase and curb hares that were seen as a primary pest.
The racing of greyhounds was a natural progression. However, betting was only available through illegal bookies that were drawn to the dog races.
Social change in the 1970s that dispatched the puritanical stance of many of our older citizens, opened the door for legal betting on the dogs.
Waitangi Day 1981 saw two carloads of family and a racing dog depart Ekatahuna for the long journey to Napier for the Hawke’s Bay Greyhound Club meeting.
A quarter share in ‘Sporting Lad’ was the incentive to make the trip north to the temporary racetrack situated at the home of Hawke’s Bay Rugby at McLean Park.
Trained by my brother-in-law, our pride and joy stunned the punters but gave us the thrills of race winning, when zipping home to victory in Hawke’s Bay Guineas at 16-1 odds.
With on course betting in its infancy and the TAB punt on the close horizon, the sport was geared for success. Just weeks after our win in the Bay, TAB betting was introduced courtesy of a Transtasman racing series.
However, I was left with a bitter taste, when our dog was passed on to another trainer and then quietly disappeared - ultimate fate unknown.
During 2002, a conversation with my mate the late Gary Cookson, who raced a number of greyhounds, led to our family adopting a retired racing dog.
His racing name was ‘Silent Henry’ and he lived with us for 6.5 years before Henry went to the big greyhound track in the sky, aged 13.5.
There are few more loving breeds of dogs than greyhounds whose primary aim is to climb on a bed or couch to doze off into nether land.
While I was a early fan of greyhound racing, my opinion changed over the years with a barrage of bad news posted in the media.
A few bad eggs in the sport having effectively ruined TAB racing for the majority.
Winston is right in dismantling commercial greyhound racing, after the convicted offenders who drugged dogs and indulged in live baiting, simply ignored early warnings of the sports commercial cessation.
July 31, 2026, is going to produce a tsunami of greyhounds available to be rehomed.
I would sincerely recommend greyhound adoption and a good starting point for potential adopters is the GAP (Greyhounds As Pets) website.
