Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of regulation of animal welfare standards in (a) horseracing and (b) greyhound racing.

Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses and racing greyhounds are met, both during their racing lives and afterwards, is a priority. In our recently published Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we have committed to ensuring that the horse racing sector addresses key animal welfare issues such as fatality levels. We also committed to considering further protections for racing greyhounds including further steps to raise welfare standards at trainers’ kennels. The Action Plan for Animal Welfare can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/action-plan-for-animal-welfare

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) places a legal duty of care on owners and keepers for the animals for which they are responsible on a permanent or temporary basis. It is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. The 2006 Act allows action to be taken where there is evidence of cruelty to an animal or a failure to provide for that animal’s welfare needs. This includes where animals are raced as well as where they are kept. The 2006 Act is also backed up a statutory code of practice for both dogs: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-dogs and horses: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-horses-ponies-donkeys-and-their-hybrids

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.

The Horse Welfare Board’s five-year Horse Welfare Strategy (HWS) “a life well-lived” was published on 20 February 2020. The HWS contains 20 recommendations for improving the welfare of horses bred for racing. The HWS recommends that, as a minimum, the penalties for misuse of the whip need to increase and that the BHA should conduct a consultation on the use of the whip. This consultation ran until 6 September 2021.

The welfare of racing greyhounds at all greyhound racing tracks in England is regulated by the Welfare of Racing Greyhound Regulations 2010 (the 2010 Regulations). The 2010 Regulations were reviewed in 2016, both by Defra and the House of Commons' Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. The review found that, judged against their original objectives, the regulations have been broadly effective. The review also identified areas where the industry themselves should be taking further action and Defra have been working closely with the main industry regulatory body, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), to ensure these actions are taken. This includes the annual publication of injury, euthanasia and retirement statistics, and addressing welfare issues at GBGB affiliated trainers’ kennels.

I would encourage anyone with evidence that a racehorse or racing greyhound has suffered unnecessarily to get in touch with either the BHA or the GBGB and share their concerns. In the most severe cases of misuse, an individual may be investigated under the 2006 Act, as well as receiving significant sanctions from the sport.