Almost 8,500 racing greyhounds died in four-year period

Updated / Thursday, 12 Nov 2026 13:44

Getty

Two thirds of racing greyhounds born between 2021 and 2024 have died, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

The body responsible for control and regulation of the greyhound industry told the Public Accounts Committee that 8,414 of the 12,766 dogs born over the four year period have since been reported dead on its traceability system.

Rásaíocht Con Éireann appeared before the committee to answer questions on greyhound welfare and the €20 million State funding it receives.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy asked how the organisation could claim to prioritise welfare when "dogs are dying at a high rate and so young".

He said thousands of dogs were being killed every year because they were not fast enough.

Rásaíocht Con Éireann CEO Tim Lucey said he was absolutely satisfied that its welfare programme for active racing greyhounds was "absolutely beyond reproach".

He said the assertion that dogs were killed "because they were not fast enough" was an interpretation that he could not agree with.

Mr Lucey said dogs were "put to sleep", but he could not explain why as the traceability system does not capture the reasons for the deaths.

Mr Murphy described the phrase "put to sleep" as a euphemism to cover up what was happening and he said that the majority of the deceased dogs were killed by humans.

He also said that the death rate showed that improvements had not taken place since a RTÉ Prime Time Investigates programme in 2019.

In another exchange with Fine Gael's Joe Neville, Mr Lucey said that around 200 dogs per year of those injured during racing had to be "put to sleep".

Several TDs questioned the justification for the €20 million State support for the industry.

Fianna Fáil's Séamus McGrath said State support was increasing while attendance at races was decreasing, adding that greyhound racing was "an ailing sector".

Sinn Féin's Joanna Byrne asked whether there was a sufficiently strong policy justification for the State support particularly given that the economic return was based on a report from seven years ago.

"Your own stadia were 70-91% empty in 2025 and yet the industry State allocation will pass €20.4 million, do you see that as value for money for the Irish taxpayer?" she asked.

Mr Lucey acknowledged the decline in attendance but he said the State support was justified because of the economic return.

"The drop in attendance is a fact but there is a sustainable race product there. There is a consistent level of 351,000 and we expect to grow next year", he said.