Dogs Trust welcomes Drumbo Park closure as “beginning of the end” for greyhound racing

The permanent closure of Drumbo Park Greyhound Stadium in County Down has prompted renewed calls for greyhound racing to be phased out across Northern Ireland and the wider UK.

Dogs Trust has welcomed the closure, describing it as potentially the “beginning of the end” for a sport it says exposes greyhounds to an unacceptable risk of injury and death.

The closure leaves Brandywell Stadium in Derry/Londonderry as Northern Ireland’s only remaining greyhound racing track.

Concern now turns to dogs connected with Drumbo Park

Dogs Trust said its immediate priority following the stadium’s closure is the welfare and future of greyhounds associated with the track.

Laura Orr, Regional Public Affairs Officer at Dogs Trust, said:

“We welcome the closure of Drumbo Park and hope it marks the beginning of the end for this cruel and outdated so-called sport. Greyhounds should not be put at risk of serious injury or death simply for entertainment.

“Our priority now must be the dogs connected with the track. Every greyhound must be accounted for, properly cared for and given the opportunity to become a much-loved companion. Northern Ireland should follow Wales and Scotland by committing to a managed, phased end to greyhound racing.”

Charity points to thousands of deaths and injuries

In making its case, Dogs Trust cited figures published by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), which regulates licensed greyhound racing in Great Britain.

According to the figures highlighted by the charity, nearly 4,400 greyhounds died or were put to sleep at GBGB-licensed tracks between 2017 and 2025, while more than 38,000 injuries were recorded during the same period.

Those figures relate to licensed tracks in Great Britain and do not include Northern Ireland.

Dogs Trust says there is no publicly available equivalent injury or fatality data for Northern Ireland’s greyhound racing tracks — leaving the scale of racing-related injuries and deaths here unclear.

Pressure for a wider phase-out

The charity is now using Drumbo Park’s closure to renew its call for a managed end to greyhound racing throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland.

Dogs Trust pointed to a recent report produced alongside Blue Cross, Hope Rescue and the RSPCA which argued that racing at speed around oval tracks carries inherent risks to greyhounds and raised wider concerns about their welfare throughout their lives.

The report also found that the number of licensed tracks had fallen by 30% over the preceding decade.

The organisations concluded that a phased end to greyhound racing was the only way to fully safeguard the welfare of racing greyhounds.

For Northern Ireland, the closure of Drumbo Park significantly reduces the sport’s remaining footprint.

With Brandywell now the country’s sole remaining track, attention is likely to turn both to the future of greyhound racing here and to what happens to dogs previously connected with the County Down stadium.