Fears over SA greyhound racing deaths as inquiry deadline looms

Opinion: SA’s greyhound racing was told it had two years to address six animal welfare issues after a state inquiry, the state’s RSPCA chief executive officer Marcus Gehrig is worried not enough has changed.

For decades, South Australia’s greyhound racing industry has been riddled with animal welfare concerns and controversy. Yet despite a State Government ultimatum to clean up its act, last year alone, South Australia had the highest number of catastrophic or severe injuries in the nation with five deaths and 1,064 total injuries.

Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds 2025 Australian track deaths and injuries data also showed nationally, the statistics were abysmal with 119 on-track deaths and 10,785 injuries.

With dwindling on-track attendance, greyhound racing now relies on online betting and taxpayer top ups to survive. We’ve seen a rapid decline in this cruel “sport” across the globe, most recently in Tasmania, yet in SA these gentle natured dogs keep being used for gambling and profit.

As a state, it’s time to ask: aren’t their lives worth more than a bet?

Six significant animal welfare issues continue to plague the greyhound racing sector in SA – unacceptable numbers of deaths and injuries during races; overbreeding and inadequate rehoming of ex-racers; substandard housing and limited socialisation; illegal substance use; live baiting and lack of transparency of the birth to death life cycle of each dog.

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In 2023 the State Government launched an inquiry into SA’s greyhound racing industry and found that urgent reform was necessary. The Inquiry’s report concluded that before the government considers any model of independent oversight for the sector, significant animal welfare problems need to be fixed. In addition, the Inquiry’s report noted that if the industry can’t implement all reforms and meet community expectations, it shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

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The sector was given until July 8, 2026, to implement the Inquiry’s 87 recommendations.

Greyhound racing is inherently dangerous due to the close proximity of multiple dogs running at high speed around curved tracks, resulting in many greyhounds being seriously injured and killed every year. With no effective birth to death tracking, we’re not able to know where all injured, rejected and retired greyhounds end up and in what condition.

Furthermore, once an injured or retired greyhound leaves the industry, there’s no way of knowing if the dog has been well treated and safely re-homed.

Figures show that nationally, South Australia has among the highest levels of greyhound deaths and serious injury in races. Between January and December 2025, five greyhounds died (or were euthanised) while racing on SA tracks, 1064 dogs were injured, while 316 dogs were majorly injured. Sadly, these figures are an underestimate as race-day Stewards’ Reports don’t include any greyhounds who died or were euthanised after race day, due to their race injury.

Neither do they include dogs injured or killed during training or trials.

As shocking as these statistics are, what’s even more astonishing is the millions of dollars our hardworking taxpayers cough up each year to prop up the greyhound racing industry in our state. In 2024 South Australian taxpayers contributed around $2.5 million (Greyhound Racing SA annual report 2023-2024), and what was the return?

Death and harm caused to countless greyhounds!

Every dog deserves a life that is free from exploitation and harm, a life that is filled with good socialisation and environmental enrichment, but for a number of greyhounds that is far from their reality. Instead, some of them are kept in small kennels for prolonged periods, sometimes for more than 23 hours a day. To say this is detrimental to their mental health and physical wellbeing would be an understatement.

With the sector now in a race against time to clean itself up before the July 2026 deadline, RSPCA SA has seen little evidence that the animal welfare issues identified in the Inquiry are being addressed. Deaths and injuries remain unacceptably high, and despite rehoming challenges, the sector has further incentivised greyhound breeding with initiatives such as breeder rebates, one-time financial bonuses for new litters, and increased prize money.

While RSPCA SA welcomes the industry being subjected to unprecedented scrutiny, we believe it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to completely fix the entrenched animal welfare issues and implement sufficient reforms to meet community expectations for good greyhound welfare.

Even if the sector satisfies all recommendations by the Inquiry’s deadline, it’s fair to question whether compliance alone can undo decades of harm inflicted on dogs. As a society we really need to consider whether the breeding and racing of dogs for entertainment and profit will ever be ethical and carry a social licence.

Marcus Gehrig is the chief executive officer of RSPCA South Australia.

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