News from New Zealand: Aotearoa is one of the last countries in the world where dog racing is still allowed for betting enthusiasts – for now.
Spain has bullfights, Kiwis have greyhound racing: a highly profitable form of animal cruelty with a long tradition and apparently high entertainment value, both of which are becoming increasingly controversial. New Zealand is one of the last six countries in the world where dog racing is still permitted for betting enthusiasts. Will the final bastion of Anglo-Saxon leisure culture fall there too?
Greyhounds were originally bred to hunt hares and game. The races are brutal. Since 2021 alone, there have been thousands of injuries, hundreds of broken bones and 26 fatal accidents. In one previous season, euthanasia was even necessary 67 times on race days. This May, two runners had to be put down again after they had collided with each other at the dog racing track in Christchurch and broken their bones at top speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour.
A petition by the animal welfare organisation Safe, which received 37,000 signatures three years ago, led to a warning from above – but racing continues even after four official investigations. Pressure is growing on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to finally abolish the “blood sport”. But Greyhound Racing NZ counters: “Greyhounds love to race. There is no reason to ban the sport.”
So Winston Peters is called into action again. The right-wing swashbuckler and head of the national populist party NZ First, already notorious as foreign minister, is also the minister for racing – and in this role is known as a friend of the horse and dog lobby. But that is not the full extent of the greyhound dilemma. Since there are so many battered racing animals in New Zealand, the global adoption trade in the discarded survivors is now flourishing. This year, for the first time, 14 greyhounds were packed onto a plane and flown to Chicago – a new relocation program by Greyhound Racing NZ. There, the battered early retirees are placed with foster families.
For animal rights activists, the controversial “American Rehoming Project” is further proof that dog racing has had its day: it leaves so many victims behind that they are disposed of abroad. But the whole thing is even more precarious. Since the adoption program began, there have been accusations that it is not only a humanitarian gesture, but also a prohibited animal export.
Among the retired dogs named Replica Rascal, Big Time Rita and Spending Frenzy, there were also three others heading for Chicago who had apparently never taken part in a race: Norman, Smokey and Lily. Does Peters know about them too? The minister fended off uncomfortable questions from the press: “It’s my turn, OK?” Nobody knows exactly how. Perhaps from filling out betting slips at the bookmaker.
The truth on taz.de
