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New Zealand’s greyhound racing ban is progress. Now greyhounds need a secure future

New Zealand’s greyhound racing ban is a major welfare milestone, but ongoing exports to Australia risk undermining its intent and leaving many greyhounds vulnerable.

RSPCA Australia
Tuesday, 22 September 2026

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On 1 August 2026, commercial greyhound racing was officially banned in New Zealand, marking the end of an era tainted by welfare risks, overbreeding, injury, and death. The decision followed years of concern for the welfare of racing greyhounds, with the New Zealand government ultimately determining that the animal welfare risks were too significant to justify allowing the industry to continue.  

There is no doubt that the ban has been a significant movement for greyhound welfare. It represents much needed progress and acknowledges what animal welfare advocates, many veterinarians, and rehoming organisations have been saying for many years; that racing greyhounds at high-speed carries inherent welfare impacts far beyond the track.  

But there is an uncomfortable footnote. 

The ban doesn’t automatically resolve all the welfare issues related to greyhound racing overnight, nor does it protect the greyhounds currently caught in the system from some of the new issues emerging as a result. Issues such as rehoming the approximately 1,400 greyhounds that have been retired, or even more concerning, greyhounds being exported out of New Zealand into jurisdictions where they will continue to be bred for racing and raced. 

From closure to displacement

The ban was first announced in December 2024 and legislated in April this year, giving industry participants time to transition away from racing and prepare to rehome their greyhounds. The intention was for greyhounds to leave racing and begin new lives in loving homes as companion animals, where they could enjoy the safety, comfort, and freedom to live a good life, as they so thoroughly deserve.  

Instead, in April 2025, barely three months after the announcement, a prominent trainer moved approximately 80 greyhounds to Queensland 24 of which sustained 32 injuries on track and two have since died. And, in August 2026, approximately another 150 greyhounds have been exported. Queensland is already under scrutiny due to animal welfare concerns, and the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds reported 19 related industry deaths as of July this year.  Among the 150 exported from New Zealand, was reportedly Opawa Soap, a greyhound barely a year old. Too young to have set paw on a racetrack in New Zealand, the dog has nevertheless been delivered straight into the Australian racing system. So how have these actions, which undermine the very purpose of the ban, to protect greyhounds from the welfare impacts of racing, been allowed to take place? 

The answer lies in the grey area of both countries’ legal systems. While the ban applies to racing greyhounds in New Zealand, it does not prevent owners from exporting them overseas, and while they are categorised as ‘companion animals’ for the journey, there is nothing in the legislation preventing them from being used to race once they arrive on Australian shores.  

This loophole is deeply concerning. New Zealand’s decision to end greyhound racing was a direct response to the inherent risk of injury and death faced by racing greyhounds. Exporting these greyhounds does not remove those welfare risks; it simply shifts them elsewhere. If those risks are no longer acceptable in New Zealand, they should not become acceptable simply because a greyhound has crossed a border. The responsibility to ensure these greyhounds have safe, secure futures beyond racing should not end when they leave New Zealand. 

Moving the burden to rehome

New Zealand’s decision raises a difficult question regarding where the responsibility to rehome greyhounds will ultimately fall. Greyhounds exported to Australia may continue racing for now, but if they manage to survive their career through to retirement, they will still need safe, suitable homes. This means Australia is now forced to take on the burden of rehoming more greyhounds following New Zealand’s industry closure, at a time when our own greyhound adoption and rescue networks are already under immense pressure. It is particularly troubling that significant resources have reportedly been spent moving greyhounds across borders, when those funds could instead have supported the transition of greyhounds out of racing and into safe, loving homes in New Zealand. 

A ban should protect greyhounds from the exploitation and welfare risks that led to racing being phased out in the first place. It should not simply shift those greyhounds into another racing system, or leave Australia responsible for the welfare impacts of an industry that other countries are choosing to leave behind. 

As more countries move away from greyhound racing, Australia should see this as a clear signal to confront the same welfare concerns here. The closure of racing overseas should not be used to justify the continuation of greyhound racing in Australia, or to position our industry as a solution to the consequences of reform elsewhere. 

An effective transition should centre on greyhound welfare

The end of greyhound racing in New Zealand should mean the start of a life beyond racing for the greyhounds affected; however, it requires more than just closing tracks. Safe and suitable rehoming, behavioural support, veterinary care, foster networks and long-term accountability should be prioritised in a considered, comprehensive transition plan that accounts for the needs of the individual greyhounds. It also means recognising that greyhounds are not surplus racing assets to be moved wherever demand remains.  

Australia now has a choice in how it responds. We can accept greyhounds made surplus by another country's decision to end greyhound racing without properly considering why that decision was made. Or take an honest look at what New Zealand’s decision illustrates; that an industry can be legal and regulated, and still fail to meet the welfare needs of the animals it depends on and broader community expectations. 

For the greyhounds at the centre of this decision, meaningful reform must be measured in safer, more secure lives beyond racing. New Zealand’s decision should challenge Australia to look closely at our own greyhound racing industry and ask whether we are prepared to keep accepting welfare impacts that other countries have deemed too great to justify. If a ban simply moves greyhounds across from one jurisdiction to another, and leaves their futures uncertain, it has not effectively delivered the protection those greyhounds were promised. Greyhounds deserve better, and we owe them this.  

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New Zealand’s greyhound racing ban is progress. Now greyhounds need a secure future

From closure to displacement

Moving the burden to rehome

An effective transition should centre on greyhound welfare

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