British gambling operators lament decision to ban greyhound racing in Wales
The Welsh government has announced plans to ban greyhound racing “as soon as practically possible”.
UK.- The gambling sector has expressed disappointment after the Welsh government announced that it would ban greyhound racing in the country. Huw Irranca-Davies, deputy first minister with responsibility for climate change and rural affairs, told the Welsh Parliament yesterday (February 18) that the government would introduce a ban “as soon as practically possible”.
Irranca-Davies said: “I believe that now is the right time to move to ban greyhound racing in Wales. We are proud to be the first nation in the UK to do this.”
A ban on greyhound racing in Wales has been on the cards for some time, and the government believes there is now cross-party support. Public opinion also seems to favour a ban. A consultation on a national animal welfare framework found that almost two-thirds of the 1,100 respondents would support a phased ban.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for a ban received over 35,000 signatures. Cut the Chase, a coalition of charities including Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, Greyhound Rescue Wales, Hope Rescue and the RSPCA, has also been campaigning for a ban.
However, the gambling sector argues that there is no evidence to back up the decision. Industry lobby group the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) said in a statement: “Greyhound racing is a working-class sport, enjoyed by thousands, and this draconian move will cost jobs, hurt the economy, while depriving people of a long established and legitimate source of joy. BGC members are proud to support greyhound racing and contribute significant funds for the welfare of dogs. Last year alone, our members voluntarily donated over £7m to the British Greyhound Racing Fund for the welfare of greyhounds.”
The Welsh government intends to create an Implementation Group to oversee the introduction of the ban. It will advise the government after speaking to various stakeholders and learning from the approach of New Zealand, which announced a ban on greyhound racing in December to come into force from 2026.
Irranca-Davies said: “There will be work to do in ensuring the dogs, their owners and those involved in the industry around the racetrack, can wind down from this activity while still protecting the welfare of dogs currently within the industry, the local community and the local economy.”
Meanwhile, the British Gambling Commission has said that it believes operators are not scrutinising customer data appropriately as part of their anti-money laundering (AML) duties. Speaking at the Gambling Anti-Money Laundering Group Training Day, enforcement director John Pierce said operators should review customer profiles and monitoring procedures to ensure profiles align with the “full range of risk”, including transactions, geographic location and product risk.
Pierce said that some customer triggers were proving to be ineffective and that some operators were failing to identify irregular spending by “over-relying” on self-declarations and open-source information instead of considering a customer’s salary and wealth. He also cited cases of large sums being transferred before any AML review was conducted.
