As campaign groups demand an end to greyhound racing, a charity in south west London is striving to give ex-racing dogs a happy life after the sport.
Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare, a charity run with help from donations and a community of volunteer dog walkers, houses around 50 greyhounds — all of which it lovingly seeks to rehabilitate and prepare for adoption.
The charity’s manager, Carol Marshall, said: “It’s a wonderful achievement to know you’ve taken on a dog and given it a home forever.
“They’re great companion dogs, they love to see people. They adapt so well to a home.
“They haven’t had the same start as other dogs, but once you see how much they embrace what people do for them, you realise what lovely dogs they are.”
Animal welfare charities like Animal Aid have called for greyhound racing to be banned, claiming the sport is reliant upon a model of cruelty to dogs.
As the Scottish and Welsh governments took steps towards closing greyhound tracks over the past year, Animal Aid launched an online petition demanding Westminster does the same in England.
Explaining the motivation behind its campaign, Animal Aid Campaign Manager Isobel McNally said: “On average, a dog died trackside every three days last year.
“We call ourselves a nation of animal lovers, we claim that dogs are our best friends, but we’re one of the only countries on the planet that still races them for sport.”
McNally said many dogs leave greyhound racing traumatised, adding that charities like Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare do an essential job in helping them to recover and enjoy peaceful lives beyond racing.
“It’s intrinsic to the sport to abandon dogs at the end of their racing lives, and people are doing a really good job of responding to that,” she said.
“There are loads of fantastic, wonderful charities that are working to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome dogs.”
Watch the video below to see how the community at Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare are doing just that.
Feature image credit: Ajay Smith
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