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A legal challenge has failed to overturn Wales’ greyhound racing ban, which was backed by Senedd Members last week.

The prohibition of greyhound racing Bill will make it an offence to operate a track or be involved in organising greyhound racing in Wales.

A phased ban is set to come into effect from April 2027, with the sport set to be fully banned by April 2030.

The Welsh Government says the transition period will allow the industry to “wind down responsibly”, while strengthening rehoming arrangements for retired greyhounds. It will also give enforcement bodies and local authorities time to prepare for the ban.

The legistlation casts doubt on the future of Wales’ only greyhound racing track, which is in Ystrad Mynach.

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) challenged the decision, claiming the bill had “disgraced the ethical and legislative processes from start to finish”.

However, two High Court judges ruled the ban was lawfully introduced.

The GBGB has said it will look to appeal the decision, however.

‘Misguided bill’

Following the vote on March 17, Mark Bird, CEO of GBGB, said: “All legislators and voters should be alarmed by the repeated failures in public consultation, evidence gathering and overall due diligence in the pursuit of this misguided bill.

“First, the Welsh Government acted against officials’ advice showing that there was insufficient evidence and consultation to justify a ban on greyhound racing.

“Then, they proceeded in the face of two damning cross-party committee reports, which warned of exactly the same concerns.

“Now, the Welsh Government has decided to press on with their rushed legislative timetable even while judges consider whether it is lawful, as part of the ongoing judicial review process.”

‘The right result’

However, the failure of the legal challenge was welcomed by the Cut the Chase coalition, which is made up of a number of animal welfare charities and supported the introduction of a ban.

This is a hugely welcome judgement, which gives the go ahead to legislation which was introduced following robust consultation, and was backed by a clear evidence base,” a spokesperson for the coalition said.

“Welsh Government action followed tens of thousands of people signing a petition supporting the phasing out of greyhound racing. A clear majority of Senedd Members then voted in favour of the legislation… and clearly this judgement is the right result.”

The spoksperson described the sport as “inherently dangerous” and said: “Continuing with such levels of suffering, purely for the purpose of entertainment, would be simply unacceptable.

“In legislating, Wales has joined a growing list of countries across the world to have taken action, and the collapse of the judicial challenge means we can now look forward to a future where this needless risk to greyhounds is consigned to the history books.”