Greyhound racing has been on the decline in Scotland for many years, and it’s now looking like the country will join Wales in banning the sport.

This would leave England and Northern Ireland the only countries of the UK to legally allow greyhound racing, with the Welsh government having moved to ban it earlier this year.

Mark Ruskell, an MSP for the Scottish Greens, announced on X today (9 September) that the government, controlled by the Scottish National Party, has lent support to his legislative efforts to ban greyhound racing.

The Scottish Government will back my bill to end greyhound racing for good

Just the best news for the dogs who suffer injuries and are killed while racing https://t.co/T3P8M5urXK

— Mark Ruskell (@markruskell) September 7, 2025

The MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife introduced the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Scotland) Bill last year, gaining support from fellow Greens, members of the governing SNP and a few members of the opposition Scottish Labour Party.

An article published by the Daily Record, Scotland’s largest newspaper, and shared by Ruskell revealed that Jim Fairlie, Scotland’s Agriculture Minister, has announced the government’s support for the bill.

With the SNP holding 60 out of 130 seats in the Scottish parliament the ban may as well be considered approved, as SNP MSPs will almost certainly vote in favour, alongside the seven Green members of parliament and some members of the Labour Party.

In a letter addressed to Ruskell and seen by the Daily Record’s Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Mail, Minister Fairlie said that “there are genuine risks ­associated with racing greyhounds around tracks of oval design and this is supported by evidence”.

Will this be a blow to bookies?

There are currently no active greyhound racing tracks in Scotland. The last licensed stadium, Shawfield in Rutherglen, closed in 2020, leaving the unlicensed Thornton Stadium in Fife as the country’s last active track until suspending operations in March this year.

The decline of the sport over many years likely means that a ban won’t have much of an impact on betting in Scotland, as any Scottish punters that bet on greyhounds will do so on the races taking place at the 18 registered racetracks in England, the one in Wales, and ones in countries like Australia, the Republic of Ireland, the US and South Africa.

The Scottish government joining its Welsh counterparts in calling for a ban on greyhound racing could be a sign of things to come, however, potentially increasing pressure on the central government in Westminster to do the same for England and for authorities in Northern Ireland to do the same there.

Again though, this might not be a huge blow for bookies. Gross gaming yield (GGY) on greyhound racing falls far behind that of horse racing and is vastly outpaced by football, having stood at £900,000 for on-course betting and £139m for over-the-counter betting between April 2023 and March 2024, a huge slump on previous years.

Campaigners have been calling for a complete end to greyhound racing in Scotland for some time. Charities and organisations including the Scottish RSPCA, Dogs Trust, OneKind, and the Scotland Against Greyhound Exploitation (SAGE) have been lobbying for a ban for years.

These organisations were, understandably, elated at the Scottish government’s support for Ruskell’s bill. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) was, also unsparingly, critical of the move, calling it a waste of parliamentary time given the absence of any active greyhound racing in Scotland.

Ruskell himself said: “I am delighted that the government is backing my bill. This is a big step towards ensuring that we protect our greyhounds and halt this cruel gambling-led sport for good.”

A GBGB statement read: “There is currently no licensed greyhound racing in Scotland. The people of Scotland will be totally bemused that the SNP government and Green Party are looking to waste parliamentary time in the run up to the election banning something that doesn’t take place here when there are so many issues that deserve and require legislation.”

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