The Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission (GWIC) has today issued an official clarification to address recent public commentary made in relation to data contained in its Greyhound Lifecycle Report.
As part of its commitment to transparent reporting, the Commission’s Greyhound Lifecycle Report clearly details mortalities of registered greyhounds across both racing and non-racing contexts.
The data includes mortalities brought about by illness, age, accident, natural causes and humane
euthanasia.
Contrary to claims, GWIC’s verified data demonstrates the NSW greyhound racing industry has
The Commission’s official figures show euthanasia and sudden death rates on New South Wales
greyhound tracks have reduced by more than 87% since 2017/18, with a decline from 1.4 per 1000 starts
to 0.15 per 1000 starts.
Further to this, the rate of injuries requiring euthanasia at the track or resulting in sudden death has
declined by 29% over the past financial year following on from the 68% reduction seen in 2023/24.
Of the mortalities which the Commission reported in 2024/25 as having occurred off track due to injury and accident, 90% were unrelated to racing.
The Commission wishes to clarify that across the 1,269 race meetings staged in the 2024/25 financial year, which involved 103,641 starters, there were:
• Two sudden deaths which occurred at a race meeting.
• Fourteen greyhounds were humanely euthanised at the track following injury.
• Forty-five greyhounds were reported as euthanised or deceased off-track following injury.
In addition, the Commission has confirmed publicly made claims of a 79% increase in track-related
mortalities are inaccurate.
New reporting standards adopted by the Commission this financial year, facilitated by the world-leading
eTrac database, systematically and more reliably identify track-related mortalities that are linked to injuries.
As this is an enhanced reporting methodology, previously published data cannot be compared to the new figures.
The Commission continues to publish comprehensive data to promote transparency and evidence-based discussion on greyhound welfare and racing integrity.
GWIC remains committed to monitoring trends in injury and mortality and to working with industry
participants to improve outcomes for greyhounds in New South Wales.
