ANIMAL welfare campaigners picketed the Greyhound Derby at Towcester racecourse to demand a dog racing ban.

Saturday’s protest, led by Shut Down Campaigns alongside the League Against Cruel Sports, called on the government to follow the example of Wales and Scotland and outlaw the practice in England.

Shut Down Campaigns founder Norb Gordon said: “Greyhounds, like any dogs, deserve comfy sofas and loving homes. Instead, the racing industry confines them to kennels, forces them to race on dangerous tracks, and discards them when they are no longer fast enough.”

Pointing to figures released by governing body Greyhound Board of Great Britain showing 1,357 greyhounds died trackside and 35,168 sustained injuries in England and Wales between 2017 and 2024, League Against Cruel Sports’ Emily Lawrence added: “We are calling on the government to act urgently and end the misery and suffering faced by racing greyhounds and to ban this so-called sport in England.

“It’s time for change — dogs are dying or being seriously injured at tracks up and down the country while gambling companies profit from the cruelty of the greyhound industry.”