Simon Hartman against The Press

The Press published an article May 27, 2025, titled Greyhound racing: The end of the track, but start of the fight.

The story is about a family who built their lives around greyhounds and the impact of the announcement that greyhound racing would be banned by August 2026. It included the background to Government’s decision based on issues of animal welfare and high injury rates in greyhound racing.

Mr Hartman complained the story was unbalanced: “It only contains viewpoints from pro-racing parties, who also have striking financial and career motivations for the continuance of greyhound racing. Parties with motivations for animal welfare do not seem to have been given a chance to comment.”

He also challenged a statement that most of the handful of racing dogs had homes to go to and that this should have been fact checked.

In response The Press said it had published many stories about dogs being injured and the calls from animal welfare groups to ban greyhound racing. This story provided some balance by offering some insight into the lives of one family who have been involved in greyhound racing for decades.

That said, the story complained of included reference to the number of dogs that had been injured and euthanised in recent years.

The Press also apologised for an editing error which gave a misleading impression about the number of dogs that would be needing homes, although it noted the story later stated it would take up to five years to rehome the country’s 2500 racing greyhounds.

The Media Council notes The Press has published many stories about the industry’s animal welfare issues and that this story was focused on how Government’s decision was affecting a family that has a long association with the greyhounds.

The comments of animal welfare groups had been reported in previous stories and there was no need to repeat them here. The Media Council has long held that balance can be provided over time, although even this story provides some balance by including reference to the number of racing dogs that had been injured or euthanised in recent years. 

Decision: No grounds to proceed