新西兰灵缇犬赛禁令于本周六生效[1][2]，多个训练师随即计划通过包机将至少150只灵缇犬运往澳洲东部，以继续从事赛马活动[2]。此举引发争议，因为新西兰禁令源于多份独立审查显示该产业伤亡率居高不下[2]。灵缇犬赛新西兰组织已包租飞机安排这批犬只的转移[1]。
新西兰禁令于2024年12月首次宣布，2025年4月完成立法[2]。禁令生效前的最后一个赛季，新西兰有10只灵缇犬被安乐死[1]，全国约1400只灵缇犬需要重新安置[1][2]。而澳洲仍将灵缇赛马视为合法产业，昆州、新南威尔士州和维州在2022-23年的产值合计近20亿澳元，远超新西兰的1.47亿澳元[2]。早前已有约80只灵缇犬于2025年4月通过包机从新西兰运至澳洲[2]。
灵缇犬过渡机构主任Heather Simpson表示法律并未禁止训练师向澳洲出口犬只[1]。然而绿党参议员Mehreen Faruqi批评此举"似乎是对新西兰过渡机构的刻意规避"[1]。
New Zealand's greyhound racing ban will take effect on Saturday, August 1, 2026, prompting multiple trainers to relocate at least 150 racing greyhounds to Australia via chartered aircraft to continue competing in the sport.[1][2] The ban was first announced in December 2024 and completed legislative passage in April 2025.[1][2] With approximately 1,400 greyhounds requiring rehoming in New Zealand following the prohibition, trainers are turning to Australia, where greyhound racing remains a legal industry.[1][2]
An additional 80 greyhounds were already transported to Queensland by chartered plane in April 2025, representing an earlier wave of relocations ahead of the ban's implementation.[2] The shift reflects the stark difference in industry scale between the two nations: Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria generated nearly A$2 billion in combined revenue from greyhound racing in 2022-23, vastly exceeding New Zealand's A$147 million sector.[2] Heather Simpson, director of New Zealand's greyhound transition organization, stated that the law does not prohibit trainers from exporting dogs to Australia.[1] However, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi characterized the relocation as "an apparent deliberate circumvention of New Zealand's transition agency."[1]
New Zealand's ban follows three independent reviews conducted in 2013, 2017, and 2021 that documented persistently high injury and fatality rates in the racing industry.[2] In the final New Zealand racing season before the ban, ten greyhounds were euthanized.[1] Australia currently restricts greyhound racing only in the Australian Capital Territory.[1]