Decision postponed on greyhound racing ban

Animal welfare chief gives three month reprieve after visiting last track days before decision due

- MARK MCGIVERN

GREYHOUND racing has won a three-month reprieve after an animal welfare boss made a last-ditch visit to the country's final operating track.

The chair of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission had been expected to sound the death knell for the sport after a Parliamentary committee asked her for a ruling on plans to ban dog racing.

But just days before Professor Cathy Dwyer was due to give her written opinion, she arranged to visit Thornton Stadium, in Fife, the one venue which still stages dog racing events.

She subsequently penned a letter which gives the sport a stay of execution until the end of February, allowing time to consider all evidence, including the treatment of dogs she witnessed at Thornton last weekend.