Naturally, more people turned out for the demonstration in London. However, in Manchester—the birthplace of greyhound racing—animal rights activists marched to “No10 North,” the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new second official residence.
Pictures from Manchester
For me, the event offers the chance to finally meet interviewees and activists in person.
A quick group photo with Rosy the greyhound... then they set off.
They made their way across the city—chanting the repeated slogan “You bet—they die” and accompanied by a watchful police escort.
The protest march ends in front of Heron House, now also known as the “No. 10 North” branch office, which the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has just established as his second official residence on July 24. Burnham previously served as mayor of the Greater Manchester metropolitan area. He now plans to conduct his official business here one day a week. This is intended to further his stated goal of shifting decision-making power from London and Westminster to the regions.
In London, animal rights activists began their protest even before the actual march, laying out 161 dog leashes to form the number “161.” That is how many dogs lost their lives at British racetracks in 2025. The figure was released by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) and represents a 31 percent increase over the previous year, 2024. At Parliament Square, the protesters held the dog leashes aloft in a demonstrative gesture and then gathered them into a single large pile—as a sign of remembrance for the lives lost.
In the first six months of 2026 alone, track observers recorded 798 falls involving greyhounds at English racetracks—that’s more than four per day, according to a Facebook post by Animal Aid. A video clip shows some of these accidents, which proved fatal for quite a few greyhounds. “Every racetrack has a freezer for the dead dogs,” reads a sign held by a protester in Manchester.
This text and photos were first published on my German website; I translated the text.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.