9th January 2022
The stadium shut to spectators for much of 2020 and 2021. We hoped that the track would close for good, as others did during the lockdowns, but sadly the Abbey Stadium reopened to spectators in autumn 2021. Evening racing is now on a Sunday evening from 6.15pm and numbers are much reduced on previous years.
Work has now started on the new stand but will it look like the plans put forward to the council? It is hard to see how the structure that’s been delivered to the carpark looks like the shiny new building that was put forward years ago. In the meantime, 127 houses are due to go up in what is currently the carpark.
16th May 2020 – Petition
Thank you to everyone who signed our e-petition calling on Swindon Borough Council to exclude the greyhound track from the Abbey Stadium redevelopment. We reached the 1,500 signatures needed to trigger a council debate but sadly the council wouldn’t debate it. This was very disappointing but hopefully it did at least raise some awareness about greyhound racing in Swindon.
Exclusion of greyhound track from Abbey Stadium redevelopment
10th May 2020
We are delighted that Groupon have decided to stop selling offers to greyhound tracks. Many groups, including this one, have appealed to Groupon for years to stop profiting from greyhound exploitation by offering cheap deals to tracks around the UK.
A petition started by CAGED calling on Groupon to stop promoting the greyhound racing industry attracted nearly 225,000 signatures.
Thank you, Groupon, for doing the right thing.
15th April 2020 – League Against Cruel Sports – Blogpost
Please also see our guest blog post for the League Against Cruel Sports
7th February 2020
Clive Elliott, the greyhound trainer who neglected the greyhounds in his care, has been jailed for 20 weeks.
Click on the image below to read the Swindon Advertiser article.
Warning: distressing images
We were disappointed that planning permission was granted to Gaming International to include the greyhound track at the planning meeting in January. However, some councillors did take on board the concerns raised in our objections. Councillor Steve Heyes has asked the council to look at changes that can be made to increase licensing checks to help protect greyhounds. He also requested that the cabinet member for public safety writes to the government to review the law on greyhound welfare. This doesn’t go far enough in our view and we would still like to see an end to greyhound racing in Swindon. Please click on the image below for the story in the Swindon Advertiser.
14th January 2020
Swindon Borough Council approved revised plans for the Abbey stadium to be redeveloped by Gaming International at the planning meeting. 20 members of our group turned up to object to the greyhound track being included in the plans.
Please note that this group supports the redevelopment of the stadium and associated facilities for the speedway but we asked the council to request that the greyhound track is removed from the plans and that the company finds other uses to subsidise the track.
9th January 2020
Clive Elliott, a former Swindon trainer, has been found guilty of four counts of animal neglect.
Warning: distressing images
19th December 2019
Good news! Another one bites the dust. The oldest greyhound track to be demolished to make way for much needed housing in Manchester.
Read the full story here
2nd December 2019
Our group held outreach events in Swindon town centre to encourage people not to hold their Christmas parties at greyhound tracks. The events were busy with a lot of public engagement and a lot of interest in our three rescued greyhounds who were there as our greyhound ambassadors. We hope to do more of these events next year.
