This briefing summarises scrutiny of the Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill to date in advance of the Parliament's consideration at Stage 3, including details of how the Bill was amended at Stage 2.
This briefing looks at the Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill ahead of Stage 3 proceedings in the Scottish Parliament on 12 March 2026.
Introduction and key documents
The Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill ('the Bill') was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 23 April 2025. It is a Member's Bill, introduced by Mark Ruskell MSP ('the Member in Charge of the Bill').
The Bill as introduced can be found on the Scottish Parliament website alongside its supporting documents, which include a Policy Memorandum, Financial Memorandum, Delegated Powers Memorandum and Explanatory Notes. As a Member's Bill, the Bill and supporting documents were prepared by the Scottish Parliament's Non-Government Bills Unit (NGBU) on behalf of the Member in Charge of the Bill.
The Bill as introduced
The Policy Memorandum sets out that the Bill aims to improve and protect the welfare of greyhounds in Scotland, and that the Member in Charge "considers that there is an inherent, evidence-based, risk of injury or fatality of greyhounds involved in racing" and that "existing animal welfare measures have not sufficiently protected racing greyhounds from harm".
Key aspects of the Bill as introduced:
The Bill seeks to ban greyhound racing in Scotland on oval racetracks by making it an offence for:
A person who owns or is responsible for a greyhound, to "knowingly cause" that greyhound to run on a racetrack or "knowingly permit" another person to do so.
A person who owns or is responsible for the operation of a racetrack, to "knowingly cause or permit" another person to cause a greyhound to run on that racetrack.
The offences apply to any oval track used for racing greyhounds, with powers for Scottish Ministers to, by regulations, modify the definition of “racetrack” to include "other categories of premises used for the purpose of the competing of running greyhounds".
Maximum penalties if convicted of an offence are: on summary conviction, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding £20,000 (or both), or on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or a fine (or both).
The Bill makes provision for enforcement, and for 'deprivation orders', 'disqualification orders', and 'seizure orders' in relation to greyhounds - whereby for example courts may order for the removal of greyhounds from a person's care, or disqualify a person from owning a greyhound following conviction of a relevant offence.
More detailed information on the Bill as introduced and policy background can be found in the SPICe Bill briefing.
Scottish Parliament consideration of the Bill at Stage 1
The lead Committee for the Bill is the Rural Affairs and Islands (RAI) Committee.
The RAI Committee held a targeted call for views on the Bill, and took oral evidence from the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity on 5 November 2025 and from the Member in Charge of the Bill on 12 November 2025.
The Committee published its Stage 1 report on 22 January 2026. It supported the general principles of the Bill (by a majority of its Members) in its Stage 1 report, and asked the Scottish Government and Member in Charge to respond to a range of questions for further information.
In advance of the introduction of the Bill, the RAI Committee had also conducted an inquiry on greyhound racing in Scotland, brought about by a petition submitted to the Scottish Parliament (Petition PE1758: End greyhound racing in Scotland) in 2019.
After hearing from the petitioner in 2022, the RAI Committee wrote to a number of stakeholders, including the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) to ask for views on the welfare of greyhounds racing in Scotland, including views on unlicensed tracks. In response to this request and to consider wider developments, the SAWC decided to set up a Working Group and published a report in 2023, which the Committee scrutinised in its inquiry.
The RAI Committee also issued a call for views, held evidence sessions with stakeholders and took evidence from the Scottish Government (between 2022 and 2024), and published an interim report on 27th November 2024.
Before the conclusion of the inquiry, Mark Ruskell MSP had secured a right to introduce a Member's Bill. Members agreed therefore to keep the petition open and refer back to issues raised in the inquiry at Stage 1. The interim report did however set out some broader recommendations on greyhound welfare taking a 'whole life approach' (looking at issues such as breeding and movement of racing greyhounds, welfare away from tracks, rehoming and post-racing life).
In its Stage 1 report on the Bill, the RAI Committee also asked the Scottish Government to respond to the recommendations in its 2024 interim report.
The Finance and Public Administration Committee also issued a call for views on the Financial Memorandum for the Bill and agreed to take no further action. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the delegated powers contained in the Bill and published its Stage 1 report on 25 June 2025.
The Scottish Government (who supported the general principles of the Bill at Stage 1) responded to the RAI Committee's Stage 1 report on 28 January 2026 setting out its response to the questions in the Stage 1 report. The letter also states that "The Scottish Government will provide a full response to the committee’s interim report on petition PE1758 as requested after stage 1".
A Stage 1 debate took place on 29 January 2026 to consider and decide on the general principles of the Bill (which were agreed).
Consideration at Stage 2
The Bill as amended at Stage 2 was published on 18 February 2026. Minutes of Stage 2 proceedings, held in the RAI Committee on 18 February, set out which amendments were agreed to.
The following sections describe how the Bill was amended during Stage 2 proceedings.
Amendments agreed 'without division' indicates where Members unanimously agreed an amendment. Amendments agreed 'by division' indicates where a majority, but not all Members supported an amendment.
Following stage 2 proceedings, on 18 February 2026 the Committee also agreed to close Petition PE1758: End greyhound racing in Scotland.
A Scottish Government amendment was agreed (without division) to amend the definition of racetrack in section 1 of the Bill, adding the words "in Scotland" so the definition of racetrack in the Bill becomes "premises in Scotland provided for the purpose of running greyhounds on a track that is oval in shape".
An equivalent Scottish Government amendment was agreed (without division) so that Scottish Ministers, if exercising the delegated power in section 1 to amend the definition of racetrack, may only do so in respect of other categories of premises in Scotland used for the purpose of the competing of running greyhounds (the amendment adding the words "in Scotland").
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP said that those amendments aimed to provide clarity that the offence of racing a greyhound on a track will arise only when the race occurs at a track in Scotland, and to avoid confusion that an offence might be committed under the Bill if a dog is taken from Scotland to run at a racetrack elsewhere.
A further Scottish Government amendment was agreed (without division), so that the delegated power for Scottish Ministers to amend the definition of 'racetrack' "may only be exercised for the purpose of preventing harm to greyhounds".
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP said that this was "consistent with the policy behind the bill and will ensure that the power is used to expand the definition beyond oval tracks to include other shapes of racetrack only where there is an animal welfare justification".
A group of Scottish Government amendments were agreed (without division) which removed provisions from the Bill as introduced relating to the post-conviction powers of the courts, covering powers to impose deprivation and disqualification orders (i.e. removing animals from a convicted person's care or disqualifying a convicted person from owning a greyhound), as well as powers to impose seizure orders (to seize a greyhound where a disqualification order has been breached).
The amendments introduced a new Schedule 2 to the Bill which, instead of the bespoke powers in the Bill as introduced, amends existing provisions of the the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 ('2006 Act') on post-conviction orders, so that they also apply to offences under the Bill.
The new Schedule applies the powers in section 39 of the 2006 Act (deprivation orders), section 40 (disqualification orders), and section 41 (seizure orders where a disqualification order is breached) where an offence is committed under section 1 or 2 of the Bill i.e. the key offences in the Bill.
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP said:
I have lodged the amendments so that existing rules and procedures in relation to post-conviction orders can be used in relation to the bill and to apply record-keeping duties under the 2006 act in relation to disqualification orders for offences under the bill.
The provisions in the 2006 act being applied are modified as appropriate for the offences under the bill. For example, if a disqualification order is made in relation to a conviction for an offence under the bill, any disqualifications imposed can only be in respect of greyhounds and not other animals.
The Member in Charge of the Bill said that he accepted the Scottish Government's view that it would be preferable and more consistent to provide for post-conviction orders by means of the 2006 Act, and that this would allow enforcement of the Bill to be streamlined and avoid the need to establish new court processes.
A Scottish Government amendment was agreed (by division) which removed section 4 of the Bill as introduced, relating to time limits for summary proceedings.
Section 4 in the Bill as introduced provided that proceedings for offences under section 1 and 2 of the Bill must be brought within 6 months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to justify the proceedings came to their knowledge. Section 4 also provided that no proceedings may be brought after 3 years following the commission of the offence (or last date on which the offence was committed).
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP said that removing the time bar was consistent with the approach in the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, in which there is no time-bar rule in relation to the offences that are triable either summarily or on indictment, and would allow greater time for investigation and avoid the prospect of failure to commence proceedings due to the complexity of an investigation.
A Scottish Government amendment was agreed (without division) which provides that the main provisions of the Bill will commence on a date that is specified by ministers in regulations (instead of 12 months after the day of Royal Assent, as set out in section 13 of the Bill as introduced).
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP said that this "will ensure that the substantive provisions of the bill can be brought into force at an appropriate time, when all the resources, processes and procedures are in place".
The Member in Charge of the Bill said that when the Bill was drafted, a period of 12 months after Royal Assent "was deemed appropriate, as it would allow a lead-in time for the owners of Thornton racetrack and others, such as rehoming centres, to put in place any measures that would be required to prepare for the change in the law". However, the Member accepted the Scottish Government’s reasoning that "by commencing the bill by regulations, it can be assured that all the appropriate measures have been put into place before the bill comes into force".