Cross-Sectional Survey of Public Perception of Commercial Greyhound Racing in New Zealand

Simple Summary Commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand has been under scrutiny for its animal welfare practices for over a decade. In 2021, the greyhound racing industry was placed ‘on-notice’ by the New Zealand Racing Minister and Associate Minister of Agriculture (Animal Welfare) due to ongoing issues with data recording, transparency, and animal welfare generally. Social license was identified as a key factor in deciding the future of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand. This paper describes the findings of a robust survey of the New Zealand public’s opinion towards commercial greyhound racing. The majority of survey respondents reported a negative view of the greyhound racing industry and indicated that, given the chance, they would vote in support of a ban on greyhound racing. The respondents reported a lack of involvement and knowledge of industry practices. These results confirm that the majority of the New Zealand public do not currently support the continuation of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand. Abstract The commercial greyhound racing industry in New Zealand is struggling with an eroding social license and ‘on-notice’ status. Multiple independent reviews of the industry have identified ongoing issues of animal welfare during and between races, euthanasia decisions, poor data tracking, a lack of transparency and problems with rehoming dogs, resulting in New Zealand animal advocacy agencies and the general public questioning the continuation of greyhound racing. The current paper assessed the New Zealand public’s awareness and familiarity with commercial greyhound racing, identified current levels of public support or opposition for racing, and provided context in terms of engagement with greyhound racing using a comprehensive survey of a robust sample of New Zealanders. The results confirm that the social license of the greyhound industry is under challenge with most respondents expressing disagreement with or lack of knowledge of current industry practices and indicating they would vote in support of a ban. There is scope for increasing public acceptability by addressing welfare issues, increasing awareness of positive industry practices, and encouraging transparency of the greyhound racing agency. However, as greyhound racing is on the decline worldwide, calls are likely to continue for a phase-out of commercial greyhound racing.


Introduction
Commercial greyhound racing has been part of New Zealand's gambling industry since 1934 as an evolved version of 'coursing' [1].Greyhound racing originated from hare coursing, a sport of European and British nobility in which prize-winning greyhounds (Canis lupus familiaris) would hunt a live hare [2].In 1926, the hunt was replaced by racing on an oval track [3], and in 1954, the live lure was replaced with a synthetic 'drag hare' which is kept just out of reach of the greyhounds racing to catch it.Nowadays, greyhound racing leverages the breed's speed, size, and prey drive to maintain an activity for gambling.Globally, commercial greyhound racing currently operates in six countries: Australia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States Animals 2024, 14, 207 2 of 14 of America.The only existing track in Vietnam closed in March 2023 [4].While people involved in greyhound racing may benefit from this industry, the industry is shrinking and there is public pressure to ban commercial greyhound racing in countries where it currently continues (e.g., Australia [5,6], United Kingdom [7][8][9][10][11][12], and USA [13][14][15]).
The decline in greyhound racing globally is largely driven by an eroding 'social license' due to high profile welfare issues and changing public attitudes towards animal welfare and the use of animals in entertainment.A social license is the implicit means by which a community approves or accepts an industry and indirectly its practices.Social licenses exist on a spectrum where the more trust an industry has, the stronger their social license; a social license may be withdrawn, accepted, or approved depending on the level of trust that industry instils in stakeholders [16].Subsequently, public perception can affect what changes a governing body chooses to implement in terms of rules and regulations [17].The social license of an industry or activity can be observed through public opinions (for example, surveys) or in public action (for example, attending an event or boycotting it).
Greyhound Racing New Zealand (GRNZ) (Tradename of the New Zealand Greyhound Racing Association Incorporated (NZGRA) and is an Incorporated Society consisting of ten registered member Greyhound Racing Clubs throughout New Zealand.GRNZ is formally recognized in the Racing Industry Act 2020 as a constituent part of the New Zealand Racing Industry) [18] is the governing body for greyhound racing in New Zealand and represents a profitable industry contributing $92.6 million per year to the New Zealand economy, although this is just 5% of the overall racing value in New Zealand according to the New Zealand Racing Board, 2018 (New Zealand Racing Board known as TAB New Zealand and governed by a board of seven members appointed by the Minister for Racing) [19].The industry has seen comparatively small financial success in comparison to horse racing in New Zealand and has been dogged with scandals and issues with data recording, the transparency of activities, and animal welfare generally [16][17][18][19][20].
An increase in public pressure and advocacy by organizations has prompted multiple reviews of the industry [16][17][18], petitions calling for an end to greyhound racing in New Zealand [21][22][23] and driven government intervention.Since concern was first raised in 2012, numerous independent reviews have resulted in attempts to encourage bestpractices, governance, standards, breeding, information tracking, and industry awareness of animal welfare.
A 2021 review concluded that the social license of the greyhound racing industry in New Zealand was at risk due to lack of transparency, poor data recording, and ongoing animal welfare issues [16].Further, a 2022 report from the Petitions Select Committee stated "We have doubts about whether the greyhound racing industry still has a social license to operate in its current form [24].It is increasingly clear that the social license is key to the future of greyhound racing.The previous Minister for Racing, Hon Grant Robertson, placed the industry formally "on notice", stating, "This is a very clear signal, I believe the clearest signal that's been given to this industry. . . it is either things improve, or they lose their social license to exist" [25,26].
Polls in some of the countries where commercial greyhound racing remains legal have found strong support for a ban, including an ongoing poll in the New Zealand Herald where currently 70% of 6000 voters are in support of banning greyhound racing [27][28][29][30][31][32][33].While the observable consensus from these outlets is overwhelmingly supportive of ending commercial greyhound racing, in New Zealand, the views of the industry that are observable are typically individual opinions, found in opinion pieces for media sources [34,35], or non-scientific polls run by media outlets [28][29][30].Additionally, greyhound racing provides community social benefits and thus there may be areas that support the continuation of the industry [19].
There is currently no large-scale, evidence-based, systematic research examining the New Zealand public's opinion regarding greyhound racing.The current paper aims to evaluate the social license of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand.In order to do this, we aim to measure the current awareness of and familiarity with commercial greyhound racing, understand current attitudes and perceptions of the industry, identify the level of current support or opposition for greyhound racing, and provide context in terms of current, relevant behaviors of the public in relation to greyhound racing using a comprehensive survey of a robust sample of New Zealanders.Based on the results of previous surveys in the United Kingdom and Australia, it is expected that public opinion will lean towards negative perceptions of the greyhound industry.

Materials and Methods
The survey was commissioned by the RNZSPCA.To ensure objectivity, the questionnaire was designed and conducted by Insights HQ Limited, an independent NZ market research agency.The authors employed by the RSPCA (AV, MJM & AD) provided scope and information including the Hansen and Robertson reports as a basis for construction.Further, authors external to the RSPCA (KC & KB) analyzed the data and wrote the core paper; with the authors from the RSPCA providing editorial input.Thus, the integrity of the research procedure and conclusions were maintained.
The questionnaire was fielded with my2cents panelists.The my2cents research community is a cross-section of New Zealanders who have agreed to participate in market research surveys, discussions and focus groups, and is currently used by several major NZ brands and government agencies to conduct representative and robust market research.Further, all my2cents panelists had been pre-profiled so Insights HQ can target specific demographic quotas to ensure data is representative of the New Zealand population, with the ability to verify data, thereby driving accuracy and confidence.
To ensure a nationally representative survey sample of the population, a multi-cell quota design was used to identify even distribution across age, gender and region.For example, instead of surveying 50% male or female, which can result in an uneven number of respondents (e.g., all males from one place), the interlocked cell design uses quotas based on age, gender, and region from the NZ Census data.This ensures that the sample has a similar proportion of respondents that fit each of 50 combinations of age, gender, and location (See Supplementary Data).This data shows the quota that was required for each age, gender, region subsegment and the proportion of the target sample obtained.
Prior to conducting the survey, a technical pilot launch had been conducted.100 people (that had agreed previously to do market research) were invited to respond and 65 completed the pilot.The purpose of the pilot launch was to check if the survey functioned on different devices and to ensure clarity in how questions were written.
A random sample of 2124 respondents proportioned from the multi-cell design, were invited to participate.Each was invited by email to complete an online questionnaire between 21 and 28 September 2022.A total of 1327 interviews were completed, with 70 respondents starting but not completing the survey.Incompletes were excluded from analysis.Survey questions focused on familiarity with the greyhound racing industry and gambling, governance, agreement with statements regarding welfare, and recommendations sourced from the Robertson [16] report (See Supplementary Data).
The data was analyzed in Excel (Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA, USA).Descriptive data in the form of percentages of respondents providing a particular response are presented.

Demographic Information
There were 1327 usable responses to the survey (Table 1).Most identified as NZ European, with Māori and Pacific ethnicities making up 10.3% of respondents.The largest age groups were 65+ years, 25-34 years, and 35-44 years, respectively.Most respondents lived in an urban center (1099/1327, 82.8%).

Knowledge of Commercial Greyhound Racing
Respondents were asked about their knowledge of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand (Table 3).Most respondents had at least heard of or had some level of knowledge about the industry (1160/1327, 87.4%) and less than half were aware of the industry association body, Greyhound Racing New Zealand (533/1327, 40.2%).42.1% (187/444) of those who considered themselves to have 'a little bit' or 'a lot' of knowledge about commercial greyhound racing had previously signed a petition against commercial greyhound racing.Most reported they were unaware that the greyhound racing industry had been placed 'on notice' for shutdown if greyhound welfare, transparency, and data recording are not addressed (1071/1327, 80.7%).

View of Commercial Greyhound Racing
The majority of respondents held a negative view of greyhound racing, with 72% having reported either a slightly more negative or mainly negative view of the industry (Figure 1).In contrast, just 4.7% of respondents reported a slightly more or mainly positive view of the industry.
While 51.1% of respondents reported they consider gambling in general is acceptable (683/1327), 54.6% believed gambling on greyhound racing was unacceptable as a form of entertainment (725/1327) (Figure 2).
Respondents were asked about their opinion on the future of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand (Table 4).Of the respondents, the majority, 60.4%, would support a ban (801/1327), 8.2% would not (110/1327), and 31.3%(416/1327) need more information.However, if the call for a referendum was held, 74.8% (992/1327) would vote in support of a ban on greyhound racing.Furthermore, 58.8% of respondents stated they would be disappointed in the government if they did not ban racing (780/1327), 68.3% (906/1327) agree that a ban on the greyhound racing is the right thing to do, and 65.5% (869/1327) believe it would improve New Zealand's reputation for animal welfare.While 51.1% of respondents reported they consider gambling in general is acceptable (683/1327), 54.6% believed gambling on greyhound racing was unacceptable as a form of entertainment (725/1327) (Figure 2).Respondents were asked about their opinion on the future of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand (Table 4).Of the respondents, the majority, 60.4%, would support a ban (801/1327), 8.2% would not (110/1327), and 31.3%(416/1327) need more information.However, if the call for a referendum was held, 74.8% (992/1327) would vote in support of a ban on greyhound racing.Furthermore, 58.8% of respondents stated they would be disappointed in the government if they did not ban racing (780/1327), 68.3% (906/1327) agree that a ban on the greyhound racing is the right thing to do, and 65.5% (869/1327) believe it would improve New Zealand's reputation for animal welfare.
Respondents were asked how much they supported the continuation of greyhound  While 51.1% of respondents reported they consider gambling in general is acceptable (683/1327), 54.6% believed gambling on greyhound racing was unacceptable as a form of entertainment (725/1327) (Figure 2).Respondents were asked about their opinion on the future of commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand (Table 4).Of the respondents, the majority, 60.4%, would support a ban (801/1327), 8.2% would not (110/1327), and 31.3%(416/1327) need more information.However, if the call for a referendum was held, 74.8% (992/1327) would vote in support of a ban on greyhound racing.Furthermore, 58.8% of respondents stated they would be disappointed in the government if they did not ban racing (780/1327), 68.3% (906/1327) agree that a ban on the greyhound racing is the right thing to do, and 65.5% (869/1327) believe it would improve New Zealand's reputation for animal welfare.
Respondents showed higher levels of agreement with statements related to negative aspects of commercial greyhound racing than positive aspects (Figure 3).Of the respondents, 42.3% (561/1327) considered that there are no positive impacts of the greyhound racing industry.34.4% indicated that the industry created jobs and financial opportunity (456/1327), 22.8% believed the industry contributed to New Zealand (302/1327), and 18.0% thought the industry preserves the greyhound breed (239/1327).Contrary to this, more than 60% of respondents answered that the industry endangered greyhound welfare on (817/1327, 61.6%) and off (791/1327, 59.6%) the racetrack, resulted in euthanizing greyhounds (799/1327, 60.2), promoted gambling (857/1327, 64.6%), and normalized exploitation of animals for entertainment (837/1327, 63.1%).Of the respondents, 9.3% (123/1327) reported that they believed greyhounds that are bred for racing have a good life and 47.3% (628/1327) were not sure, while the remainder believed that greyhounds do not have a good life (576/1327, 43.4%).Respondents were asked which of the recommendations from a list sourced from the Robertson [16] report were important to implement (Figure 4).Most respondents reported that all should be implemented (970/1327, 73.1%) with thorough professional kennel visits (to check for compliance with welfare standards; 252/1327, 19.0%), rigorous assessment of Respondents were asked which of the recommendations from a list sourced from the Robertson [16] report were important to implement (Figure 4).Most respondents reported that all should be implemented (970/1327, 73.1%) with thorough professional kennel visits (to check for compliance with welfare standards; 252/1327, 19.0%), rigorous assessment of animal welfare in large scale operations (239/1327, 18.0%), and introduction of socialization programs for all greyhounds (231/1327, 17.4%) the most important recommendations for improving greyhound welfare.
animal welfare in large scale operations (239/1327, 18.0%), and introduction of socialization programs for all greyhounds (231/1327, 17.4%) the most important recommendations for improving greyhound welfare.

Discussion
The purpose of this research was to investigate the public perception of greyhound racing and to measure the level of social license greyhound racing currently holds in New Zealand.This is of particular importance as social license has been identified as key in informing the future of the industry and how organizations proceed in the face of the greyhound racing being 'on notice' and at risk of closure.The take home message from the results of the survey is that, out of 1327 responses from a robust and representative sample of New Zealanders, most hold a negative view of commercial greyhound racing.Most do not consider betting on greyhounds acceptable, do not believe greyhounds 'have a good life', would vote for banning commercial greyhound racing in a referendum, and support a ban of commercial greyhound racing.
Welfare issues within greyhound racing have resulted in a negative perception of the industry; 72% of respondents in this survey reported holding a negative view of commercial greyhound racing.This was similar to the results of surveys of Australians [33] with more than 60% of respondents agreeing that the greyhound industry endangers greyhound welfare on and off the racetrack, results in euthanizing greyhounds, promotes gambling and normalizes exploitation of animals for entertainment.
Responses to questions of the current awareness and familiarity with commercial greyhound racing indicate that half of respondents know of commercial greyhound racing but do not know the details of the industry, have not engaged with greyhound racing in any form, do not intend to do so, and believe that greyhound racing is unacceptable.While many respondents did not report detailed knowledge of the industry, social license is based on public opinion of topics where they may have varying levels of knowledge.This may offer opportunities for both supporters and opponents of the industry to influence public opinion.
Based on the survey results, gambling on greyhound racing was considered less acceptable than gambling generally.Half of respondents indicated that gambling in general

Discussion
The purpose of this research was to investigate the public perception of greyhound racing and to measure the level of social license greyhound racing currently holds in New Zealand.This is of particular importance as social license has been identified as key in informing the future of the industry and how organizations proceed in the face of the greyhound racing being 'on notice' and at risk of closure.The take home message from the results of the survey is that, out of 1327 responses from a robust and representative sample of New Zealanders, most hold a negative view of commercial greyhound racing.Most do not consider betting on greyhounds acceptable, do not believe greyhounds 'have a good life', would vote for banning commercial greyhound racing in a referendum, and support a ban of commercial greyhound racing.
Welfare issues within greyhound racing have resulted in a negative perception of the industry; 72% of respondents in this survey reported holding a negative view of commercial greyhound racing.This was similar to the results of surveys of Australians [33] with more than 60% of respondents agreeing that the greyhound industry endangers greyhound welfare on and off the racetrack, results in euthanizing greyhounds, promotes gambling and normalizes exploitation of animals for entertainment.
Responses to questions of the current awareness and familiarity with commercial greyhound racing indicate that half of respondents know of commercial greyhound racing but do not know the details of the industry, have not engaged with greyhound racing in any form, do not intend to do so, and believe that greyhound racing is unacceptable.While many respondents did not report detailed knowledge of the industry, social license is based on public opinion of topics where they may have varying levels of knowledge.This may offer opportunities for both supporters and opponents of the industry to influence public opinion.
Based on the survey results, gambling on greyhound racing was considered less acceptable than gambling generally.Half of respondents indicated that gambling in general was acceptable in contrast to a fifth who considered gambling on greyhound racing acceptable.Approximately double the number of respondents considered gambling on greyhound racing unacceptable in comparison to gambling generally (55% vs. 27%).A minority (14%) responded that greyhound racing supporting legal modes of gambling is a positive attribute of the industry.Only 4% of respondents, that is 53 people, indicated they were likely to engage with greyhound racing in the next 6 months.Our results indicate that gambling concerns alone could not explain respondents' negative view of commercial greyhound racing.Studies examining attitudes to betting on horse racing found that both concerns about gambling and about animal welfare can influence opinions and stated behaviors related to betting on animal races [36].
The majority of survey respondents appear to oppose greyhound racing in comparison to the small number of people that actively support greyhound racing.Supporters of greyhound racing are typically those who are involved in or engage with the industry.This may indicate an eroding social license for greyhound racing by the majority of the New Zealand public.However, efforts by small numbers of racing advocators, in collaboration with gambling lobbyists, the general racing community, and government actors, were able to overturn the temporary ban of greyhound racing in New South Wales in 2015 [5].This indicates that it is not only the power of public opinion that informs the decision to continue greyhound racing but those with influence.
Further, there is a tendency of animal use industries to respond to social license pressure by employing public relations strategies.GRNZ embarked on a public relations campaign in early 2022 including filming videos and establishing a website of positive stories, but it is unknown if the positive stories showcased on this website had any impact on public opinion [37].
The lack of science-based research surrounding the public perception of greyhound racing may have contributed to governing bodies' lack of awareness of risk to the industry's social license.Polls conducted by media outlets give a snapshot of the public's perception (e.g., those conducted by TFN in Scotland and Lateline in Australia) [27,29].These viewpoints, however, are restricted to consumers and users of the media outlet, cannot be considered a representative sample of the whole population, and lack the robustness of surveys that represent the population, such as the current paper.It is difficult to justify a policy change from the results of such polls.The current study provides additional, credible evidence of the industry's eroding social license in New Zealand to inform decisions about the future of greyhound racing in this country.
A vigorous UK-based survey that found little support or interest in greyhound racing [32] added weight to a campaign challenging the social license of greyhound racing in the UK.The social license of greyhound racing is under public pressure in the UK after a campaign called "Cut the Chase" by the Blue Cross, Dog's Trust, and RSPCA UK [38].This has led to discussion of a ban in the Senedd Cymru (Welsh parliament), English and Scottish parliaments [7,9,10].However, as shown in countries such as Australia, a failing social license does not always result in policy change [5].
Although there is seemingly overwhelming favor for banning greyhound racing in most countries where it is legal, results from polls in Ireland provide conflicting results when measuring public opinion.In a 2019 poll conducted by an independent research group RED C, 66% of respondents thought funding to the greyhound racing industry should be cut [31].Whereas a follow-up poll conducted by The Journal (a news media outlet) in 2020 found that 72% of respondents would support continued funding to the industry [30].
More robust and comprehensive research has been conducted globally by independent research companies.In 2022, a YouGov survey in the UK found that 91% of respondents do not follow or participate in greyhound racing and 64% regard greyhound racing as unimportant to British culture [32].In addition, a survey conducted by Lonergan Research, commissioned by the Green Party in Australia, found that 54% of respondents endorse a ban of greyhound racing and 55% believe it is cruel to use dogs and horses for entertainment and gambling [33].The public's awareness of issues in an industry will affect that industry's social license.For example, in 2015, an Australian broadcasting program exposed the animal welfare issues within the greyhound racing industry, thus increasing the awareness of the Australian public [39].This awareness contributed to the deterioration of the greyhound racing's social license and prompted multiple petitions to be formed to ban greyhound racing across Australia [39].
Current knowledge about greyhound racing in New Zealand is limited.70% of respondents were not aware of Greyhound Racing New Zealand as the governing body for racing and 54% did not know the state of greyhound racing globally or that New Zealand has two Ministers that oversee the industry, the Minister for Racing and Associate Minister of Agriculture (Animal Welfare).However, this lack of knowledge provides scope for agencies supporting a ban to provide more context to the public about animal welfare concerns related to the industry, and for GRNZ to improve the welfare of dogs in their industry, data recording, and the transparency of practices within greyhound racing, rather than reacting to scrutiny with closed doors or attempts to change public perception solely through public relations campaigns [15].Interestingly, increased awareness of an industry's practices may not produce the intended results and can fail to engender acceptance of that industry, challenging the knowledge deficit model [40].
Steps taken by GRNZ in response to criticism may also reduce trust in the industry.For example, in response to a petition calling for a ban on commercial greyhound racing, the Petitions Select Committee was critical of the removal of the RNZSPCA representative on the GRNZ Health and Welfare Committee stating "In our view, the removal of the RNZSPCA from the health and welfare committee shows poor judgement of what is needed for the industry to keep its license to operate.Shutting out an organization that, while it opposes GRNZ's work, is prepared to help it improve its practices, has worked against the industry" [24] (page 18).
If the industry was to continue, its social license would need reparation through improvements to welfare, data recording, and transparency.All of the Robertson Report recommendations were considered "important to implement" by over 73% of respondents.These recommendations include avoidance of over breeding to reduce pressure on rehoming, compliance auditing of kennels, socialization programs to prepare greyhounds for life after racing, rationalization of rules and policies for greyhound welfare, a health and welfare committee with full participation of all relevant stakeholders, and data transparency.However, these recommendations were also requirements of previous reviews of the greyhound racing industry [16,17] and failure to address the recommendations of previous reports resulted in the current 'on notice' order from the Racing Minister.
In response to a petition by the Greyhound Protection League New Zealand, the government Petitions Select Committee made up of MPs from across the political spectrum responded in a report in 2022 that "We have doubts about whether the greyhound racing industry still has a social license to operate in its current form" [24].However, at this time the Racing Minister as not made a decision to the future of greyhound racing in New Zealand and the future of the industry remains unclear.
The data was sourced from a sample that was representative of the national population.This means that the sample is proportional to the ratio of New Zealanders within each variable by age, gender, and region.However, greyhound racing is more popular in regional areas because it provides users with an opportunity for social connection, recreational activity and to benefit financially [16,39].In these areas, racing is a part of community events, charities, and clubs which are made up of volunteers, sponsors, commercial partners, trainers, owners, and the public [19].
Further, the greatest customer expenditure on racing is from the Hawkes Bay region which accounts for 51.7% of customer spending, while the most urban center (Auckland) makes up 37.8% of racing customer expenditure [19].It is important to consider that the population of racing supporters is likely skewed to the rural regions and, although the sample in this survey was robust in the proportion of respondents from each location, there is greater support for greyhound racing in the rural sector [19].Specific enquiry into regional participation in greyhound racing might be required to appreciate the effect these communities have on the social license, and thus continuing commercial greyhound racing.

Conclusions
Commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand has been under scrutiny for its animal welfare practices for over a decade.The results from this study indicate that most people of a robust sample of New Zealanders, given the chance, would vote for a ban on commercial greyhound racing.Therefore, we consider that the acceptance of greyhound racing has declined due to concerns about poor welfare outcomes for dogs and the industry has lost its social license.There is scope for increasing the social license of the general public by improving animal welfare, data recording, and transparency, and boosting awareness of what happens to the dogs during and between races, as a large proportion of respondents reported not knowing about specific events associated with poor management, incidence of injury, death, or the welfare of the greyhounds.In the wake of the New Zealand government placing the industry 'on-notice', the industry and government could respond to the loss of social license by demonstrating transparent and meaningful improvements to animal welfare in consultation with animal welfare experts.However, as greyhound racing continues to decline worldwide, calls are likely to continue for a phase-out of commercial greyhound racing.

Supplementary Materials:
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ani14020207/s1,Commercial Greyhound Racing sample quota table & Commercial Greyhound Racing Questionnaire.Institutional Review Board Statement: This project was evaluated by peer review and judged to be low risk.Consequently, it was not required to be reviewed by a human ethics committee in New Zealand.
Informed Consent Statement: ESOMAR compliant, informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement:
The following are available online at Cameron, K. E., Vaughan, A., McAninch, M., Briden, K., & Dale, A. Cross-sectional survey of public perception of Commercial Greyhound Racing in New Zealand.2023.Retrieved from osf.io/m2whb on 6 July 2023.

Acknowledgments:
The authors are grateful to the two donors whose donation made this survey possible.The authors would like to that the survey respondents for their time.We would also like to thank our colleague, Jessica Walker, at RNZSPCA for her valuable insights and suggestions.Additionally, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of Insights HQ Limited for conducting the market survey.

Conflicts of Interest:
The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.Alison Vaughan, Marie J. McAninch, and Arnja Dale are currently employed by RNZSPCA.The results of this survey were used as part of an RNZSPCA campaign advocating for an end to commercial greyhound racing.The survey was commissioned by RNZSPCA to obtain a robust, nationally representative sample of public opinion and the questionnaire designed and fielded by Insights HQ Limited, an independent NZ market research agency.Kristie Cameron and Kayla Briden declare no conflicts of interest.

4 , 14 Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Question: Some people think there are positives to commercial greyhound racing while others think there are negatives.On balance, do you think there are more positive or negative aspects? (n = 1327).

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Responses to questions on acceptability of gambling on greyhound racing and gambling in general (n = 1327).
you think betting on commercial greyhound racing is an acceptable form of entertainment?In general, do you think any type of gambling is acceptable?Percentage of respondents % Yes No Not Sure

Figure 1 . 14 Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Question: Some people think there are positives to commercial greyhound racing while others think there are negatives.On balance, do you think there are more positive or negative aspects? (n = 1327).

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Responses to questions on acceptability of gambling on greyhound racing and gambling in general (n = 1327).

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Responses to questions on acceptability of gambling on greyhound racing and gambling in general (n = 1327).

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Respondents' agreement with statements about positive and negative statements aspects of the industry (n = 1327).

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Respondents' agreement with statements about positive and negative statements aspects of the industry (n = 1327).

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Percentage of respondents and level of importance for the implementation of recommendations in the Robertson Report [16].

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Percentage of respondents and level of importance for the implementation of recommendations in the Robertson Report [16].

Author Contributions:
Conceptualization, A.D., A.V. and M.J.M.; methodology, A.V. and M.J.M.; formal analysis, K.E.C.; writing-original draft preparation, K.E.C. and K.B.; writing-review and editing, K.E.C., K.B., A.V. and M.J.M.All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.Funding: The research survey was funded by two anonymous external donors.The APC and other associated publication costs were funded by the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Table 1 .
Demographic information including gender, ethnicity, age, household income, pet ownership and if the respondent had recently donated to a pet center.bet on a greyhound race in the last year (40/1327) compared to 11.5% betting on horse racing (153/1327) and 80.3% not betting on any sports (1065/1327).Most respondents considered it very unlikely they would attend (1141/1327, 86.0%) or bet on (1165/1327, 87.8%) a greyhound race in the next six months, in comparison with those respondents indicating they would be very likely to attend or bet on a greyhound race (36/1327, 2.7%; 29/1327, 2.2%, respectively).

Table 2 .
Engagement with the commercial greyhound racing, betting behavior, and likelihood of attendance or gambling on greyhound racing.

Table 3 .
Knowledge of commercial greyhound racing and awareness of 'on notice' status.

Table 4 .
Information including support, voting potential, and acceptability of racing and associated brands that support greyhound racing.