The welfare information that animal industries release plays a significant role in shaping public trust. This year marks the 100th anniversary of greyhound racing in Britain, with the first race held on July 24, 1926, in Manchester, where six dogs chased a mechanical hare around a track. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), which both promotes and regulates the sport, recently published its 2025 welfare figures, claiming that licensed racing "maintains high welfare standards." However, the data reveals that a dog was 77% more likely to die at the racetrack (from fatal injury or being euthanized due to injury) in 2025 compared to 2022, even with fewer races and racetracks in operation. While the percentage of race starts resulting in death increased only slightly—from 0.03% to 0.05%—this translates to 161 dogs who died in 2025, or more than three dogs per week. The GBGB is responsible for both running and regulating greyhound racing, meaning it has a dual role in promoting the sport and reporting on the welfare of its dogs. The UK government has stated that it has no immediate plans to ban greyhound racing in England, citing improvements such as the GBGB's 2022 welfare strategy and existing laws that require a veterinarian at every race and set standards for record-keeping. UK law recognizes dogs as sentient beings—capable of feeling joy or frustration—which means that the responsibility of caring for them extends beyond just minimizing suffering to ensuring they can experience a life worth living. The GBGB publishes annual data on injuries, deaths, and where dogs go after retiring from racing, sharing it with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). This level of transparency is rare in animal-reliant industries. However, aggregated national data can be incomplete. Researchers used AI tools and public websites to create a more detailed picture of greyhound racing. They found that equal numbers of male and female dogs race, most are black, and they typically begin racing before turning two. These tools also allowed researchers to trace the experiences of individual dogs, revealing patterns and challenges that national reports might miss. For example, one dog in the dataset was a black male bred in Ireland and raced at Kinsley Stadium in West Yorkshire 15 times from March 2023, winning four early races. However, he faced increasingly difficult races, often finishing near the back of the pack, and his racing record ended abruptly in August 2023, just five months after starting. Researchers also found that some racetracks had serious incidents—such as dogs hitting rails or being knocked over—up to five times more frequently than others, a detail not reflected in aggregated data. Additionally, 85% of racing greyhounds are bred in the Republic of Ireland, where the GBGB has no oversight of breeding practices. Once they leave racing, most dogs disappear from public view, and over 95% are no longer subject to public reporting. Welfare organizations have raised concerns about breeding practices, health issues, and the high number of dogs bred and discarded. As more regions—including New Zealand, Wales, Scotland, and a second Australian state—move to ban greyhound racing on animal welfare grounds, the UK faces similar decisions. Public trust and policy should be based on independent data rather than figures provided solely by the industry. Before accepting any welfare claims, it's important to consider: Is the data available for scrutiny? Who collected it, and do they have a financial stake in the outcome? Does it truly reflect the lives of the animals involved? A spokesperson for the GBGB said the organization is the only one with access to the full dataset on injuries and fatalities, and it publishes an independently verified summary annually, offering more transparency than required by Defra.