THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition to stop greyhounds being forced to race in scorching heat.

Brighton and Hove Greyhound Racing Stadium went ahead with all planned races on Thursday, despite temperatures reaching 30C by 5pm and humid conditions.

Sarah Whitehead, 50, who is involved with the Close The Greyhound Track opposition group, said: “The greyhound regulatory body put out a statement today saying that if racing temperatures were over 34C the races must be called off.

“The board’s new hot weather policy makes no reference to humidity levels that play an important part in the dogs’ ability to keep cool.”

The Society of Greyhound Veterinarians suggests that if the temperature is in the region of 28C to 30C, serious consideration should be given to suspending racing and that racing should not take place in temperatures in excess of 30C.

Lorraine Sopher, 66, from Brighton, who has worked with dogs for a number of years, said that although she understood the appeal of dog racing to some people she felt strongly against them being raced in the heat.

She said: “In normal conditions I don’t mind if the dogs want to do it and aren’t being treated cruelly, but they shouldn’t be doing it in this sort of weather.

“Even with horses, they shouldn’t let them race in this sort of heat, it’s very upsetting.”

A petition to close the Brighton and Hove Greyhound Racing Stadium in Hove is approaching 5,000 signatures.

The petition, which was started last year, has had a big increase in backers after some greyhound races at the stadium had to be called off last Tuesday due to concerns over the welfare of dogs racing in excessive heat.

The stage director for the racetrack said the condition of the racing dogs was monitored closely and that in warm weather handlers assessed how conditions developed before the races start.

He said: “As far as I know, all of the races went ahead on Thursday.

“We started them half an hour late because we felt it was sensible to allow this time for the dogs to cool down.

“There were no reported issues or incidents with any of the dogs at the track on the day – we have a vet on standby at all times and we take good care of our animals.

“If temperatures rise above 34C then we call the races off, as we did earlier in the week last Tuesday.

He said no handlers pulled their dogs out of proceedings on Thursday and all the dogs that were expected to race did.