By 1971 Greyhounds had reached Western Australia and were being held for auction by local vendors. Trials were being conducted at venues surrounding Perth and the demand for greyhound racing was gaining momentum. By 1972 the Greyhound Racing Control Act was passed through the Parliament of Western Australia and the Greyhound Racing Control Board was formed.
On 18 September 1973 Canning Greyhound Racing Association was announced as the successful applicant for the licence. Their venue, Canning Agricultural Society Showgrounds, was the first metropolitan racing track in Western Australia.
Work on the venue commenced in 1974 and trials were held later in that year with the first race meeting being held on 12 December. The meeting supported an eight race programme, attracting over 15,000 people, with the TAB turnover more than $60,000 and the on-course tote almost $120,000. $74,000 was distributed in stake money during the first year of racing (December 1974 - June 1975) with feature events such as the $1000 WA Sprint Championship paying $650 to the winner.
In 1981, the Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association was established under the Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association Act and the Assets and Liabilities of the Canning Greyhound Racing Association were transferred to WAGRA.
The Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association Act 1981 also provided for the absorption of the Mandurah Greyhound Racing Association into WAGRA.
1995/96 saw WAGRA's Committee approve the establishment of another greyhound racing track based in the Avon Valley initially for the purposes of trialing and training. On 30 September 1996 Western Australians witnessed the new venue's first race meeting.
The Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association celebrated the greyhound industry's 25th Anniversary in December 1999 and distributed more than $3 million in stakemoney for the 1998/99 year. In 2003/04 stakemoney payouts will approach $5 million with the Be Active Perth Cup Series, WA's premier chasing event, now carrying a prize pool of $150,000, illustrating a tremendous growth rate in a relatively short, though impressive, history.
