A private members motion on the funding of the greyhound racing industry is set to come before the Dáil this week.
The Social Democrats are putting forward the motion in an effort to end state funding of the sector.
It comes after a documentary last year looking at the treatment of the dogs, with thousands believed to be killed every year.
The Oireachtas recently approved a bill which will see the greyhound industry receive an increase in funding to €19.2m next year.
The Co-leader of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy, Social Democrat co-leader, has said the state is complicit in acts of animal cruelty by providing the industry with millions in funding each year.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, the party's agriculture spokesperson and TD for Cork West Holly Cairns said state supports given to the industry could be used elsewhere.
She said: "The industry kills almost 6,000 dogs annually for not racing fast enough and our government funds it.
"Not just every year, but in the middle of a pandemic they've upped the funding by €2.4m so in 2021, the industry will receive €19.2m.
"This industry is loss-making and it's public money going into that, so attendance at greyhound racing tracks fell by 55% between 2008 and 2018.
"The combined loss for tracks between 2019 and 2022 is predicted to be €30m.
"We're in the middle of a pandemic and constantly hearing there isn't enough funding for essential services like disability support services, domestic violence refuge spaces."
Ms Cairns added that the Social Democrats are "not in the minority" when it comes to public opinion on greyhound racing.
She said: "Of course, we know that some greyhound trainers keep their dogs so well.
"You would swear, when you hear of the increase in funding...that the Social Democrats are the minority.
"But when you look around, they're not, there's a 2019 Red C poll that found that only 16% of the Irish population agree that finding should go into this."
'Absolute lie'
Speaking on the same programme, Independent TD for Kerry Danny Healy Rae said he "rejected and resented" that greyhound racing could be considered animal cruelty.
He added that "it couldn't be further from the truth".
He said: "The people that own the greyhounds and the people that run the greyhounds, they have the utmost respect for greyhounds and all animals.
"In every sport and in every walk of life there are rogue elements and bad elements."
Mr Healy Rae disputed that 6,000 greyhounds are killed each year, calling it a "total and absolute lie" as any dog owners he knows take great care of their animals.
