Florida Enacts Bill which eliminates Minimum Number of Races Required by Tracks

From the Florida House of Representatives website: CS/CS/CS/HB 1145 - Greyhound Racing Greyhound Racing: Provides that greyhound permitholder shall not be required to conduct minimum number of live performances; revises provisions relating to applications, converted permits & tax credits, tax exemptions or license fee credits, greyhound racing purses, intertrack wagering, slot machine gaming licenses & gaming areas, & cardroom licenses.

Effective Date: July 1, 2011

Last Event: 04/29/11 S CS passed as amended; YEAS 25 NAYS 14 on Friday, April 29, 2011 3:46 PM Before everyone starts planning their celebrations, let's consider this: What does this mean for greyhounds? Is it good? Bad? Ugly? Will this create an extreme influx of hounds available for adoption? Can adoption groups find homes for the number of dogs that will need them? Are there dogs that will end up going to "lesser" tracks or in circumstances where animal welfare is even more of an issue that in the U.S.? Be careful what you wish for.

Chance Encounter

Pictured above:  Louis, one of the greyhounds recovered in Guam.

More pictures can be found at:www.guamgreyhounds.org/Story.html 

A few weeks ago, I was perusing the Internet, looking for greyhound memorabilia.  Nothing out of the norm, I do this often.  I found a great site selling beautiful jewelry & other hound inspired items, NorthCoast Greyhounds, www.northcoastgreyhounds.net/store/.  What is especially interesting about this group is that they are not an adoption group.  Their focus is on raising money & awareness for groups that place retired greys.  And what really caught my attention, was the note on their homepage about a campaign for collars for greyhounds in Guam.

Guam?  There are greyhounds in Guam?  What are greyhounds doing in Guam?

Turns out that there is greyhound racing in Guam.  Or should I say, "there was" greyhound racing in Guam.  When the track closed suddenly in November of 2008, they started a public, "give away", of the dogs.  These dogs were free to anyone who wanted them, not spayed or neutered, no training was given, no transfer papers were signed.  There were absolutely no adoption policies in place until early December when an agreement was made with Guam Animals in Need (GAIN), the agency responsible for animal welfare on the island.  GAIN has found many of the hounds nearly starved, badly sunburned, dehydrated, injured, & dead.  Many people were not prepared/trained for the care that greys require & elected to turn the dogs lose. 

Once they are well enough, the dogs which are recovered will be placed in qualified homes in Guam, many others are headed to adoption groups on the U.S. West Coast.  The fate of those greyhounds at the track is still undetermined.  

NorthCoast Greyhounds started a collar & squeaky toy campaign in early February to entice anyone with a greyhound in Guam to contact GAIN.  (The collars/toys are shipped from California to Guam. When they reach Guam, the care packages will be given to new adopters.) The adoption group that I am involved with generously donated 20 collars & many more members donated money on-line to help with the rescue efforts.  

For more information & to donate, please visit:  www.guamgreyhounds.org/Story.html .  

 

      

For Stan the Man

Stan the Man

color Black
sex male
weight 37.5 kg ~ 83 lbs
date of birth MAY 2003
land of birth US USA
land of standing US USA
ear mark 53D-20115
owner ?
Euthanized for space 11/2006

I found Stan by accident one day while researching my own greyhounds' "family trees". This is the thing that all of us involved in greyhound adoption, wish would go away.

It's not the actual racing that I despise. The dogs love to race. You will never see a greyhound more happy than when they are running. And I'm sure that the majority of these dogs are treated well. In fact, racing greyhounds are probably treated better than the average pet. They are turned out often, played with, see a vet on a regular basis, & are fed high quality food.

Unfortunately, there is always a down side. Stan the Man was euthanized for space in November of 2006. He would only have been 3. Terminating a dog merely because real estate is at a premium, simply boggles my mind.

When I found the picture of Stan (over a year ago now), I saved the picture. It reminds me of the reason why I have greyhounds & prompts me to continue promoting responsible pet ownership & animal adoption.

Closing Time

It was announced in July that Woodlands Racetrack in Kansas would be shutting down their operations on August 24th. In July, the owners of the track failed to reach an agreement with Kansas government regarding slot machines. Like many other tracks in the U.S. it has experienced declining revenues. Much of this is due to the increased competition from casinos in neighbouring states (where payouts are higher) & negative publicity from animal welfare agencies. In 1990 (a year after opening), the track's revenue peaked at $197 million. Tracks (for both horse & dog racing), have begun to heavily rely on mixed racing and casino (racinos) ventures in order to stay afloat.

Many of us with ex-racers as pets, have mixed feelings when we hear of track closures. For some, the first reaction is always, "Yippee, one track closer to the end of greyhound racing!" We all want to think that each greyhound finds his/her forever home. Upon closer inspection, I've realized that it is not exactly a happy ending. The best racers are sent on to other tracks. Lower grade racers end up at "the flaps" (tracks which are not so hot to say the least). The unluckiest ones are sold to research facilities & others are euthanized.

When tracks close or temporarily shut down for the season, it creates stress on adoption groups. Large numbers of dogs (upwards of 1000 are kept in kennels at some tracks) have to be moved & quickly. Nobody wants to see a racer get left behind. Many groups are inundated with emails asking for help and pictures of dogs. Difficult decisions have to be made as to which dogs are placed & those that are not. It takes a great deal of effort to coordinate all of the parties involved. More often than not, adoption groups exist outside of the cities and states (& countries) where the racetrack operates.

Another aspect to reflect on is the human. Racetracks have employees. In the case of Woodlands, over 250 people were terminated. The majority of these people have jobs which are industry dependent: kennel operators, dog trainers, etc. Like the dogs that they take care of, they have only known one career. This increases the unemployment rate & leaves individuals scrambling to find another way to feed their families & pay their rent.