2008.11.05
End of greyhound racing in Massachusetts
The Boston Globe reported this morning that Massachusetts will end greyhound racing by 2010 after voters passed a ballot question to ban the sport in yesterday's election.
Ballot Question #3 passed 56 percent to 44 percent, with two-thirds of all precincts reporting.
"We did it. We did it for the dogs," a victorious Carey Thiel, executive director of Grey2K SA, an advocacy group for greyhound protection, is quoted in the Globe article.
Not everyone was celebrating last night's vote.
"It's not a very pleasant thing right now. Some of these people have been here 40 years," George Carney, owner of the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park in Raynham, Mass., was quoted as he watched the election results with employees at the track. "Here's a company that did nothing wrong, paid their federal taxes on time, paid the town on time. The town is going to be a severe loser, and a lot of people here dedicated their life to the company."
Carney and other supporters of the industry said the vote puts the interests of dog before the interests of 1,000 people who will lose jobs when the commonwealth's two tracks close.
As most regular readers of this blog know, I have two retired racers sleeping on my couches even as I type this blog entry, so I feel I have a personal stake in the welfare of these dogs. One of my dogs came from Hollywood, Fla., and the other came from Cross Plains, W.V., so I do not have any personal knowledge of how dogs are treated in Massachusetts.
Just like any other industry that involves animals, there are people who do as much as they can to take care of their dogs, and there are people who don't. So I do not villify everyone associated with the sport and everyone who works at a track. These are people just trying to make a legal living.
I think the issue really came down to voters believing that, no matter how well-cared-for some of the dogs are, racing greyhounds are treated like livestock in an industry from puppyhood until they are no longer useful, which means thousands of them are euthanized, and not always in the most humane way.
And that's just not how most people see the role of dogs in American life.
What do you think? Is the sport of greyhound racing cruel? Should the ecomonic needs of people outweigh the risks and hardships endured by the dogs?
People have the opportunity to find new jobs. Dogs do not always have the opportunity to find homes.
Comment by Kim — November 5, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
I have three retired racing greyhounds. I'm worried about what will happen to the dogs at the Massachusetts tracks -- they'll either be euthanized, sent to tracks in other states or sent to overcrowded adoption groups. The burden placed on adoption groups is enormous already. Most racing owners don't plan what will happen to the dogs they breed after they're done racing. And the effects of a life of hardcore racing are awful. Sure, the dogs love to run, but as you know Nona, they love sleeping on couches more. :o)
Comment by Gretchen — November 5, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
In my opinion, I think greyhound racing is extremely cruel and should be stopped. Greyhounds are beautiful dogs and need to be treated great...not raced for fun or profit. I love the picture of yours laying around with your kitty in the window!!
Comment by Deborah — November 5, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
I think all "sports" involving animals are cruel: from horse racing, dog racing, and cock fighting. I'm sure there are exceptions since a winning animal will be treated with care to insure that he/she continues to win. However, these animals have never been taught social skills and rarely make good pets unless an owner devotes a significant amount of time and patience to retrain them. A lot of people end up giving up and then the poor things end up back in a shelter somewhere. Greyhounds are magnificent animals. I've seen the rescue groups outside PetSmart on a couple of occasions and those dogs seem understandably nervous, but very well-behaved.
I'd personally like to see the sport go away everywhere.
Comment by Sandy Nair — November 5, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
I wouldn't consider most greyhounds to be nervous. They're much more quiet than your average dog, which could be seen as nervous. And there are very few greys that I've ever met that don't make great pets pretty much right off the bat, despite the conditions they live in before living in a house. They do need some retraining, because many have never seen things like mirrors and stairs before, but I found no major investment of time or patience when I adopted two of mine. The third was an anomaly! I've never met another greyhound like him. Talk about nervous! He's much more keyed up than the others, but certainly no more of a handful than any other breed.
I also have a retired racing thoroughbred who has a swollen, arthritic knee, a permanently bowed tendon (due to lack of care when it was first injured), and two sore hocks, which translate into a weak, sore back. He can't be ridden above a trot. He's only 11 years old and full of energy and sass. Such a shame.
I think my predicament is that I know that greyhounds and thoroughbreds LOVE to run. My problem with horse and dog racing would be lessened a lot if the owners and trainers were held to a higher standard in their care. No racing 2-year-old thoroughbreds (their bones haven't developed yet). No keeping greyhounds in small crates. No neglecting broken bones or shipping dogs off to adoption groups with injuries that haven't already been tended to. There's been more attention than normal on racing horses since Eight Belles and Barbaro went down. Hopefully through their sacrifice, there will be a permanent spotlight on both horse racing and dog racing.
Comment by Gretchen — November 5, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
My greyhounds love to run. I don't see anything wrong with dogs doing what they love to do, and I have no problem with people planning fun, sporting events for their dogs, like flyball, agility, lure coursing, etc.
The difference, of course, is money. No one is wagering on the local flyball tournament (at least I don't think so.) With track betting and stakes races, greyhounds and thoroughbreds become a commodity, and thus disposable when they are no longer profitable.
Comment by nonanelson — November 5, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
Thank you for the posting, Nona, it's always nice to see Greyhounds being loved. You have beautiful dogs. I've recently moved to Roanoke from California where I was a foster home for retired racers with the Golden State Greyhound Adoption group and I really miss them.
I have to say that I'm really quite torn on the subject. Part of me would like to see racing stop, but the other part does not want to see the breed die off due to "lack of purpose." I'm sure there would be people that would continue to breed them for people to have as pets, but I feel that the amount of available dogs would drop tremendously. Call me selfish, but I also really enjoy working with these wonderful animals as a foster home and volunteer. With that said, yes the dogs are not always treated well at the track by an outsider's standards, but they can't be truly abused at the track or they would not be able to effectively race.
I've been a fan of these dogs for about 75% of my life and am a huge advocate for their well-being. It disgusts me to hear about how the dogs are mistreated, like having their ears cut off so it can't be traced back to the owner, and even being brutally killed once they can't race anymore. I agree with Gretchen that the owners should be held to a higher standard for their care and placement once they can't race anymore. It would be nice to see these "greyt" animals placed in loving homes instead of shelters or even graves.
Comment by Mindee — November 6, 2008 @ 2:24 pm
I am from MASS and I say, Yay for the dogs!!
I wouldn't worry about the breed dying off, it will not happen, and even if that were the case it still would not justify these dogs being overbred only to be 'forced' to perform so that some people can 'bet' on them.
As an industry, dog racing STINKS all around.....Good riddence.
Comment by animallover — November 20, 2008 @ 9:51 am