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Greyhound Racing - For or Against?

By Daniel Beatty, DVM

A news piece from the Boston Herald through the AP -Dog advocates try again for ban on greyhound racing tells a story of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the United States Humane Society attempting to close down the Greyhound racing industry in Massachusetts. They have tried twice in the past and have finally made it on to a ballot for the 2008 November elections to pose the question as to whether or not Mass should continue to have a Greyhound Racing Industry.

I have seen many Greyhounds from the racetrack, the majority from the racetrack in Wisconsin. I have heard of the conditions they are kept in. I have seen evidence to support the small cage confinement abuse. Overall I am not against Greyhound racing, what I am for is healthy happy dogs that are cared for humanely. Many of my clients race their dogs either in lure coursing, flyball and even whippet straight racing, but I will tell you that although there are injuries, nothing as prominent as what I have heard about in the Greyhound racing world. The dogs I work on are family pets that happen to be involved in a sport. I have worked on the second fastest Whippet in the country at the owners home. Although I am not in the family home 24 hours a day, I can almost guarantee that that dog sleeps on the couch a good percentage of the time it is in the house…LOL. Talk about living the high life, you are one of the fastest dogs in the country and you are sleeping in complete comfort - like it should be! So I would again have to say I am not against dog racing, if the Greyhounds were treated as the dogs I work on were treated; dogs who are athletes vs machines that happen to be dogs who are athletes, then I would be happy to allow Greyhound Racing to continue, because it is exciting to see a dog, or anything/anyone for that matter, do the one thing it was born to do!

What do you think? Greyhound Racing for or against and why?

dog health, dog racing, greyhound racing, racing ban

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Brennan Kingsland says:

November 27th, 2007 at 9:26 am

I am very much opposed to greyhound racing, for the one reason that you feel is important, the inhumane treatment of the dogs.
This is a money business, not a sport, and the dogs who can no longer perform are disposed of callously. When I lived in Florida (where the races are Big Time), the Humane Society discovered that unsuccessful dogs were routinely dumped in the ocean as shark chum/bait. I don’t think they can get away with throwing them in the ocean anymore, but they continue to breed and dump dogs on an already overpopulated canine society. The fact that so many former racers have been saved for a life of love and comfort is ONLY because of the care and concern of humans not involved with making money off these beautiful animals.
But because these dogs are kept in such strict quarantined conditions, even when they are adopted, they have to be socialized first to be comfortable around humans.
What was the question? Oh, yes! I’m very much opposed to dog racing.

Cynthia Blue says:

November 28th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

I am also against greyhound racing. The racing industry is huge and these dogs are not treated humanely, they are not loved and cared for. They are stuck in boxes and raced, and if they are too slow they are usually killed.

Flyball, agility, lure coursing… these are all totally different things from greyhound racing. The dogs in these venues are family members and the people take them out for something fun to do. These dogs are loved and pampered and allowed to act like dogs. I do Flyball, agility, obedience and herding with my dogs and they get comfy soft beds to sleep on when they are tired. They love the sports. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t make them do them.

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Greyhound Racing - For or Against?

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